Had a weird thing happen the other night. I was wandering through Target waiting to get the kids from piano. I came across a tub of Christmas ornaments which could have walked right off my Gram’s tree. They were styrofoam balls wrapped in satin thread of jewel toned colors – aqua, pink, gold, lime. I nearly cried.
Maybe it is a midlife decorating crisis but I find that certain images from my childhood are especially meaningful to me as I grow older. It was the end of a golden age of homemaking. Days were spent in a a whirl of cooking and learning and household chores. Entertainment was what happened when relatives and friends dropped by, not when Survivor came on the screen. I miss that. I miss her. I miss the pared down decor that she was able to manage so expertly while I wallow in layers of ‘texture’. The shabby chic I was drawn to in magazines is more shabby than chic with a full house.
I find myself more and more often browsing through pages of Atomic Ranch and Ranchredo and Shimandsons. As one reader shared in her blog there is a plethora of mass produced items passing for handmade these days.(Please if you read this resend me your blog link!) It leaves me cold. I want to fill my spaces with things my children and I really have made. And I don’t want to copy a Victorian or Colonial or anything scheme. I want our home to tell OUR story in a simple graphic visually appealing way. Washable surfaces would be a major plus.
Long and short: I am getting very particular about what I am willing to share my home with and lug around. I want to pare down to that which is personally meaningful. There is an awful lot around me that doesn’t fit into that category. With that in mind I bought the ornaments with no idea what I will do with them yet. Somehow holding
that tub of colored spheres I was right back in front of that 60s era
tree and it really didnt matter. It took all the Dave Ramsey coaching I
could muster not to charge that retro white tree in the
Target display to hang them on. ; )
I know I am going somewhere with all this but not sure where we will end up yet. For now we will continue to purge and be selective and create and see where it takes us. And when I miss Gram I will look at those ornaments and smile.
Starry Sky Journal 
hi Kim! It’s been a while since I commented, but I read every post on Google Reader. I think you said this very well. I have a hard time articulating my feelings on this kind of thing, especially to my husband who sees our home as bare, but I don’t want to buy just any old thing for our home. I want the few things we have to have meaning.
This is exactly the place I am in my life. Whenever I see anything late 50’s or early 60’s I feel like I must have it, that it will bring back something of my past. Of course I don’t buy it all, I too am in a paring down mode, but I do see that when I bring in new things, more than likely they will be items that remind me of days gone by. Thanks for the links you put up too!
Oh, man, am I in a “paring down” mood, after moving two 26 foot U-Hauls over the Rocky Mountains, Kim! Yikes! We are having the world’s biggest garage sale as soon as the weather gets warm! Dittos to authentic decor, too!