“Creativity comes from trust. Trust your instincts. And never hope more than you work.” -Rita Mae Brown

I am finding that my mind is healthier all around when I include my creative side on a regular basis. Getting into, and voicing my interest in decorating has put a smile on my face and paint on my walls.

I have found that you usually know you'd like to put love into the rooms you live in, you just have a difficult time deciding and then getting out that sand paper and that hammer. If you are afraid of a permanent change, and not liking it or moving, that's why there is no end to the coats of paint you can put on a wall, and why they invented wall putty.

It is hard to say, "I am a purple/black girl, how do I make that a room?" or "I'd like my guest room to be gender-neutral and functional, what does this look like in MY home, and not in a hotel?" or "I just moved into an apartment on my own and am on a budget and have my great-grandmother's furniture...Help!"

Relax! A lot more people are in those positions right now then you think. You have the freedom to change as little and as much as you'd like. You put a lot into your life and the adventures that you go on on a day to day basis. You have a job, maybe more then one. You have kids. You have classes. You have load after load of laundry. You have roomates who don't clean. You have demands every day. And it is hard to balance it all sometimes. But at the end of the day, you come home. At the end of the day, you try to unwind and regroup. I believe it is so important to take care of yourself. And I do think one of the easiest ways to center and relax is if you get the place where most activities are centered around, the way that you want. The way that shows a little of who you are. The way that let's you know WHY you work so hard, and why you settled down there, and why you want to have your friends over to your place.

I have been blessed to have been able to paint every room I have lived in from deep reds to neutrals, and changed my bedding color scheme with nearly every move. So these decissions and budgets and garage sale huntings and bargain shoppings and crawl-space diggings are familiar and comfortable to me.

This is about the spaces I have helped with, started, worked on, and changed. It's about seeing options all around us, and making them ours. It's about interests and others' ideas that inspire me. It's about the shopping. It's about the comfort. It's about you. You are living  (relaxing, conversing, cooking, cleaning, changing diapers, hosting, working, wrapping presents, working out, reading a book, getting ready for work) in these spaces every single day. Let's make it yours. Let's Love Your Space.