Has anyone seen my mothers house? Growing up, it was to me like many kids' homes are to them: safe. Nothing really did match, though. I can remember in junior high, before my Aunt Anne came to visit (she is a fabulous seamstress and sews custom drapes with a great eye for interior design), being in Wal Mart with Mom. I had begged her to buy hunter green valences and a hunter green shower curtain for our bathroom (at this point, yes, we had ONE bathroom for FOUR girls, a mom and a dad. We surived. Take THAT you 4 bathroom families). I desperatley wanted that room to match. I am pretty sure that the valences are still up there and probably dusty as ever (we never noticed nor cared growing up). The shower curtain, I think, is down. I can't remember exactly. Interior decorating was not a concern for my mother or daddy. So long as he had supper ready when he came in from the field and his recliner chair free when he was ready to "watch tv" (doze), he could care less. The flowers that Mom would attempt to grow, would meet their fate when Daddy was on the Grasshopper. Our yards around the house have never really been watered. Mom is predictable with her pansies that she plants on the front planters (that used to be, I believe, watering troughs). Other than that, we are a family that really paid no to little attention on matching things or themes or holidays in our home. The Christmas tree would go up sometime in December and would stay up until the Epipfany. The decorations that would coincide with Christmas, consisted of the ornaments that us girls made in grade school. Second to the tree, the most important decoration for the Advent Wreath and the usual insane sprint, after meal prayer, to the piano to see who would read the meditation that evening. Usually, Daddy would intercede and allow Mel to do it, since I was the bossy one who would throw Mel out of the way. Naturally.
So, naturally, I am not all that keen on decorations for our home. Registering for gifts at Heart of Country in Holly, was a feat for me. Matching napkin rings with my napkins? What the hell? We only used napkins when company was over (and these would come out, naturally, at dessert, because Mom woudl forget to lay them out). And these weren't pretty fabric napkins. Too expensive!! We used the Shur Fine sandpaper napkins, if you were lucky. Usually, it was sandpaper paper towels. And, you are wanting me to choose napkin PATTERNS to match my placemat?! And a table runner?! Do you know where I COME from?! I had no clue. I went with the Lemon Pepper theme (there I go, acting all Better Homes and Gardens and throwing out the word "theme"). For our shower, we were blessed with many gifts from our registry from Heart of Country. If you are anywhere near Holly, you have to stop by Heart of Country. This store will blow your mind. It's as if Southern Living and Farm and Ranch Living met up and had a lovechild. And it is Heart of Country. I love that store. I go in there nearly daily.
Ah, yes. I said I go in there nearly daily. Yes, I am unemployed and really have nothing else pressing to do, then to enjoy a lunch with friends at Wooden Rose then hang out at Heart of Country. Within the past week, I have purchased several items to go with my Lemon Pepper kitchen and dining room; Lemon Pepper button-down valences, Lemon Pepper Rag Rug (picking that up today and am STOKED), Lemon Pepper table runners, and todays task: to find neutral chair paids to go along with, you guessed it, Lemon Pepper. I have caught the decorating bug and am absolutely loving it. Best part: when I tell Aaron that I want to get this or that: his response:
"Do whatever you want, honey."
Golden words to live by, my friends. Or should I say, Lemon Pepper words to live by.
I won't be that annoying woman who posts pictures, daily or hourly, of their home improvement renovations. That is annoying. And desperate. I'll just leave you with this picture of the valences I ordered (along with the dishcloth, that we received a million of from the shower and wedding). I can't tell you how many times I have said to myself "I love my life." Decorating freedoms aside, I am happier now than I have ever been. Except maybe when our bathroom, for a short time, matched a perfect hunter green.
