Coat Closet Project

Awhile ago J- and I decided to embark on a closet project.

We wanted to change our home's 

1964 entry closet to something more eye catching.

Something like this...

Truth be told I really wanted to get rid of the closet all together.

Then my dear husband J- reminded me that the only place the kids

would have to put their stuff away was - the floor.

Hmmm...that doesn't work.

(even though that is where they usually put their stuff anyway)

This is what we started with.

Double flat hollow doors painted green with brass knobs

(contain your jealousy please)

Gradually we got to the framing phase.

It looked like this...

We built up the bottom and framed over the existing hollow doors.

Step two - primer.

Step three - painted it a deep butterscotch color.

This was the first color applied.

It was the first in a 5 step process.

Hydrangea blossom blue was the second color to be applied.

Then a crackle mixture to enhance it's character.

Finally, we applied some black spray paint along the corners to make it pop.

And VIOLA

This is our coat closet today.

Now it looks like a furniture piece instead of a closet.

Who would ever guess that inside those paneled doors lies a whole lot of mess ;-)

Monday Manifest

Pinterest



I am manifesting summer on the coast of New England
for the Life is Beautiful Project.

You can find it here

Accomplishment April

Big Things are Happening in April 

pinterest image 

Not a peep from me the entire month of March oh my.

That is because I am working a project….

image pinned from victoiremeneur.com

Not really a project that will produce tutorials or 

feature easy to follow step by step instructions

pinned from the paris apartment

more like

A life project.

One that will culminate into the life of my dreams

I call it the Life is Beautiful Project

pinned from trouvais.com

You can follow the Life is Beautiful Project 

at viedecore.blogspot.com 

Vie Decore means Life Decorated 

I hope you will

Cristine

I will still be posting here as well.

February Fondness

February kind of gets a bad rap…

I was searching the internet for a charming quote on the month February with which to begin this post when I discovered….

…that there weren't any.  

The shortest month of the year is described as "the bridge to March", 

" a suitable month for dying" and "when the days of winter seem so endless that no amount of wistful recollecting can be bring back any air of summer" ~ (Shirley Jackson)

As someone who lives in a cold weather state, I understand the isolation and melancholy that comes with days of putting on hats, scraping off car windows and waiting with shivers until the heater kicks in.  

I also understand the beauty of the one perfectly preserved snowflake that you catch on your tongue, and the sound of my children laughing as they glide down the local sled hill feet first and as fast as they can get them to go.  Every once in while (especially in this-one of the mildest winters in Colorado history) I do get a glimpse of spring -a lone daffodil poking its head out above the hard ground and just above the last snow melt (maybe even a wistful recollecting of a past airy summer-so there Shirley Jackson ;-)  

So when I think of February…

I will think of it fondly.

Fondly,

Cristine

All of the above images- except the first-were pinned on pinterest

Thank you to the creators who've inspired me and who've  shared their wondrous visions.

While I Was Working-can you make spreadsheets beautiful?

Can you make spreadsheets beautiful?

The word in which I am living into this year is 
BEAUTY
The goal is to create something beautiful every day.
I did not realize-when taking on this word-that there would be many days when I went to bed at night never having created something beautiful.  
The recognition of this often hit me as I was laying my head on the pillow after having spent the entire day working.  
Now…instead of taking the road of complaining-where I mention that the type of work in which I earn a paycheck is not the type of work I want to spend most of the hours of my life doing (sounds like I may have taken that complaining road a little bit ;-) but instead taking the road of how I am going to create the type of work that I want to spend most of the hours of my life doing and that provides an amazing paycheck!  

How amazing would it be if all of us could live off of our passions literally :-)

As part of this endeavor I have done some research on how to recognize what stops me-whether it be fear (mostly of losing something I already have or not succeeding at something that is really important to me), time, money, family responsibilities, self-doubt (this is a big one), being wrong (this is a big one too), not having control, having to start again at the beginning, not being good enough or important enough-as a way of avoiding hearing the word "no".  
Recognition seems to be the access into turning it around.

Now that I know what it is that stops me-I can apply a simple statement to each reason and watch them disappear
The statement that I am drawn to is 
"What will you do with this one wild and precious life" ~Mary Oliver
It reminds me  that life is temporary -one go round- and because life is temporary why not live it wildly?  Perhaps not reckless abandon wildly…although that might be fun every once in a while  ;-)  but without so much constraint, contemplation and conformity.  I am also reminded of how precious life is and how important to enjoy it while it lasts.

Mary Oliver also said 
"Instructions for living a life.
Pay attention.
Be astonished.
Tell about it.
Pay attention-be present -this is a mantra that I repeat daily in my quest to live a year of beauty.  Simply to show up and be present-that isn't hard and yet it is astonishingly transformative.  In fact in typing that last sentence I realized that perhaps the days in which I thought that I had not created anything beautiful wasn't true at all.  Perhaps it was those days that I experienced beauty the most-in being present with one of my co-workers or my children or my husband or a stranger and really listening to them -connecting…
 or being present with nature-noticing a flower that I hadn't seen before or feeling the cool February wind on my face as I walked down to the local food store for lunch..or holding my face up toward the sun (Colorado has actually been very warm for this time of year) and really allowing myself to be enveloped by the warmth and the light (sounds corny but it does take something to be present in today's world-I find it especially so when I am at work).  After all-this is beautiful too isn't it?  

It occurs to me that once I have consciously made the things that stop me disappear-all there is left is action-because there is nothing in my way.
A friend of mine recently suggested that I read the book The Happiness Project.  I trust her and her insight so I downloaded the kindle sample and after reading it -went ahead and purchased the book.  Mind you-I am not even five chapters into it yet but one of the things from the book that struck me was the author saying "when the student is ready the teacher will come".   I took this to mean that once I have allowed myself to be free of my constraints and to truly see what it is I want to do with my one wild and precious life (btw: really delving into and getting at what it is you really want is another step in embarking on the life of your dreams-The Happiness Project and a lot of  the research I did on finding out what stops me addresses this as well) then the universe will open up and opportunity will find me-opportunity being the teacher.  This also took away one of my most daunting questions- "but how do I do it?"  
The how will be obvious... all I need to do is step into action.  

One final thought keeps creeping into my conscious as I write this -that is not to undermine the life that I have or to suggest that it isn't enough or isn't what dreams are made of…after all I am a very fortunate person with much to be grateful for and much to live for and much that is already a life of dreams.
Rather….to say that living the life of my dreams is finding the balance-between time and love of family and friends; between service to others and time to myself; between travel and home ...in melding my work life and earning life into what really lights me up and doing it all in beautifully decorated spaces ;-)  

Sorry for the long winded post.

If you are so inclined I would love to hear how you will spend your one wild and 
precious life….
(G-rated only please ;-) 

Show Up, Be Present, Let Go, Create Something Beautiful, Share it With Others

This image is from New England Life.blogspot

Queen to Play

Have you seen the movie Queen to Play?

It is in French with English subtitles. I didn't mind the subtitles because the scenery is beautiful - truly breathtaking (I also enjoy the sound of people speaking French).

It is about a house cleaner who wants to learn to play chess. She asks a widowed professor (Kevin Kline) to teach her.

He reluctantly agrees (and spends the entire movie with exactly this expression).

Much of the movie takes place in his home (I could spend a lifetime there).

It is on an island off of the coast of France (I will need to get my atlas out to determine exactly where this spectacular place exists).

The professor and the house cleaner end up creating a connection while playing chess. She comes to see herself as a person beyond her profession and level of education and he begins to open himself up after losing his wife and living in years of isolation.

I adore this floor (aside from it being a giant chess board) it is marble and reminiscent of many old stately manors.

It is also the office building of a man who heads the local chess tournament championships.

 

Here is another view with a stone lion security guard (how wonderful is that?)

I won't spoil the end for you by telling you the outcome of the tournament-mostly because you really should see and feel this exquisite movie.

I will tell you that it is a glorious journey into what's possible for all human beings once we let go of the restrictions we place on ourselves.

This is a glimpse of the kitchen (very small by American standards but so rich in ambience and extraordinarily efficient).

So when you have a moment to spare click on Netflix choose Queen to Play. Sit back in your favorite comfy chair with a warm steamy beverage and escape to the coast of France.

While you are there take note that anything is possible and everything you need to live your dreams already exists in you.