A Decorator’s Notebook + Free Printable
Hi – my wonderful readers – I am writing this post from warm and sunny Florida, at the home of a very dear friend of mine who has been battling a second round of breast cancer the past few years. She peacefully passed away over the weekend and is now embarking on a new journey. I am happy that I have the type of job that I can get up and go at a moment’s notice so that I can spend time with her family. My posts this week will be on the light side. I know you understand.
Looking around her house – her personality shows up all over – what a happy home should reflect – the personality of the occupants should be the first thing you see as you enter a home – not a perfect piece of furniture or the latest color scheme but rather a reflection of the people who live in it. My friend, Suellen succeeded in this most important aspect of making a house feel like home. I smile when I pass the piano that she painstakingly refinished so many years ago, to the photos of her on vacation with family and friends that grace the tabletops and bookshelves, along with a few decorative treatments in her favorite colors that I made for her. Seeing these material things that had meaning to her has given me a sense of peace with her passing. She still is alive in every corner of the house. I see a life well lived.
One of the most poignant items for me was seeing her handwriting on a note to her daughter on the refrigerator. It was a reminder to turn off the coffeemaker, signed – Mom XO – all of a sudden this simple note takes on new meaning. Not just a note anymore, but something to be cherished forever.
These little things are helping me face what life ahead will be without her.
I do have a decorating ideas to share with you today – my latest post is up over at My Colortopia.
It is about my how I created and use a notebook to organize all the decorating info, fabric swatches, paint chips, room sizes and specs about the physical aspect’s of my house. You can find it here – Create a Decorator’s Notebook.
In the post, I describe how I use a room specification sheet for each room. I made it into a free printable that you can download. Click here for the .pdf. – Decorator’s Notebook Spec Sheet
I will post again on Wednesday. Right now I am enjoying a peaceful day – sitting outside in the warm sunshine – it feels so nice – much better that the cold and dreary weather that I left behind in Pennsylvania. I am going to get spoiled by it – this no winter coat needed –shorts and flip-flops kind of weather. I am going to have a bad case of Spring Fever when I get home. Get prepared for lots of colorful projects and when I return.