In my last post, I mentioned the piles of stuff I’ve had to deal with lately. Here are photos of the state of my front room, taken a couple of days ago.
The pile of ornaments we removed from our tree.
Our 10-foot beast of a tree. It requires use of a ladder to assemble/ disassemble.
Strings of unplugged Christmas lights waiting to be put into storage until next year.
I finally got up the gumption to straighten up the room. I took down the tree, organized the ornaments, and wound the lights onto their storage rollers. I arranged the furniture back to the way it was before holiday madness took over.
Red Lantern and Champagne Colored String Lights
A shot of the little seating area with the lighting I hung.
Pillow Detail- one of the pretty pillows I picked out to go on the funky chair I found on Craigslist.
Detail of the bejeweled pillow. Beautiful, no?
After cleaning, vacuuming & rearranging, I smudged the room with a sage stick
picked from the desert by a dear friend of mine.
It could be said that burning dried desert sage is a spiritual practice. It is believed to clear out stagnant/ negative energy from the area in which it is burnt. This space really needed a good sage smudging. The smoke is fragrant and slightly sweet, and somehow smells cleansing. Still, I made sure to open the windows as a safety precaution for the kids’ lungs. And of course, be careful if you try this! Use a bowl underneath the burning sage as you walk around so it doesn’t burn your floors or furniture.
The handmade bowl I keep the sage in and use to hold under it as I walk with the lit bundle.
This bowl has the teals and earthy reds which coordinate with the color scheme of the room.
Detail of the sparkling teals on surface of little magazine side table.
The living room somehow doesn’t seem complete yet, but at least it’s no longer in a state of total chaos.
I am happy that the foyer/ front room is finally ready to face the new year. I still think it needs something more; definitely more artwork, certainly a cool rug, more lighting and a different shade of paint the walls… to start. And I call myself a minimalist! I would love to get hardwood or stone tile floors throughout the house. But for now, carpet it is. Still, I’m happy to be able to relax a little bit about this particular space; it is the first area one sees when one walks in.
My son and our dog relaxing on the double papasan.
