Date Night Thursday

It’s a rainy day around these parts. If you know me, you know that I really enjoy a good rainy day indoors. I feel all sorts of productive and relaxed as I hear the pitter-patter of rain against our roof. Speaking of rain, that means Spring is in the air! Eric and I purchased our very own (first) HOUSE and moved in late January (YaY!) I’ve been waiting till the tree in front of our house blooms to post some images (promise these are coming soon!) Sometimes I look around and it’s still surreal that the house is ours (love it so much!) Growing up, the walls in our house were kept pristine white and my parents used artwork and wall hangings as decoration. Having lived in dorms and apartments for the past seven years, I’ve never had the chance to paint nor even think about wall colors or decorating with paint to enhance a room. As some of you homeowners know, it’s easier to paint before the furniture gets all moved in and settled into their places. When we first closed on the house, I feel like I had to choose all the paint colors for the WHOLE house in a matter of days (literally) – and WOW was that overwhelming. Eric watched as the paint samples continued to line up on the counter and I had a notebook of about 50 “maybe” colors I HAD to look into. I read forums, I “studied” pinterest, and I had meetings with the workers at Benjamin Moore who I think thought I was crazy. Eric still laughs as all the paint colors I randomly picked out are in the “grey” family. Who would have known that grey can come in SO many shades? I just love how cozy it’s starting to make everything feel!

We are pretty much ALMOST done painting the downstairs (still have the awful fire engine red bathroom to do!) and Eric did an amazing job on the upstairs loft area. Painting gets tiring and we quickly learned that it’s a lot of time, energy, and financial cost to paint every single room in the house right away. I started to become frustrated with feeling like we were slowing down on our progress and felt like we needed to paint, decorate, and FILL the rooms with furniture (we don’t presently own) to make them “complete” and feel like HOME. See, I was afraid it “wouldn’t feel like home” with rooms that still had boxes or the awful “baseball” wallpaper that blinds me when I walk into one of the guest rooms. Things started to get really stressful and I was starting to not enjoy having so many options. We realized we needed to slow down and give ourselves a break – it doesn’t HAVE to happen overnight. This Date Night Thursday post is about slowing down, enjoying the process, and realizing that some things in life just take their time. There is NO rush. And you know what? I’m starting to realize that I like taking my time on this type of project. I don’t want to quickly pick out a paint color for our bedroom “just to get it done”.  Day by day we empty a box and things find their place. We have a roof over our heads and are SO thankful and blessed for the opportunity to even have this home. I’m shoving the perfectionist side of me away, and enjoying the process as much as I will the end result. Just as in life, it’s not about the destination but the journey. Plus I’m enjoying getting to spend some extra time with the husband as we do the house projects together as a family.  It hasn’t been easy, but I think the best things and moments in life never are. So for now, I’ll pass by the boxes and random clutter in the dining room, I’ll wake up every morning and stare at our bedroom wall full of paint samples, and I’ll continue to scour the internet for ideas and read home decorating books as I start to fill our walls with art and memories.

 And I’m ok with that.

 Because home is where the heart is, and I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.

Come visit us!