Thursday, June 10, 2010

Beauty in the Home

I often read blog posts and marvel at the beauty the authors have created in their homes. There are different styles of beauty - like Lucy's crochet and colour at Attic 24, or Mary's simple spaces at Evlogia - but the end result is the same: an inviting, attractive and beautiful home.

I can't do it. Or, at least, maybe I could do it if I tried hard enough, but I don't. Why, I wonder? Partly, I think, because I don't have a style. Now I don't mean that it is essential to have a particular style to make a beautiful home, but I think if you do then it becomes easier to put things together, to get ideas for those little nooks and corners, to see immediately what would give a lift to an uninspiring area.

Also, I don't have the creative imagination it takes to highlight the beauty in everyday things. It would never occur to me to put a bunch of buttercups in a jamjar like this, for instance. I don't have that gift for putting things together on a whim. It takes thought and effort.

And there I run up against laziness ... or perhaps inertia is a better word. I start well, then run out of steam. Take fresh flowers, for example. I love them, but I rarely think to buy them. When I do, I can never achieve more than a stuffed-in-vase effect. I admire them for a day or so, then forget them until they are so far past dead they are half way to mummified. Even then it often takes a couple of days after noticing they are dead to get round to throwing them out. And let's face it, dead flowers are not a good look. 

A quick glance round the sitting room and I can see three examples of my inertia problem. Behind me on the wall is a sun handprint craft I made with Cherub a year ago. Seasonal again now, but it was up there through autumn, Christmas and Easter. The rest of the walls are bare, missing the pictures that got taken down when we decorated and never replaced. Then to my left is a small liturgical year display, still stuck firmly in Mary's month of May with pictures, statues and a rosary (though as I didn't put it there until the middle of May, perhaps it is only fair to keep it there longer?). Lots of good intentions, poorly implemented. On the bright side, I did get rid of two vases of dead flowers yesterday.

I would like to do better. But how?

I think I'll have to ponder that for awhile.

5 comments:

Katherine said...

I know EXACTLY what you mean. I struggle with it too. I'm also not sure what my "style" would be. I blame it on the fact we are not settled but keep moving and have so much stored ready for the next move and the fact that we are limited by space and three small children, but I likewise know I should be creating a warm home for my family regardless of the circumstances. When you figure out how to do it, PLEASE let me know !?!

Laurie said...

I too lack the flair to make a cozy, welcoming home with my decor-hopefully, just being welcoming is enough! I do love to blog browse and admire the way other people put things together too. Maybe some of it will stick one day!:)At least if you are going to be "stuck in a month", May is a good one to be stuck in!

Melanie Bettinelli said...

From where I sit, I can see three vases of dead roses. Clearly I suffer from the same sort of inertia. The past three? four? days I've meant to go out and cut more but so far it hasn't happened. And as it's rainy today it probably won't happen again today.

Faith said...

I think it's that some people are more visual so they are sensitive to what looks good. I have to make a major effort to be creative like that. Usually I have a pile of stuff all over the place so to get that simple beautiful look would take hours of cleaning first! Also, the flowers would die and just sit there getting all slimely and brown until I finally noticed them.

I am really missing that certain gene!

Paper Dali said...

I completely understand ... Actually, I sometimes feel whiny when I read such posts ... "Why can't I do that?" ...

I love fresh flowers, and those always do get put in vases and brighten up everything. At least I do that. LOL And a fresh bright tablecloth helps, too.

But everything else? I'd love to have pretty, colorful items in my house, but it always seems that all the extra $ we have goes for the essentials. There's just never extra for stuff like that.

Sigh.