My House of Dreams: Part 1

Excerpt from Chapter 9 of "Anne's House of Dreams" by L.M. Montgomery:

"You've made this little house just about perfect," he told Anne. "It never was so nice before. Mistress Selwyn had your taste and she did wonders; but folks in those days didn't have the pretty little curtains and pictures and nicknacks you have... I'd be real happy even if we couldn't talk at all, when I come here--jest to sit and look at you and your pictures and your flowers would be enough of a treat. It's beautiful--beautiful." ~ Captain Jim

I'm deeply into the "Anne of Green Gables" series right now. I've never read them, or seen the movies, and I'm really loving the experience of the story. I will say that I am cheating though as I'm not actually READING the books... I don't have time. I'm downloading them for free from Librivox.org, which has a *gigantic* library of audio books available for free download. If you've never visited there, you need to. They're awesome.

Anyway, I download chapters to my MP3 player, and listen to them while walking or on the way to work. Not as good as reading the book, but it's the best I can do at the moment. I'm always so touched and blown away by the descriptions in the series, especially the descriptions about their homes. Patty's Place, Green Gables, Echo Lodge, the house by Four Winds... The descriptions of their houses leave me so enamored. I’d love to keep house like that.

I’ll be honest, I love my house, but we’ve been there almost 5 years and the honeymoon is most certainly over, so to speak. The few faults our house has are so much easier to focus on and all I can see is how it’s not arraigned in a way I’d like. Our furniture is a collection of what I had before I was Mrs. Stepford, what Mr. Stepford got while in the Army, and what we bought as a family not really for looks but because it was cheap. Our design theme is a mixture of “what was on sale” and “where it fits.” I feel like I live in a mismatched twenty-something apartment, not a grownups house. On top of that, we’ve outgrown our little house something awful. We have so much stuff, very little of it organized, and we’ve no space to do anything with it. It’s depressing. I don’t know if it’s early, pre-pregnancy nesting, me growing up, me having too much time on my hands… But I’ve never been more frustrated with my house than I am now at this very second.

But our house has so much potential. It flows beautifully, there’s so much light and warmth… Even when the trees are bare and the weather is cold, our yard is so pretty to look at and is the source of so much beauty. We have so much privacy and we’re still close to what we need. We’re surrounded by nature, but we also have a nice community nearby, so we get trick-or-treaters and kids selling door-to-door, and summer evenings filled with laughing people and children playing and even ice cream trucks going by. My yard is huge and has lots of trees, and we’ve managed to put out lots of flowers and plants that just feel like us.

I think this house could honestly be all I want it to be, if I could just get my tush in gear, weeded and pruned our stuff, found a way to dress up furniture we have or afford furniture we don’t have. Problem? I’m not a decorator. I can clean, but I’m not creative. So while I do the cleaning, I need you guys to give me ideas or suggestions. Really, any and all ideas are awesome. Show me pictures, show me articles, share anecdotes and articles, send me to blogs… I’ll take it all. :)

In the meantime, I’ll keep you posted on how this whole project is going. I promise, I will have an adult’s house by the time this is said and done. I know it. I just need more time, motivation, and of course, ideas. :)