It was a marathon on Friday. Upstairs hall, walls, and stairway to paint, rug to shampoo, sofa to steam clean, curtains to wash, various baseboards, doors and stairway banisters to clean and polish, it was a 12 hour day. But by 8 pm, all was done and we were sitting at the pub enjoying a local brew.
With all painting and cleaning up the mess, I found some things just didn't fit back into the rooms anymore. If fact, most of the accessories are still upstairs. What came back? The rug, sectional, coffee table, lamps, an orchid, two of my screening sculptures, a lion and an eagle plus a small clay sculpture that's half woman, half owl. (Note, the black towel on the sofa in the left corner, an attempt to give a dirty kitty a place to sleep other than on the newly steamed sofa cushion. Alas, it didn't work.)
What changed? The mantle mirror needed a darker patina to go with the new paint. I used black shoe polish over the old red/gold finish making it blend with the brick and wall color rather than stand out. An end table was replaced with a larger glass/metal one, two pillows were recovered in red and yellow cotton, and new pillar candles were added all from Ikea.
Ok, all the painting and cleaning got tiring but I still felt a rush from it all. I look at the new additions and feel brighter in my heart and spirit. Uplifted. Perhaps, cleaning up the mess around me, reached into my soul as well. And that's a welcome surprise.
Now, when will I get the nerve to put something up on those freshly painted walls, I wonder? Or maybe it's time for a garage/studio sale?
2 comments:
Your home looks so comfortable. It must feel great to have everything clean and shiny. I know that always gives me a big lift.
Yes! It gave us both a big lift, after we recovered from all the work. But it was well worth it!
Thanks!
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