Freshen up

As much as I love Christmas Bits around, I'm totally ready to get rid of them promptly, and I actually love the sparse freshness when all the accouterments are removed and stowed for another year. This year, I could hardly remember what I had in the way of Bits to fill the spaces. One thing that I have done is removed the curtains in the living room. They needed a good cleaning, plus with the new sectional sofa, they were a bit squished in behind it, and didn't hang well. Once they were down, the window didn't feel right. It looked far to small behind the weight of the big sofa, and a bit unbalanced because the sofa went right into the corner on the one side.

I started searching for a pair of old French paneled doors or antique shutters to use instead of curtains, however the prices of such items (around $450) was just way too much money for me to spend. Trolling through Home Depot the other day, I happened on a bi-fold paneled closet door in clear pine. It was $59 and I thought it would make a good pair of shutters for my now bare living room wall. So, I unhinged the pair, dry brushed on some paint called Pigeon from Farrow and Ball that I had in a sample tin, then a coat of flat white, and then took my mama's old camping style tin opener and bashed it full of little holes to take away the newness. Since they weren't authentic old shutters, I decided not to go overboard on the distressing, just enough to take away their freshness. They balance the space behind the sofa quite well, and are much tidier and simpler than the curtains there previously. 

Above my old pine cabinet, I've hung an old tin ceiling tile that has been framed in some old wood. I like it there with the books as it doesn't compete with the stacks of books that are housed here like the painting I had here did before.

Today, I'm going to purge at least 25 items. Yesterday I gave away a painting that I bought on a whim and shouldn't have. My kids, who are furnishing their own homes, like it when I do that.