In the last 5 years, we’ve lived in 5 different homes (6 if you count crashing with our friends for a few weeks between residences!), and I really haven’t gotten much better at decorating. Our first apartment was pretty much an homage to student living; I don’t remember having anything other than a clock hanging on the wall, and the floor was constantly littered with papers and textbooks. Then I got pregnant, and Lloyd’s sister was coming to live with us while she started school, so we moved to a wonderfully-priced apartment in the basement of someone’s home. I really loved that apartment. It was only two bedrooms, but it was so nice. Our decor consisted of pictures. Lots and lots of pictures, all taken by Lloyd, and all hung by Lloyd. I put some candles on the shelf between the kitchen and living rooms, and that was it.

I did have a moment of domestic creativity, though. After Lloyd’s sister had moved out, and baby Emma had moved into her own room, I used a weekend while Lloyd was out of town to redo our bedroom. I put those little hooks for hanging plants in the ceiling above our bed, and then rested adjustable curtain rods between them. Then I draped gauze curtains from the rods so it looked like a canopy bed. I also bought some artwork to put at the head of our bed (we’ve never owned a headboard), and hung a few cute pictures of our family on the wall. I bought an old recliner and lamp to put in the corner of our room along with a bookcase that had been in another room. It was all pretty inexpensive and I loved it. I was also very proud of it (which is why I recapped the whole thing—reliving the glory days).

But then we decided to “invest” in a home, in the hopes of fixing it up and selling it for enough to at least pay off my student loans. I won’t get into the depressing story of debt that followed, but besides painting all the rooms (which was a pain, but I did like the colors in all the rooms), not a single bit of decoration ever graced the walls of that fixer-upper. And Lloyd left for his new job in Texas before it was even finished.

Of course, the house didn’t sell right away, so we found the cheapest place we could stand so that we could sort of afford to pay the mortgage and rent, and we spent the first few weeks just cleaning the layers of grime off of walls and counters and light switches (oh, and by now I was pregnant with #2 as well). At this point we were sick of just getting by in another blah home—and we lived so close to an IKEA—so we did buy some new things to make our little rental a little nicer. We put some shelves up  on the wall for books, and we hung a few pictures. Really the only improvement we made was buying a stand for our tv and putting down a rug, but it was something.

So now the point of this whole story (besides just giving you something to waste your time on; I feel like I’ve got two weeks to make up for, so I might as well throw some history in): I have been determined not to let this second house to be just a stopping point. It needs our personality. It is completely new, so it doesn’t need new drywall or cabinets; it just needs decor. I started by painting Emma’s room and our room, and then we bought Emma a super-cute bed and a pink curtain to hang over it, and her room is totally hers. I love it. But that’s pretty much everything.

Now, budget is a big factor in decorating, so I recognize that I can’t do a lot, and really shouldn’t be spending money on anything, but just like the Sims who get happier when you make their home nicer, I get happier when my home is nicer, too. I don’t want to feel like I’m living in an empty box. Even if we do move again in 6 months, I want to feel like my home is mine.

So I’ve turned to crafts.

I’m not much of a crafty person, but I respect the creativity and energy most projects take. On a whim, while at the craft store getting felt for Halloween costumes, I picked up a grapevine wreath to decorate. I’ve always wanted to hang a wreath on my door, and I do like the idea that I can be original and unique (plus, I really wanted an excuse to buy a hot glue gun–I love those things!). And finally, I composed my wreath, and am actually quite proud of it:

Happy Fall/Halloween!

Here's the little ghost I decided to make to give it some Halloween flair. I'm thinking I can put a turkey here later.

Isn't hot glue amazing?! It can hold a whole pumpkin!

I also stole some of Emma’s pipe cleaners to add some sparkle. Total, I think this cost about $8 to make, and I have more leaves and orange ribbon left over. They may be fake leaves, but even the store-bought wreaths with fake leaves cost $13 for the cheapest ones.

I feel kind of dorky for being so proud of it, but this is what my life has come to. Even though I hated homework, I was good at it, and always pleased to get a good grade. Now, I’ve got no one assigning me anything, and the things I accomplish are the same every day: dishes, laundry, sweeping, etc. I need new assignments. Even if I’m not too crafty, and end up being stressed by all the choices and where to put things, I still take joy from meeting a challenge. Felt about like a homework project, actually.

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Tags: crafts, decorating, home

This entry was posted on Wednesday, October 21st, 2009 at 3:44 pm and is filed under Wanderlust Wednesdays. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.