Life has been very busy here and the summer has flown by, sadly enough. We've moved into our beautiful new home, I've closed my wholesale division and have been busy with preparing my current, as well as new- artwork for my licensing partners. Couple all of that with managing the summer activities of four children and...well, you get the idea!
I'm loving the fact that my days and nights are no longer consumed with billing, inventory control, shipping, etc... and that I can spend my energy creating new designs. I'm also preparing to take on new interior design clients in my new home state, which will require some legal preparations/licensing, etc...
In the interim, I've been decorating my new home. Interestingly enough, this interior decorator has the most difficult time decorating her own home! I guess you'd say I'm my own worst critic. Pair that with the fact that I'm meshing my fiance's furnishings with my own and you've got quite a challenge. When I first saw Eric's log home, I was very happy to see that it wasn't all decked out in buck heads, hunting rifles and bachelor pad furnishings. He has classic taste and had some great decorating guidance from his mother who has exquisite design sense. However, being a girl who loves to change the wall colors with her mood, I was a bit disturbed by the fact that I would never be able to paint the walls. I would forever be living with log walls, wood ceilings,...log / wooden EVERYTHING! But as time went on and I spent more and more time here, I realized that this was the warmest and most relaxing environment in which to live. These log walls surround me with warmth. I have also realized that the fact that I can't paint the walls actually reduces my stress level a bit when it comes to decorating my home. I will never have to worry about choosing the perfect paint color or whether or not new furnishings will coordinate with existing wall color. I won't obsess over which color to paint the kitchen, next and how it might coordinate with adjacent rooms! It's actually quite a relief as I can take a mental break from color selection when I am in my own home.
Eric has been building our home over the course of the past two years. There are still interior doors to be hung, curtains to go up, etc... He is also building our kitchen cabinets and island from scratch- right down to making the crown moulding from raw wood! He is quite talented and motivated, but has to do all of this in his "spare" time, making it a longer process than we might like, but saving tons of money in the process.
I know you're curious about how the decorating has been coming along, so I'm inserting a few photos here for you. Keep in mind the kitchen is unfinished (cabinet drawers need facing, doors made and installed, as well as the island isn't built) and we're still selecting the finishing touches for our home. A log home with lofts and high ceilings calls for some unique furnishings to be hung in some very high places. Those items will be selected over time and through our travels, but we have a great start otherwise and our individual furniture has actually meshed very well. Life is good, and I'm loving the country living!
