fall redecorating

Every fall, when the kids are back at school and the house is quiet, I wander room by room, notepad in hand, making a list of things that need a change - things that aren't working for our family anymore, things that need to be freshened or organized or purged. It might still be blazing hot outside, but the urge has struck and I can't ignore it. The first thing I tackled was our little office off of the kitchen.

Originally an old upright freezer sat in this spot. Then Mike built the desk and I did my sewing here. Then we switched my sewing machine for the computer. Now Mike works from home most of the time, so we moved the computer into my sewing room so that he can have some peace and quiet while he is working. This little desk was staring me in the face, begging for a job to do.

Meanwhile, our family room in the basement was feeling quite cramped. There was a small table in the corner for coloring and crafts, but my kids' legs were getting too long for that darling little table and it wasn't getting much use anymore. So I moved all of the art supplies upstairs into our bright office instead. Moving things that I already own to a new spot is my favorite kind of redecorating.

As soon as I finished, Elliot got right to work. Ideally Mabel and Oliver will do their homework here, but you know they'll end up at the kitchen table, papers and books spread over every inch of it instead, right? :)


painting by Beth Allen