Wanting to refresh a room and your mood? Here is a simple way to embrace and find a fresh vision & a fresh mindset to carry you this Winter.
I don’t know about you friend…
but it’s right about now, when I tend to start getting a little antsy with Winter.
Yes, Winter and of it’s cold, gray, goundhog dayness…(not a word I know.)
Thankfully?
Early this morning, after I peeked open my eyes from my daily quiet time…
I saw that our living room shutters were starting to show hints of a glow coming from outside.
Standing up and walking outside onto our front porch, I was met with this.
What I’m re-learning afresh, during this month of January when I purposefully aim and make quiet space to “Get Down & Get Low” is this:
This is the time of year when taking delight in something…
requires more intention.
In other words?
Experiencing delight in the dead of Winter, tends to require a steady willingness to be less fussy and less fancy…
less high maintenance and more…mindful.
And?
A heart that is tenderized and open to receive the delight of simple reminders that God is good and God is still at work…even if it doesn’t always feel like it.
Friend, I’m not sure what your week looks like.
But I can tell you this.
My brain feels a little FULL as in…maximum bandwidth capacity, as we are leaving tomorrow to travel to Deep Creek lake for a family ski trip.
Allow me to say this.
Packing alone for this trip, has reminded me of one of the many reasons, as to why I am a Summer girl and why I rely on these things I am loving right now, to get me through Winter!
(But really – Skiing requires SO MUCH GEAR – Amen?!)
And yet?
I am doing my best to be more intentional about embracing Winter and not simply surviving it!
Which brings us to?
A family ski trip!
Case in point.
All kidding aside we are all very excited and I am looking forward to spending quality time with our family and my best friend’s family.
But in the meantime?
I wanted to share with a you a quick little nugget of a very small, yet very helpful way I transition our home in January in order to prepare and move closer towards the direction of Spring…even when we aren’t there yet.
Because, when we return home from this ski trip?
You can bet that I am going to get busy thinking Spring and I want a clean slate to start with!
This little process packs a little surprise gift of opportunity tucked inside, because it’s through this room quieting process that I often begin to re-think a room and how we use it.
Sound interesting?
Follow me friend.
How To Re-Think A Room & Intentional Wintering
This is the time of year when our family schedule is slightly slower than Fall and Spring.
So, it’s during this time of year when things are just a bit slower, that my brain has a moment to breathe and bend into brainstorming new ways and better ways of how we can use a space in our home.
Also?
The process of purging and “quieting” a room really helps to peel back the layers of the room to a mostly clean slate status, so that my brain has a chance to re-imagine what it could be for our family.
And that my friend is what I am currently up to in our dining room space.
Our Christmas tree and the layered mantel full of faux greenery has been removed.
(Total aside & home decor hack: I shared HERE on Instagram earlier how using a hair dryer and applying a little bit of heat can help you to remove to command hook SO easily and withOUT damaging your wall! GAME CHANGER!)
Not only has the Christmas decor been removed?
But so has almost every other surface decor.
While putting away Christmas decor always does have a small sense of satisfaction…really editing out almost all of the other decor in a space…can lead to a big home decorating breakthrough.
Sounds dramatic doesn’t it?
In truth?
Removing as much as you can from a space gives your eyes the visual opportunity to envision a new way of using the space.
Which leads me to this glass cabinet.
After emptying out this glass cabinet, I came to the realization that it is taking up some prime real estate in our dining room…and I’m not so sure it needs be there anymore.
Ever since we converted this room, (that used to be our family room way back when I started my baby blog, HERE in this post,) we have loved having our dining room table in this room.
But, there is just one problem.
Shawn misses sitting and relaxing in front of our fireplace.
And so?
Through the process of removing as much as I could from this room, quieting the noise of the decor and with the knowledge that Shawn really would love to be able to sit in this room again, without sitting at the dining room table for dinner…
I came to this decision.
The glass cabinet is listed on facebook marketplace right now.
Because?
By clearing away all the extra visual distraction in this room, I was able to really see with fresh eyes, how much space we have over here to the left end of the dining table.
And?
Looks to me like the perfect place to create a cozy nook, with a pair of accent chairs, floor lamp and side table!
Peeling back the layers of a room, removing the decor as much as possible can lead to a home decorating breakthrough that will energize your home in a fresh way and energize the people inside it!
In a nut shell?
This process I slowly lean into during the month of January, of not only putting away Christmas decor but also clearing away as much of the room decor as possible, helps me in multiple many ways.
- Bringing a room to a clean slate status quiets the room…and also quiets my brain.
- I am able to donate items that we no longer love, which always feels good.
- This quieted space, now has the chance to be re-imagined for new ways to serve us well in the season we are in.
- The room has a chance to take a knee, come up for some breathing room and allow for a simple season of transition…
Turns out?
Taking a knee.
Coming up for some breathing room.
Allowing time and space for a simple season of transition?
Those are all things I need right now too.
And?
It’s an amazing feeling when the space you are in…matches the mood you crave and need too.
The truth is?
How you use your home changes, how you live in your home evolves over time, just as your family grows up and evolves.
The key to unlocking the door of transition and evolution to your home is, removing as much as you can and giving it the space a chance to just be.
Same goes for us too friend.
I hope that during this season of Wintering…you are able to delight in the minimal, the simplistic, the less fancy and less fanfare.
Because?
There is beauty in peeling back the layers to the bare bones of a sunrise…and thanking God He shows up.
Living on a prayer,
Heather
PS Stay tuned – I am excited to create a cozy corner in this newly envisioned space this Spring!
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Have a great ski time.