Updates on the Home Front

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn a commission on all qualifying purchases. Thank you!

Happy May, dear friends! As we near the end of another school year, like clockwork, our activities calendar implodes and chaos takes over, every minute being stretched to the limit to yield more confusion than productivity. Despite the many meetings, projects  & school events that somehow cluster & overlap, contradicting our best efforts to stay organized, I try to savor this time of year as one of my favorites (with the exception of Christmas, of course) and not to wish the days away. 

My daughter will soon graduate sixth grade, and I am incredibly proud of the little woman she’s become, and grateful that I’ve been blessed to witness it. But with that pride comes a heaviness of heart each time I think of how quickly it all slipped away. How quickly kindergarten turned into sixth grade, and how quickly middle school will give way to young adulthood and beyond.  Being present while surrounded by so much noise and activity in our lives is difficult. In a world where everything and everyone commands our immediate attention, being in the moment is a challenge and something I’ve been working really hard on this year. To put my phone down, to let the emails (and the dishes) pile on, to just listen and play and be there for her, while she’ll still have me as her playmate. And if that means blogging a little bit less these days, I hope you won’t hold it against me. I know there will be a time when I’ll be able to go back to my regular three-posts-a-week schedule, but for now, I hope you’ll understand why sometimes it takes me so long between posts. 

There are a couple of projects at our house right now where my involvement is very hands on (meaning I’m the designer, project manager, painter, and sometimes assistant builder – ouch! 🙂 ) but none of these projects are camera-ready, so instead I’ll share with you an update regarding my sofa-swap dilemma on which you’ve so kindly weighed in on and shared your advice a couple of months ago.

For those of you who’ve no idea what I’m talking about but care to find out, you can read all about the two sofas, and why they needed to swap places (or not), in this post. For those of you who remember the issue, I want to let you know that I took your advice and moved the green plaid sofa bed into the library, and honored our original plans of having our library function as guest bedroom for the occasional overnight guest. Thank you for giving me that final push, I needed it. I was afraid that the color scheme I worked so hard to create will be disturbed and I’d have to start all over, knowing that neither of the sofas would be reupholstered anytime soon. But as one of you sweet readers mentioned, the blue and white floral sofa goes really well with the green walls of our living room, so I’m happy with that. And Sam seemed to like it too.

The mood of the library has changed a bit, it’s a gentler and calmer room now, with the quiet plaid replacing the playfulness and energy of the blue and white chintz, and I quite like it. Here’s a sneak peek of it with the creamy yellow walls.

With the new sofa in place, I also went shopping for new side tables. Luckily, I didn’t have to go far, thanks to my inherited clutter-itis and hoarding tendencies. Against my better judgement, over the years my basement has become a small repository of things I-don’t-need-but-want-and-can’t-let-go-off, which is very un-feng-shui of me. I have an assortment of coffee tables, side tables, a third (camelback) sofa, and enough chairs to host a neighborhood party at a moment’s notice. Ms. Karen Kingston, whose book Clear Your Clutter with Feng Shui has been my decluttering bible for years, would shake her head in disapproval, I’m sure, but this arrangement satisfies my need for small changes in our decor, and I get to rotate and love on all of my things, a couple of months at a time. 

Paint Colors in the Library:

Wythe Tan, by Benjamin Moore

Castleton Mist, by Benjamin Moore was another favorite, and I am looking forward to trying it out somewhere else in our home. It has a slightly cooler feel and a distinct green undertone, but is still warm enough to use in a north-facing room.

Library sconces:

Visual Comfort swing arm sconce

Similar to what I’ve had / rotated in this room:

Vintage Camelback Sofa

Vintage set of nesting tables

Wishing you a wonderful, sun-filled weekend!