I decided that before I paint my new studio, I wanted to try it out. Sitting at my desk, which I haven’t used since it was moved to this room years ago, I feel somehow at home already. Never mind that I still have a mess all around me, I can fix that. In fact, I cannot wait to do so. I am a master of decorating on a budget. It is a challenge for me to take items I already have and redistribute, refinish, and reuse them in new and different ways. I have found that a can of paint can change just about anything and it’s a whole lot cheaper than a vacation to the beach. Add a few well-chosen finds from an antique store or a thrift shop and you have a cozy and inviting space. Every time I feel I need a new job, I think I should advertise my skills as a shoestring budget decorator. I have arranged dorm rooms, from way back when I was in college up to all my kid’s rooms. I have decorated classrooms of my own and those of my colleagues in every school I have worked in. It is important to me to have a space that is warm and welcoming, but also functional. I love to arrange things to make that a priority.
Send me shopping for clothes, and you can just shoot me. I prefer blue jeans, a sweatshirt and my denim jacket to anything else. The only thing I like more is my PJs, but I cannot wear those in public. (Or maybe I should say I won’t wear those in public…I have seen worse than mine in Walmart!) I only wear shoes because I have to. Barefoot is my preference. However, if you send me into a home décor store, I will shine like a Christmas tree. It produces energy in me when I go in one of those stores. Antique stores have a similar effect. I can see items in rooms, and can picture things working together in harmony to create a mood. It sparks my imagination.
Needless to say this project I have taken on over spring break has me giddy. One of the main reasons is because it is MY space I am designing. I used to have an office, but it got turned into an upstairs TV room. Then I used the back porch, until the dogs took it over. Mostly I write on my front porch swing or at my kitchen table. Neither place offers me the solace I need to write. My art stuff has taken over the dining room table, and the sight of the clutter makes me crazy. This project will fix all those issues. I will have a door I can close to shut myself away, or to hide my mess. It will be my creative room where I can go as refuge from the world. A place to create art. A place to write. My OWN special room. I can picture it already. I know what I want it to look like. I am creating space and making room…those were the words I got from the Lord for 2013, and now they are becoming reality.
Tomorrow I will shop for inexpensive items to add to the furniture I already have. I will figure out how to spruce up some old curtains, and reclaim shelves from the past. I will decide on paint colors. You know you are a writer when you pick paint colors based on the names instead of the colors. I mean, how could you go wrong with a color named wind’s breath, silvery moon, winter solace, cobblestone path, or sugar cookie? I cannot pick a color that doesn’t have a fabulous name and most of them do. This will not be an easy decision, but it is thrilling just the same. For now, I sit on a box and write, but soon I will have a whole new space. My Refuge.