Spring Fever

The sun is starting to poke through the clouds, and the snow is melting fast. I'm getting the itch to pack away our coats and hats and so looking forward to opening our windows and letting the Spring air in. I've definitely caught Spring Fever, and it shows.

I've been trying to declutter...as always. It seems like a constant battle in my house. I've been busy donating old clothes that don't fit, trying to find new storage solutions for toys and blankets. Cleaning out cabinets and throwing out products I haven't used in a year. I've been pinning away at Pinterest and even convinced Rick to allow us to buy a new couch. (I keep telling him I saved him a lot of money by negotiating a couch instead of a new house. He's not buying it.)

You see, for a while no, Rick and I decided we would put our condo on the market this spring and try to move out the suburbs by the end of 2013. We made the decision based on some financial reasons, family planning reasons (no, I'm not pregnant!) and because I'm desperate for more space, more storage and a yard for Maizey to run around in. This has been our plan for months. Then I had dinner with some girlfriends a couple of weeks ago and came home and told Rick I changed my mind, I'm not ready to move out of the city. I feel too young, I love our life here right now, and I can suck it up and live without a basement or attached garage for another year. So we're staying put for now, and I got a new couch out of the whole deal.


So, let's start with my spring cleaning of the guest room:

We are so lucky that we have a very special visitor coming to stay with us for a little while, so I needed to freshen this space up, clean out the closet and give her some room to feel at home. This room has been my dumping ground since we moved in. The closet was stuffed with everything I couldn't find another space for.

Before

After

The window "shades" were pillows stuffed in the window frame to keep the light out. Seriously, how tacky are we!?

Before

After

And the artwork, well, that's for a whole different post. When Rick and I moved in together, he told me he really felt attached to this one piece of art he owned. An old friend painted it for him, so it seemed sentimental, and I let him keep it. (I don't even know who this "friend" is. He could very well be imaginary). I hung it in our guest room with the door closed so I didn't have to look at it. A couple nights ago, I asked Rick, "who was it that painted it?" and he mumbled some name which I've already forgotten, and told me we could retire the painting. So, in its place I did some crafting and put up a little something to inspire our guests to always feel the love.

Before

After

Onto the living room... for some reason, I've never managed to bring this room together in a cohesive way that makes me feel proud to have guests over. It's been five years of living here, and we've tried various arrangements, bought new furniture pieces, sold old pieces, and repainted. And still, it was a hot mess. Our couches were mismatched, uncomfortable and torn apart from Maizey. We have picture frames, books, toys and so much clutter hanging around, it causes me a lot of anxiety.

(On a side note, I am self-diagnosing myself as Organizationally BiPolar because I go through spurts where I can't organize enough, and then times when I let papers pile up and drawers get stuffed to the point you can't open them)

This pretty much explains it: 

Anyway, here's what our living room looked like before:

And here's how it looks like now:

Two of my favorite new pieces of storage! 

Okay, let's keep it real. This is what it really looks like:

It's still a work in progress, and frankly I think a home should always be. Otherwise, it's a hotel. We still have tons of toys scattered around and too many picture frames on every surface. But this is my home, not my staged house.

I can hardly believe it's been five years that we've lived in this space. It's funny how you become so attached to a space because of the memories that live in the walls and floors of each room. Despite my desperate desire for more space, I get a twinge of sadness thinking our time in this home is drawing to an end. I'm definitely feeling the urgency to make some new memories in here that we can pack up with us when then time is right. I believe strongly, though, that time isn't quite now. And I'm pretty darn thrilled about that.