Friday, November 19, 2010

Some SimpleSpacing

I didn't document each step with photos, but I will be sure to do so for future projects. 
Here are the (current) end results:

Refrigerator Before
(what do you keep in your fridge?) 

Refrigerator After
(notice the clean glass on the botttom...lots of work)

Bathroom After
(sorry, no before shot)

Bathroom Closet After

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

A Memory or Two

Do you ever get a feeling or a memory that you wish you could explain, but no amount of explanation would ever do it justice? A memory that makes you get a little twinge of sentimentality?

I had one of those today.

As I looked at this photo today, courtesy of Coastal Living, I had a flood of memories come into my mind. Memories of the beach, my childhood, and my family.

When I look at this photo I am 9 years old again. I can smell the ocean wind coming through the screen door. I can feel the sticky humidity on my skin as I walk outside, and the cool, dry blast of air conditioning as I come in. I can hear my family all around me, and I can see my brothers already running out to the beach to see who can jump in the water first. I can hear the North Carolina accents of my grandparents. I can see Grandaddy Roger sitting on the porch rocking chair, reading, thinking, looking and being.

I see the starfish in the window and I think of a sand dollar; they look similar you know. I remember the time I accidentally bit into a sand dollar that I spent hours trying to find. Sand dollars were the treasure of every summer. I remember crying about it because I was embarrassed, and because they are very hard to find.

When I look at the basket hanging on the door I think of the lunches GranBonnie used to pack for our days at the beach. She always made pimento cheese sandwiches--and none of the children ever ate them. I remember the smell perfectly. There were always Goldfish crackers in that basket. Grandaddy Roger always bought us a great big carton full of them.

When I see the mug on the table I think of the smell of coffee in the morning. I always knew that it wasn't good for me to drink, but I sure did love that smell.

For a moment, when I see the rock on the table I think of another memory from another place; I was with my dad along a river bank. I found a beautiful rock that I kept with me to always remind me of that special time I could spend with him; just the two of us. 

I'm grateful today to be able to remember wonderful times with people that I love so much. These memories are such a treasure to me.

Monday, November 15, 2010

And then there was light. . .

Thanks to a gift card to Lowes, that I won from this contest, I was able to update a few of our lamps for FREE.  Updated lighting is a great way to spruce up a room.

Bedroom Before

Bedroom After

Console Table Before

Console Table After

Living Room Bookshelf Before

Living Room Bookshelf After

Desk Before
(I like this lamp, but it was a bit too large, so we moved it next to our bed)

Desk After

Kitchen Before

Kitchen After

Wednesday, November 10, 2010

This is what I mean. . .

. . . when I ask my students to have clean, clear preparations and finishes. 

This is marvelous. 

Monday, November 8, 2010

For the Labels

Labels = Little inspirational hints during times of writer's blog block

SimpleSpaces

My mom is incredible, and not just because she gave birth to eight children and raised ten. 
Not only is she is an amazing dancer, and an incredible example of a woman with integrity, and she lives what she teaches, and she taught me basically everything I know, and she keeps an immaculate home (even when there were ten children under age eleven), and she shares everything with everyone....

But also because

She is an author of a book that is going to change lives. 

This book.


We are born with nothing, and we die with none of our earthly possessions; only the knowledge we have acquired. We arrive on this earth unclothed and empty-handed, and we leave in the same manner. What we do in the space between that entrance and exit is our life's journey. All that we receive, purchase, consume, handle, and call our own, facilitate this life. Knowing what is truly necessary and sacred is imperative: what to hold on to, share with someone else, or throw away. When we free-up our spaces of all that isn't vital, we free ourselves from the responsibility and concern for those things.

 As we simplify our spaces . . . we free-up our lives. 

-Kim Smith Yandow