A Room with a View

Every year as I begin to take down Christmas decor, I promise to straighten, organize and clean closets and cabinets especially the kitchen.  Our children are very helpful and most appreciative of us for hosting holiday events, but they tend not to replace items in their original locations after cleaning.  Ultimately, my kitchen is a mess.  I spend days sometimes looking for a particular dish or utensil, so my goal for January is to reorganize, simplify and freshen my kitchen pantry and other cabinets.  I saw on Houzz where others have either added wall paper or painted the walls in their pantries.  Now I must decide what color and then purchase organizers.  Although I have organized this space before, my pantry is oddly shaped, and I never seem to be able to utilize the space appropriately, so I will call on the professionals this time to help.  Container Store here I come.

January seems to be the month I  rearrange furniture, so my husband and I spent all day moving pieces of furniture around to give spaces a new, fresh look.  Sometimes it works; other times it does not.  We moved a two piece solid oak cabinet from a bedroom to my husband's office.  In my mind's eye I knew it would be perfect, and while it holds all of his media (and believe me there is much) it isn't exactly what I want.  I don't like tilting my head to watch tv, but he is happy, so we will live with it for awhile.  The cabinet was housed in our son's bedroom that now serves as a guest room/nursery.  I felt that we needed to make space for baby things-books, toys, blankets, etc.  Moving the cabinet seemed to open up the room even more.  The room is not small, but the tall piece stopped eye movement.  Now I can see outdoors the minute I step in the room-so refreshing.

I am also hunting desperately for a space to write.  I have used every excuse  and finding the appropriate spot has been my biggest excuse.  I do not like to write facing a wall no matter how pretty the pictures hanging on the wall may be or how many fresh flowers I place in a vase:  it just does not work.  I have temporarily moved a small table into my living room and placed it in front of a bank of windows that look out over our backyard and the ranch behind us.  If I can get over the "look" of the space as you enter the room, I think this is the best location for a desk.  We have an office with all of the trappings, but the room is dark and the window faces north east, so there is very little light plus the built in desk faces a wall.  No wonder my husband uses a swivel chair, so he can turn and watch tv or view another computer screen or just turn and look out of the room.  I would fall out of the chair as I would have to twist around like a tornado seeking beauty to view.  I hope this spot works.

New View

I know the new year always brings resolutions, but I decided not to have one this year other than counting my blessings every day.  Life is what we make of it.  Challenges surround us daily, but it is always how we choose to handle them that makes all of the difference.  And no one can choose for us.
Happy is!

Lana