Repainted and Simplified Dining Room

It is like a breath of fresh air.  

I always get so scared to paint walls.  

I know people say, "it is just paint, you can repaint, it's cheap, etc..."  But it sure does take a long time, still costs $20, and I am going to be pretty upset if I do not like it.  

I completely understand why people are afraid to paint.  We all need to get over that fear.  But I get it.

So I left that dark grey up for a year.  And a year later, I still did not like it.  

Yet after painting the room a light light blueish grey color that I already loved in two other rooms in our home, I still questioned it.

But after living in it for a few weeks, getting the styling right, and most definitely looking at the picture below, I am happy to say, I did make the right choice.

Can I also mention how less cluttered it feels?  Wow!

Even though I feel like I have had a pretty good grasp on my style, I am learning how to love and embrace color more.  

The before photo reminds me how sterile and black and white things felt, which I think I used to love.  

But I like my eclectic mix.  It feels cozy...airy...less matchy matchy...and dare I say...effortless. 

It is amazing how the same object, in this case, the ladder, can make such a greater impact when slightly moved to face a different direction.  In case you don't remember, this is what it looked like before.

My sweet "Cinderella" hutch {as a friend told me!} works perfectly adding a few different shades of blue.

The biggest motivator for change has been having my nephew in our home.  It is amazing how having a little baby running around has made me question the set up of my home.

But not only just having room for him to play, I find I care less about the decor and more about the functioning and getting things done without extra stuff around the house always getting in my way.

As I finished tidying everything up last week and didn't have my nephew at all, I started wanting to revert back to my old ways!  I love stuff!  I love collections!  The house felt so empty.

But I reminded myself come this week, when that little one is over again, I will be glad.  Glad to have an empty table to dump stuff on.  Happy that everything has a place and that I am not always trying to reorganize to make more space to store stuff.

It is hard to let go.  But I am learning that I appreciate the little I do have so much more when my attention is not competing with more stuff.

Perhaps this is a season.  I imagine that this is just the beginning of many years to come of having children in our home.  My nephew is going to at least be around until we have our own kids and so I am learning now how to have a home that accommodates babies.

Perhaps when our kids are older I will go back to enjoying more stuff around the house...but at this point that is a long time from now!

I am really learning that I want to live in my home.  I do not want to feel like my life is surrounded around organizing and decorating my home.  But for the past few years, as the happy little homemaker, life has allowed it to be that way.

And I am finding I am happier and less self centered when I can walk away from my home to do list and be available to people and life.

I think my simplified home is allowing me to be more attentive to my husband, more willing to meet a friend for lunch, and more concerned about my nephew's needs...because my home is not constantly demanding my attention.

There is nothing wrong with loving your home and putting intentional time and effort into it, but for me it started taking up too much of my life.  I still believe my home is one of my greatest passions but the expectations and what that passion looks like is changing.

I desire a pretty space that is welcoming to guests.

I desire a place that children are free to be and play.

I desire a refuge for my husband to be able to come home to at the end of the day to relax and put his feet up {on the coffee table...even if he has shoes on!}.  

And I desire a place that I can enjoy on a daily basis but also a place that has space for me to create, live out my dreams, and just simply enjoy. 

I want to sip tea...read...play on the floor with my nephew...and be in that moment.  

Less projects...less stuff to put away...less shopping...

...and more living...

Paint color: Glidden Misty Moonstone