How was your holiday?!!! Bottoms up and merry everything? We had amazing meals, a whole lotta desserts and wine (times twelve.) I spent most of the holidays saying "the wine made me do it." I schlepped around the house, all gussied up in my PJ's, hiding my food baby. It felt so good. That kind of good should be illegal.
But then. Cancer stepped in again. Pffffft. In light of being a possible downer (womp womp) I'm promising you right here and now, the second part of this blog post will turn things around. (Maybe.) Sit yourself down. Should I spike your coffee?
Cancer is a jerk face doucheasaurus
You may remember from this blog post that my husband Michael has terminal cancer. I wrote about it here and Bali bucket list priorities here. We had hit the pause button on chemo. Over the holidays, that all changed. Michaels cancer progressed and the leptomeningeal metastasis (cancer on the nerves of his brain) are affecting his vision and other brainy things that I don't even want to think about. Talking about a brain is like looking under the hood of the car. Both perplex me immensely.
Sadly, Michael is unable to drive now. It shattered my dreams of imagining my life like Driving Miss Daisy. I freaking loved that he drove me everywhere and anywhere. It's the simple things in life. I love those. I already miss the little things. I'm doing my very best to not mourn the future of things, but the truth is.. I sometimes feel like I'm coming unhinged. Unraveling. Falling apart. *Hand comes off chemo pause button* We made a decision for Michael to start chemo again.
The shit is getting real.
Home should make you happy
Now you're probably wondering (1) why do I share cancer stuff and (2) what's next??
[Sips coffee.]Because I love home. Because home is my happy place. Because I truly design the life I want to live. See how I just threw those words in there? Winky wink. If I can design the life I want to live even with cancer in it, then you can do anything.
For the love of white
Here's the easiest design tip of all time.Right here.Right now :
There's no such thing as too much white.
There's an enormo amount of white in my home. Why? Because it is such a clean slate to work from. There's lots of room for colour in decor when your base is white. I love WHITE and the staggering simplicity it brings to a space.
Don't overthink it. Less is more. Live by the rule that if you only buy things you love, your house will feel like HOME.
Celebrate everything YOU and whitewash it with white and splash it up with your fave colours.
Light trumps dark.
Raise your hand if you've ever made brown your focal colour in design. (I swear I won't hit you with a throw pillow.) STAP it. No no no. Don't do copious quantities of brown. If brown had a face - I'd punch it. Too much brown shiny laquer-ness is lame.
I honestly don't know how people go from brown to more brown in their home. For those of you who say "I love brown!" you're an alien as far as I'm concerned. Also, I'm a white paint addict.
Me and white go way back. Light surfaces reflect light. So why stop at the walls? Ceiling, floor, furniture ... the dog. Insert big toothy grin. Paint them white.
Relaxed trumps formality.
We all have busy lives. Hurry here. Hurry there. Home is your sanctuary. Clear the clutter and have a relaxed comfy clean home.
Our home style is so relaxed, we have a sofa in the kitchen. And you think I joke.
When Wayfair offered to gift me a sofa, I practically mailed them my house keys. Okay, truth is... I approached Wayfair because they are in Canada now too!!!!! <-freak out.
Note to self: The sofa is insanely cozy. Like, I N S A N E . I could nap on it until next December.
Here's the thing about sofas. There are about 384757635704548907 choices to narrow down. After one bottle glass of wine, 34 days, 16 hours and 29 minutes... I found this sofa. To say that I love love love love love it would be an understatement. I'd put a ring on it. That kind of LOVE.
Did I mention that I love it?
Go big and then go small in home decor...
I like to shop in layers.
1. First, you need to go for the major pieces // the ones we all need to save up for. Appliances, furniture essentials, comfy bed, fave sofa, and area rugs. If you get the big priorities out of the way first, you're flying.
2. After you have the main pieces in place, add your smaller elements... curtains, light fixtures, coffee//side tables and wine. Actually, you may need that for every step of the way.
3. Add the fun personality pieces. Funky artwork, fave candles, items that you love, books and plants. Go natural. When it comes to decorating, nature is the best card in the deck. Like a big tree trunk growing through your living room floor. Kidding.
Keeping white CLEAN...
I know what your thinking. How the heck do I keep it all clean? I do. More on that in my ecourse too. I have homemade essential oil cleaning products that are oh la la.
For the big guns though, I bought this stuff (to clean our Wayfair sofa.) I've spilled wine on the sofa, permanent ink and a bunk ton of coffee. GAH !!!!
PS. By ' me' ... I mean.. ' my husband.'
I almost punched him.
I sprayed this stuff.
It saved his life.
I don't know how this cleaning agent works, other than it is an oxygen based cleaner rather than a water base. It works so well, I practically hyperventilate into a paper bag with explosive excitement. Don't judge me. When I see a stain disappear before my eyes, I don't ask questions. I dance.
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Let's bounce
You have the dance floor. I'm passing the design wand to you. Give me the straight goods. What is your biggest design challenge? I also want to hear about your decorating disasters. I need you to FREAK.ME.OUT. with design questions. Go. Spill it.