Living Beauty Full in the Burbs
Living Beauty Full in the Burbs
Here’s to a new year. Shout out to a blank slate. A new year to right old wrongs, to begin anew, to try new things, to………. well, you get it….. change.
Change can be frightening or it can be energizing. No one likes to be forced to change, it invalidates us, frightens us, makes us angry, but when we are the ones to enact change, it becomes exciting, energizing, hopeful. And nothing offers hope like the beginning of a new year to change the things we didn’t like about the previous one. I’m here to help. That’s what bloggers do. We help. Help define decorating styles. Help with learning how to refinish furniture. Help with decorating ideas and tips and tricks. This post isn’t any of that.
But I do want to offer some tried and true tips in getting this new year off to a great start. So here’s my list:
That’s my survival guide, my primer on what to do in 2017. I hope you add to it. Now go forth and conquer. It’s a new year!
Why do you need a lesson in decorating your tree? You’ve been doing it for years, right? Just put it in the stand, wrap some lights around it and hang some ornies. And Bingo! Done. Not so fast my little helper elves. There are a few things to consider. For the sake of this post I’m dealing only with the faux tree, there are other considerations for live ones but I’ll save that post for another time. If you’ve already done your tree like the majority of can’t-wait-to-put-up-my-tree people, then just file this away for next year.
When you take your tree out of the box, it’s smushed (technical term) to fit. Take it out and put the bottom section in the base and secure it, if it’s a pre-lit tree, check the lights on this section before proceeding. You don’t want to get your tree all together and find that one section of lights doesn’t work. It’s aggravating. Trust me on this. FLUFF this section (another technical term) and insert the next section(s) in the same manner, checking each section of lights and fluffing a bit as you go. The fluffing step is the most important! (After lights, lights are really the most important, but fluffing is second on the important list.) You want a full looking tree, not one that looks like it survived a tornado. You’ll need to give your final fluff after you’ve put your tree together and checked all the lights. Tree branches are forgiving so bend them and manipulate until your tree looks like it’s all one glorious full product of nature.
If your tree isn’t pre-lit, add your lights. There are many methods of “doing lights”. None are wrong, whatever works. But I’ve found that starting at the bottom of the tree and working up is the easiest for me. Count on using a minimum of 100 lights per linear foot of tree. (Example: a 7 foot tree would require a minimum of 700 lights.) I like to use more because….well, I love lights. If your lights are worn out with lots of burned out bulbs this may be the time to upgrade to LEDs. Just as bright but don’t use as much energy and don’t get hot. Don’t throw your old lights away. There are a number of recycling options. Google “Recycling old Christmas lights” for sites and shipping instructions. If your tree comes in sections, it may be easier to do your lights a section at a time, right after the fluffing. String your lights by wrapping each branch and tucking your lights into the greenery before moving on to the next branch. The object is to hide the wires so that your tree looks like it was born with lights. You know, “natural.” Place lights the length of the branch all the way to the trunk so that you give the appearance of lights coming from within the branches. Do a final light check and fluff. This is the most tedious part for me. I want to get on with the decorations! But nothing destroys the look of a beautifully decorated tree quicker than visible, dangling wires. So take your time and get it right.
Once your lights are on, add your topper. What? Isn’t the topper supposed to be done last? Perhaps by raising your little darling up high enough to adorn your creation with the crowning glory? I’ve had the pleasure of watching a 10 foot tree laden with ornaments fall over by leaving the topper until last. Lesson learned. Add any smaller ornaments to this area now as well. You can thank me later. Taller trees, especially slim ones can be a bit prone to wobbling, particularly if the “front” of the tree is laden with ornaments and the side that’s in the corner has none (why waste the beauty of ornaments hanging them on a section that’s never seen?) My tree sits in front of a sliding glass door so I have to put ornaments on so that it’s purdy from the “back side” too. It still wobbles and I find I hold my breath when people come to admire it and want to touch it. My Christmas nightmare isn’t of Christmas past. Nope. It’s of that tree falling over and crashing on top of a dear friend. Who will be picking mercury glass out of her hair for years.
Place your largest heavy ornaments at the bottom, towards the trunk where the branches are sturdier. Reach into the middle of the tree and hang ornaments close to the trunk the entire height of the tree. This will also help with giving the tree a full look and help disguise the inevitable spaces in the interior. No matter how good you are at fluffing, you’ll end up with empty spaces. Large ornaments make these look like part of your design. Clever, no? Work your way out on each branch, adding ornaments as you go, ending with the smallest lightest ornaments at the tips. I like putting more than one ornie on each branch. EACH branch. It gives dimension to the tree. Don’t be one of those people who throw a dozen ornaments on and call it a day. Those people have no respect for the beauty that is a Christmas tree. I pity those people. Don’t be one of those people. Buy more ornaments.
If you have a set of ornaments with only three or four to the set, place these in a triangle so that it appears you have more than just three. Two lower, spaced apart, one higher and in the “middle.” This tricks the eye in to believing there are more ornies. Do this with every small set of ornaments you have. Don’t be afraid to overlap ornaments. Hang smaller ornaments on the same branch in front of a larger one.
Step back frequently during this phase so that you distribute your ornaments equally. Add any florals at this point, or feathers. These can be tucked in and help disguise the fact that there aren’t a lot of ornaments on a tree. It’s a good trick to use if you like to change the color of your ornies every year and don’t have many, or if you are just starting out. (And an old window designer trick of the trade.) I’m a garland goes on last woman, so after you’ve placed your ornaments add your garland. If you’re into ribbon, there are two schools of thought. One is to add the ribbon after the lights. The current ribbon craze is to go vertically with ribbon, starting at the crown of the tree, tucking it into branches as you make your way to the bottom. Then add ornies and floral picks, feathers, etc whatever you’re using to adorn your tree. The second method is to put your ribbon on after the ornaments. You can also add your ribbon the garland way, just wrapping it around the tree. If going vertical, plan on purchasing about triple the amount of ribbon you think you’ll need, each length of ribbon should extend from the top to the bottom of the tree. That’s it, you’re done. And look at your wonderous, glorious tree. There is no prettier tree in all the land. Except mine. Mine is the prettiest.
CREATING a sanctuary isn’t difficult. But there is a simple “rule.” Incorporate your senses; Touch, Sight, Sound, Smell, and Taste. Bring things into your home that bring you pleasure in some way, whether it be the sound of music, the touch of smooth sheets, the taste of your favorite food, or a smell that brings back memories. Use things that you feel are beautiful. Surround yourself with things you love, things you treasure. All your senses are important. Today I’ll focus on the sense of smell.
There are many ways to use your sense of smell in your home. You can incorporate scented candles, use one of the many oil diffusers, or the scented wax cubes that are melted in decorative electric “burners.” I particularly like the Scentsy brand. The selection of scents is amazing and the scent lasts longer in my home than other brands I’ve used. There are burners styled to play nice with any design style, with table top burners and mini plug-ins that go directly into an electric socket. (Those take up little room and fade into the background if you don’t want to put one on a table or counter). I change out the scents I use for the seasons, or just on a whim. The wax cubes are reusable and last for a very long time. This isn’t a sponsored post. Just my experience.
You can also use Essential Oils, like Lavender or Eucalyptus, Peppermint, or any scent that strikes a chord within you. I use a few drops of my preferred oil mixed with water in a spray bottle to mist my sheets. Getting into bed at night on smooth sheets that smell good seems like a luxury.
Old fashioned scented sachets tucked into drawers create a feeling of being pampered. Opening a drawer to a delightful scent is a wonderful way to help create the sense you are home, safe and sound, in your own sanctuary. Make sure the scents you choose for your home play nice together. There’s nothing sanctuary like about competing odors, no matter how good they smell individually.
Use fresh flowers. Fresh roses, lilacs, gardenias and some lilies give off a delightful aroma. Pamper yourself and your home, place some vases of cut flowers around now and then.
Bringing in potted plants to help clean the air in your home is something else you can do. Especially during those months when our homes are closed up tight, winter, if you live “up north” and during the hottest months in the deep south. Peace Lily does well indoors, along with varieties of Philodendron and Pothos. Plants also add a touch of nature and provide texture in a room.
Smells bring back memories quickly. I can still visualize my elementary school classroom whenever I open a fresh box of crayons. The smell of cinnamon brings back mornings with my Grandmother baking cinnamon rolls. I still remember walking into my aunt’s home and how good it always smelled. It smelled like “her.” Lemon still reminds me of My Grams’ after one of her marathon, clean-everything-that-isn’t-moving days. um, I moved…. a lot. And quickly. I was afraid I’d go to school smelling like lemon if I didn’t move fast enough.
I never thought about my home having an odor (other than worrying if it smelled like dog), but apparently it does. My daughter-in-law told me that when she was testing new Scentsy smells last spring, my Granddaughter (youngest at the time), said; “Oh, this one smells like Grams’ house.” Um, did it smell bad? Weird? Have that “old person’s house odor? What??? I don’t smell anything when I walk in my home! YIKES. What do other people smell???? I guess it smells pretty good, at least according to my Granddaughter. She sat inhaling that scent for a good long time. I bought it. Turns out she thinks my house smells like “Satin Sheets.” Who knew???
Farmhouse. Bungalow. Beach cottage. Mountain cabin. Urban loft. Tract home…Wait. What??? Tract home??? ( Cue the sound of cartoon brakes screeching.) When I used to think of my ideal home I often pictured a farmhouse, surrounded by rolling hills, or a beach cottage smack dab on the white sand. Even a darling bungalow in my city’s desirable, older neighborhood. Or the top floor of a high rise with stellar views of the city at night. I never pictured a tract home in the middle of the suburbs, surrounded by strip malls, endless rows of gas stations and drug stores. Yet that’s just what I live in. Although my husband argues that it isn’t quite a “tract home” since it was designed from two different plans from two different builders and isn’t like any other house in our neighborhood. Splitting hairs are we? Whatever.
For the sake of this blog, let’s just call it a tract home, or cookie cutter home if you prefer. Not that there’s anything wrong with a tract home. Far from it. It’s just that when it comes to blogs, many, if not most, offer names like, Farmhouse number (insert a number), Cottage on (insert woods, lake, mountain), Bungalow on (insert street name). No one ever says Tract Home on a Hill….or Beachside Tract Home. Although those are catchy titles. When I decided to blog, I tried a number of cute names, “Brown Dog Farm” led the pack for quite a while. Since it’s a play on my last name and I had a brown dog. Once. I don’t have a brown dog anymore, nor do I live on a farm. Hmmm, what to call a blog that’s about loving where you live, decorating on a budget and being content? Voila. My Suburban Sanctuary was born.
My home is located in the suburbs of Tampa, Florida, just outside the bedroom community of Brandon. It sits on a quiet street in a community of about 500 other homes, also situated on quiet streets. I am lucky that when we built this house we got to choose our lot. It’s large as suburban lots go, narrow, but long and we have no backyard neighbors. A must have for me at the time. This house is also a compromise between Mr B and me. I wanted to live in the country, he preferred closer to the city. He was commuting then, and needed to be within 30 minutes of the airport. This was the best of both worlds. Close enough to make the commute bearable, far enough away from the city that I could garden in private with no one peeking in my windows.
We’ve been in this home a number of years. While we’ve managed some updates, most of the house is still waiting for its spit shine. It still lacks character. It needs details. Now we have the time. Mr B retired last fall. I gave him the HONEY DO LIST that had been decades in the making. We are beginning to add character to this home, one room at a time, accompanied by the sound of some grumbling and low key groaning. um…..no not me, I’m singing Hallelujah!
My goal is simple. I want each and every room of my home to bring me pleasure as I walk in to it. I’ll be blogging along the way, with tips, tricks and ideas on turning this not-quite-tract-home into my personal sanctuary. Hope you stick around.
Does the world really need another blog?? Probably not, but it’s too late now, cause here I am. In all my glory. My first post on my first blog. CRIKEY! It’s exciting and a bit nerve-wracking. I have a new-found respect for bloggers. Who knew blogging would entail a crash course in things like; WordPress, platforms, hosting, and will somebody explain just what a widget is and why I need them?
It takes a certain amount of courage to post one’s thoughts and opinions and throw them out there for the world to see. (um, thanks to my granddaughter and 2 of my friends for being the “world” thus far). They’ve heard my opinions before though, so it will be interesting to learn if strangers think I have anything valid to say. I also realize I need to keep my thick skin in good repair because not everyone is going to love me (What?? Is this even possible?) and not everyone is going to agree with my opinions.
BUT I have Big Love. HUGE love. Love for decorating, especially with antique or vintage things and architectural salvage. For taking pictures. For rescuing fur babies, for music and reading and for “hunting history,” otherwise known as genealogy. I want to share that love with my friends, and my soon-to-be friends. So please join me as I decorate my home, redefine its look and feel, search out ancestors, listen to music and read books. Perhaps we will learn something new along the way. One thing is sure, I want to help you LOVE WHERE YOU LIVE and CREATE YOUR VERY OWN SANCTUARY, whether it’s in a house, apartment, condo, manufactured home, tiny house, house boat or even a travel trailer; whether it’s located in the Burbs, the Country or the City, everyone deserves to have a sanctuary. Let’s get busy creating one.
Recent Comments