My dear readers…..it is Spring….well, almost Spring and March is an exciting month filled with exciting days.
I know, I know, …some of you are still in the Winter doldrums, and perhaps some of you have had a little room envy when you sit in the doctor’s office looking at the beautiful room lay-outs in the designer magazines….Or, you watch those beautiful home/room “make-overs” from Home and Garden TV. And then… reality sets in. You go home and look at your rooms that were most likely decorated way too many years ago to count…. and you sigh and say to yourself…”this is reality, not some fancy-smancy designer room’. BUT,… it doesn’t have to stay that way….and no, I am not suggesting you hire a designer and redo your whole house. Really, it is simpler than that, and I am speaking for myself also, because as I look around my home, I see earth tones and dark plantation shutters and taupe walls, … even though the walls have a bit of character with Venetian Plaster. I do love my Spanish/Mediterranean home, but it could use a little refreshing and I am going to share this process with you, if you want to come along for the ride.
So, together…you and I…let’s start by taking a look in and around our homes, in baby steps.
Literally! I mean right this moment! Look up from your computer or cell phone and look around the room you are in. A good l-o-n-g look. Stay with me on this….I’ll wait!
So are you liking what you see? Hmmmmm just as I thought….OK, then look again and find one thing you love in your room. See? I knew you would see it. Now, look again and find something else that you love and maybe another.
Ok, now think about those items, such as when you purchased or inherited them and remember the pleasure surrounding those circumstances. What a blessing if it belonged to Gma or a dear friend. Be thankful for having them. Doesn’t that make you feel all good inside?
Unfortunately, most times we look around our rooms and we focus on the things that we don’t love about our homes. Please, no negative thoughts here.
One item in my home that I love is a small mirrored glass, etched in a beautiful poem about “Mother”.
Most of us have many things in our home that bring us joy and gratitude and a feeling of love for our homes ….however, we tend to fret about what we don’t have or what we don’t like or what we want to update and do over! Hey! I am at the top of that list….but as I keep telling myself…we need to find ways to love the home we live in right now!
We will start with getting out of a rut and starting with something new. Not necessarily brand new, but perhaps new to one of your rooms. In other words, find something in the living room that will “spruce” up one of the bedrooms and it will give that bedroom a little pizazz! If you are like me….you have many great and beautiful things already in your home…perhaps a few too many of these great and beautiful things. While we are thankful and blessed to have bought or have been gifted fabulous items….our rooms tend to have an over abundance of these blessings, if you know what I mean. My garage has boxes of these blessings and so do a few of my rooms.
When I “stage” one of our flip houses…I have found that buyers come in and are “wowed” by the rooms. They want all the furniture and staging items because they want that look. The Captain did sell one of our flips, staging and all, after which we had an interesting discussion, …after the fact…:) Interesting because I said….”oh no….it took me forever to find just the right furniture and staging items“…or something of that nature. But I digress.
The point I am making is that the attraction to these Flip homes is the cleanliness and simplicity that goes with staging. We don’t “live” in those homes and so they don’t have the “lived in” accumulation of “stuff”, but we can achieve that look if we use our own home as a shopping mall.
So lets talk about a time for everything….yes, there is certainly a time to update and buy new things for our homes… AFTER we have looked around our homes to see what might work where. What about finding a slipcover for that comfortable but worn chair? What about adding paint? I am sure you are like me in that we don’t need expensive things….but think of the sentimental value of something we have put a bit of sweat equity in. Perhaps it was to replace drawer pulls on a chest of drawers…all of a sudden, it becomes a new piece of furniture. This may be a small change….but there is certainly nothing wrong with that. Make the change big or small. It is your decorating that will come front and center.
I happen to love vignettes which are little nooks that tell a story with the decor. It can be a ball of yarn and a basket of knitting needles tucked in the corner of a favorite comfy chair. Perhaps a cozy blanket hanging loosely over the arm,…. that tells me that this person loves the quiet time of curling up and knitting something special for themselves or family. I can feel the love leaping off that chair. If I see a vignette that draws me in….I search around my own things, and the next thing I know, I have created my own version with the items that I love.
My dear readers….If we have become a bit dis-satisfied with our homes in their current state….lets take a look at our attitudes. Don’t we need to get back to the basic reality of being thankful that we have a home to live in? It doesn’t matter if the home is new or old, bought, borrowed, or rented….large, small or in between….if we have walls, a roof, a front door, that is truly a blessing. A home is a wonderful thing and we can find inspiration in every one of our rooms, if we just look for it. We can use color and textures and family treasures for inspiration.
We named our home Villa de la Luna when we first moved to Florida…and we promptly put up a ceramic plaque….it just seemed fitting to be named…the home of the moon.
I love my bicycle planter vignette. It gives me pleasure to sit on the weathered bench in my front foyer and “watch the plants grow”
I am embarking on revitalizing my home with paint color and finding a way to add lighter tones…starting with my very dark mahogany plantation shutters! I challenge you to look around your home for your own inspiration to love your own home.
And…check out the printable recipe below for your next breakfast or brunch. Yummy!
Have a great and blessed week-end.
- 1 pound of Jennie-O Lean Turkey Breakfast Sausage
- 2 tablespoons of olive oil
- 1 small onion, diced
- 1 small red bell pepper, diced
- 1 jalapeno, diced
- 2 sweet potatoes, diced
- 1 can of low-sodium black beans, drained and rinsed
- 1/2 teaspoon of garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon of smoke paprika
- 1 teaspoon of chili powder
- 1 teaspoon of cumin
- salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
- 6 eggs
- 1 avocado, diced
- 1 cup of fresh cilantro, chopped
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
- Add olive oil to a cast iron skillet (or heavy skillet) and sauté the onions, bell peppers and jalapeño Add in the Jennie-O turkey breakfast sausage and brown together with the veggies
- Increase the heat to medium high and add in the sweet potatoes
- Drizzle a little olive oil over the mixture and add garlic powder, paprika, chili powder and cumin
- Cook the sweet potato mixture, stirring occasionally, until crispy on the outside and tender on the inside which should take about fifteen minutes
- Once potatoes are ready, stir in black beans
- With the back of a large spoon, make a well or cup in the hash for six eggs.
- Crack an egg into each well and gently transfer the skillet to the hot oven
- Bake for 5 minutes before checking for your preferred amount of "egg done-ness". If you prefer a harder yolk, use 5 minute increments until your eggs are at the preferred state
- Sprinkle with diced avocado, fresh cilantro and serve with warmed flour tortillas
- Recipe can be doubled and placed in large baking dish if you are having guests for breakfast or brunch.
Please comment, I'd love to hear from you.