Collected and Curated

Curating a space takes patience. Which is annoying … It's frustrating when you want it completed now … so I can enjoy it. 

Enjoying the process is a work in progress.  Clearly.

While I battle with my impatience … I love that this is the time that I bought something of my own … Things in the household space are moving towards weird, interesting, having personalities. While I’ve always layered old with new as it relates to furnishings … I am enjoying the idea of this in lighting, hardware (read door handles, pulls etc.). Now that I have a reliance on table and floor lamps … I’m looking at lampshades as ways to add pops of colour and texture. 

I recently added wallpaper to the one wall in the front hall - after painting it chocolate mousse … I knew I’d go down that path and sure enough … This led me to swap out the white electrical plates. I’d like to replace the light switches and outlets but that requires someone with electrical skills that I don’t have … so, that will come. 

I would like to redo the bathrooms and the kitchen … There is no flow in the kitchen. This makes me crazy. So - it’s really replacing and reorganizing the layout of the cabinets. I want to keep the sink and stove where they are. I would move the fridge and change the counter top.  I have a vision. 

The ensuite … The vanity is too big for the space. I mean this literally - the door on the vanity won’t open, it hits the toilet, well, it did, so previous owners cut the door in half and added hinges so you can access under the sink. While I applaud the ingenuity, it's a sign the vanity is too big for the space. I’m still fine tuning how I want the ensuite to look. I’m thinking of a pedestal sink and mirror that covers some storage. It’s the extra storage I’m sorting out … How that might look … tile colour … floor colour … Things like that. 

The main bathroom … The shower design frustrates me. Water slips around the glass door … I was worried about the dry wall, so I bought some clear caulking and sealed the wall around the edge of the shower. This bought me time. I don’t love the glass. I don’t need people seeing into my shower. I was leaning towards a wall with tile … I might still be … but I’m seeing glass blocks … I believe they were a thing in the 70’s? Maybe? I’m loving the lightness they allow for, yet also solve for privacy … so they are an option … What I really love about them, they come in so many cool styles … I love the ones that are cubes with circles inside … Which, in a small bathroom, allows for softness - not everything has a straight edge … feels heavy. 

I’m also keeping an eye out for small ottomans … I can keep tucked in corners but use it for extra seating when I have company. 

I am not a thrifter or someone who explores marketplace or garage sales. I don’t love shopping enough. I’m telling myself that I love layered, textured and curated pieces enough that I’m willing to put some thought into this for a lampshade, a firewood holder that I can use for blankets etc. 

I’m also looking for art … Here I have always managed patience. I’m particular about what I want on my walls … I get lost in art … As I’m writing this I’m looking at a print - one of my absolute favourites … I digress … I have wall space in my bedroom … Originally I just assumed I’d cover all the walls with art … Now I’m rethinking this. Why? I don’t love headboards … I also don’t love beds without something … so I’ve defaulted to a headboard. 

Now I’m considering tapestry … Not the heavy kind you see in churches … but not as light as a curtain, somewhere in the middle. This idea is very new and I haven’t wrapped my  head around how this would look, if I’d like it etc. etc. The concept itself I’ve never considered … so, I may entirely dismiss it … it’s percolating. 

This is where I allow myself patience … In the spaces I don’t have a picture, I don’t clearly see the end goal … I know I need to sit with it longer. In the spaces I can see the end result exactly - patience is harder … much harder. 

Sighs.

The idea that weird, that colour, personality, texture, and a variety of shapes are suddenly appearing in the land of home improvement (or returning to the land of home improvement) … makes me happy. I’m not like anyone else … Why would I want my home to look the same as everyone else’s?

If someone says “resale value” to me … while I understand investing wisely - I didn’t buy my home to sell it … I bought it to live in. To be lived in. I want to feel something while I’m in my space. I want others to feel warmth and welcomed in my space. 

I am an emotional being. I feel all things. I emote first … I couldn’t imagine living in a home that felt sterile or lacked depth, warmth and personality. 

It’s one of the reasons I loved this place … it had hardwood parquet floors, gorgeous crown molding and tall trim, the closet doors are louvered, oversized windows … The space itself has personality, removing that, that would hurt my heart. 

I like to think I worked with her - that I am working with her, that our personalities compliment each other … I’m not fighting the space - I’m enhancing it. 

Little by little … room by room … piece by piece.