Posted by leeran on June 6, 2003, at 15:29:58
In reply to Gearing up for the single life, posted by whiterabbit on June 5, 2003, at 21:45:22
Gracie,
My inner fantasy is to be a total minimalist. When people have compared my houses to my mother's they're always shocked at the difference (she is a combination of country living magazine and this old house).
As I've gotten older my decorating "style" almost borders on stark. It's for that reason that I love mid-century modern designer furnishings - mixed with an Ikea piece here and there - and primitive Asian pieces thrown in for good measure (Charles and Ray Eames also added Asian pieces to their mix - I didn't know this until a few years ago, but I felt a little bit better knowing that my medley hadn't crossed the boundary from eclectic to absolutely absurd).
Do you have an Ikea in your area? Some of their pieces can seem a bit . . . cheap - but others are designed to nearly mimic some of the great modern classics. Clean lines and NO patterns. "Sigh of relief" furnishings.
Candles, eh?
I wonder if ADD/ADHD people should really be called Aesthetically Design Driven? I've never had a house without dimmers on every switch. I'm always trying to create a two-page shelter magazine spread (my last house finally made a magazine and I still consider it one of my life's greatest "material" pleasures). The lighting of a room is everything to me. I'm a member of AAA (i.e. Ambience, ambience, ambience).
Interestingly (or narcisstically?) enough (since this is all about me, me, me - sorry!) - it was the time during my first divorce that I switched gears (stripped gears?) from traditional to starkly modern.
Clutter drives me mad - yet, I do still have pockets of it here and there.
I have fantasies about ridding myself of every last piece of junk that's hidden away - but the emotional energy and drive to carry through any task seems to escape me these days.
I'm so glad to read this post of yours about moving forward.
"Furnishing" your new life is, I think, a big part of the healing process. After many years of accumulating random "stuff" with another human being, you can define what and who it is you've evolved into via the landscape you choose to live against.
My ex-husband ended up with most of the furniture and I took things like cameras, VCRs, appliances. I didn't want any of the decorating vestiges of my former "life" following me into my new existence.
Good, good for you. It's been so rewarding to watch your progress these last few months. If Einstein is synonymous with "e = mc2," in my mind, you represent this equation: "grace = hope."
Hey, I thought others might like this website (copied and pasted below). I've been obsessed with the universe lately . . . perhaps because I want to move past my little world of pain. This powers of ten program had me transfixed yesterday.
http://micro.magnet.fsu.edu/primer/java/scienceopticsu/powersof10/index.htmlLee
poster:leeran
thread:231797
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/social/20030604/msgs/231957.html