Image courtesy of The Cozy Minimalist
I’ve never felt totally comfortable with the idea of design and decorating. I thought I knew what I liked, but I was afraid of being out of style. I hated the thought that the minute I updated something, the trend had passed. But I also wanted my home to feel put together; to have personality but not clutter.
I bought the book The Nesting Place and immediately embraced it’s tag line “It doesn’t have to be perfect to be beautiful.” We were just beginning to pack up our house of 10 years (that we’d outgrown at least 3 years ago) for a house we hoped would give us more room to live and breathe. I inhaled the book, and at this point, have read much of it twice, even a few sections three times. When I saw that the Cozy Minimalist e-course was open again for a short window, I jumped at the chance. You get access to videos of the life webinars all the slides, and possibly the best part, the Facebook group. Having already done the Cozy Minimalist Kids course as part of a bundle I purchased last year, I was excited to do the full version. (I should also note that I did the course as I was packing so I didn’t really “do” it so much as listen and learn.)
We moved into our new house the weekend after New Year’s. It had been fairly nicely updated (though not as much or as well as we originally thought) but definitely to someone else’s taste.
Let me just stop right here and say something. I felt terribly guilty for not feeling at home in my house when most of my friends and family declared it move in ready and couldn’t understand why I was blissfully happy. A dear friend made me feel a bit better by reminding me that you can both be grateful for the privilege of a safe and updated house and still not have it feel like home. Not liking the paint color or finishes is not a sin, nor is wanting to change them doesn’t make you picky or a bad person.
I’ll be working, VERY slowly through the course as I unpack my house. I’m not going to tell you everything she says, because let’s face it, you really should buy the course. But I will attempt to encourage you with before and after pictures of my progress. (If the course is unavailable right now. I recommend you join the waiting list. In the meantime, I very much recommend the book The Nesting Place, it will definitely get you started down that road.)
I’m learning to let myself become comfortable with things being in process. I desperately want the house to just be done so I can sit back and relax. But one of things I’m learning most from this course so far is to embrace the cyclical nature of decorating and design. There is no done or finished. It’s Ok to have temporary fixes for the sake of beauty or function. Don’t feel pressured to change what you love, just for the sake of change. But neither do you have to avoid dealing this things you have because you aren’t ready to tackle a full home renovation. (Best metaphor of the book: don’t put up with a paint color you hate in the bathroom just because you don’t want to remove the toilet. Paint around it, if you can tell, neither will anyone else). Because as the Nester says, it doesn’t have to be perfect to be beautiful.
The Ultimate Homemaking Bundle 2017 on sale now includes the Cozy Minimalist class! But you only have a few more days to purchase it.
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