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Thursday, May 3, 2012

decorating with intention

I have been living in my new, smaller townhouse for 2 weeks now, and am just starting to feel "moved in". I am really enjoying not living with 4 other roommates, and am looking at the downsizing as an opportunity to exfoliate unnecessary "things" and create some innovative organizing solutions.

Being that I have been in school/continuing education for the past 7 years straight, I am lucky to be the recipient of my families "hand-me-down" furniture, dishes, and furnishing... but am dreaming of the day when I can purchase my own, "grown up" items (maybe with the help of a grown up paycheck too!) 

I am living for the Here&Now... but working toward making my "home" look more like the dream space in my head. To me, this means making do with what I have in my dated, small rental, and saving up for pieces that reflect my burgeoning style sense (still figuring that out!)... 
a process that is slow but sure, instead of just going out and purchasing cheap stand in items that I will no longer want in a few years anyways. 
{ Top Row: Finding new places for my shoes in less space // My Bar Car in progress // bookcase vignette }
{ Middle Row: Bringing in some streamlined accessories // A few of my favorites // creative organization of purses }
{ Bottom Row: My ampersand icon (to commenerate my blog) // Frank guards the bar cart // Doug is getting settled in }
Aiding in my purchasing/decorating with "intention" goal is the advice from the always inspiring Jess over at Makeunder My Life (MML). Her post on having "intentions" for her things, was pretty much everything I wanted to say and more (pie charts!)

When I graduated college and moved to Nashville to begin my PhD studies in 2009, my "things" were mostly "not nice stuff", meaning hand-me-down, Goodwill finds (see left piechart below).

Over the past three years of living in Nashville I have been making a concerted effort to "exfoliate" the items that I don't need/want/use. This has shrunk the amount of things, mostly from the "not so nice" category, thus bringing me to the middle piechart (less "stuff", but more of it is "nice").

Now that am living without roommates in my own space, I want to focus on increasing the "nice stuff" slice of my pie, while continuing to reduce the "not nice" things (working towards the right pie chart and beyond!)

piecharts via MML
My new "intentions" might mean that I live without bedside tables for a couple of months until I can save up and find my dream pieces, but sacrifices will just have to be made!

What are some of your long-term goals these days?
Decorating a space?
Saving up for a professional blog design?
Or maybe looking to purchase a statement designer purse for the new season?
Do share!
xx
Jessica


P.S. Don't forget - Today is the last chance to enter my Blogiversary Giveaway
The winner of a $25 gift card to Diament Designs' Etsy Shop will be announced Friday (May 4th) at 9am (entries will be counted through May 3rd at midnight)

23 comments:

  1. Oh fun! I love the structured ladylike bags this season - so awesome revamped in bright colors!
    xx

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  2. If you like those pie charts you should definitely check out more from Jess's blog, Makeunder my life (http://makeundermylife.com/)... she is my guru for daily inspiration (and the creator of those amazing charts!)
    xx

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  3. I love your pie charts! I will be doing the exact same thing in a year or so. My fiance and I will be moving to a new place and setting up home together, so it'll be a really fun time to decorate and create our space. I love simple design! Is that a mancala set I see in the middle row?

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  4. I completely agree with the less is more concept RE stuff... My problem is that I "exfoliate" too much and end up getting rid of things that I later think, "Man, I should've kept that!" On another note: I love your collection of style books (top right pic). Is the green book on top fashion/style book, too?

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  5. I want to get a quality designer bag (from Kate Spade, Douney and Bourke or such) that can be my stable this season.... In a bright color:)))

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  6. Go you! Good luck with your renovations. It really is never ending, isn't it! xx

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  7. Thanks! He has a giraffe brother, Lewis :)
    Oh they joys of etsy finds!
    xx

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  8. Yes it is! The bf thinks I am ridiculous for naming all of my "pets" and animal artwork! Moving to a new space is hard work, but fun... Nice to have a clean slate every so often xx

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  9. No way! Haha... But you can pet him :)
    xx

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  10. Town home is a nice word for it... It is an under 1000 sq ft duplex... Quite the downsize from my former 3000 sq ft, 3 story home I shared with 4 other roommates, and 2 dogs! But I think simplifying my life is a good thing. Would be interesting to see how much my life would change living out of a studio apartment! xx

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  11. Craigslist and yard sales are my best friends. It definitely takes some scouring, but there are great pieces to be found! xx

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  12.  PS - can i steal your doggy? :-)

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  13. townhome? this city dweller in a tiny one bedroom is jealous! i adore that pie chart - curating the lifestyle you want certainly takes time, i feel like I'm still stuck in the middle! super jeal of your purse collection!

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  14. Hahaha is that a triceratops I see?  SO cute!  I wish I had a nice new space to decorate :)

    XO,Erin
    http://erinscurrentlycoveting.blogspot.com

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  15. Frank is my favorite! 
    xo
    www.abitofsass.blogspot.com

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  16. Well, my list is endless. My husband and I bought a house almost a year ago and I'm STILL decorating and furnishing it.  At the top of the list... renovating one of the bathrooms.  This means I might have to put that designer purse on hold. :)

    xo, Yi-chia

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  17. I definitely have a goal of getting a new guest bedroom suit in the next year or so.  I still have tons of hand me downs and have been out of school for a while now.  Maybe you can motivate me!

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  18. Yes it is mancala... How the bf and I decide things :)
    xx

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  19. Ah! I can TOTALLY relate to this... Getting married and combining furniture proved to only keep the nicer pieces we each had and then we were able to purge a lot of old things with new from our wedding. The time will come and oh my gosh, it's SO nice. As much as I am a hoarder of clothes, it's nice to have simplicity and minimal things in every other area... 

    You've done an AWESOME job so far. And the crunch is more than worth it to find a piece you love... We went without a kitchen table for over a month....... HA patience! 

    Can't wait to see the little touches you put on it as you go, Jessica!

    Amanda
    It's an Easy Life

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  20. Happy 6 month blogiversary Jess!!!!! And you're right - great minds think alike. For so many years I got a rush from acquiring things - but now I get joy from getting rid of those things and only replacing with what I absolutely love. It's a fun process - and teaches you a little about what is important!

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  21. Im working on using my entire home and cutting down on clutter.

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  22. Yes, it is a fine line between a good amount and too much exfoliation... right now, I have way not enough exfoliation in my life! The green book is a Kate Spade Style book (part of a series with manners and occasions), found here on amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Style-Kate-Spade/dp/0743250672/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1336142521&sr=8-2
    xx

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Thank you for your comments, they make my day!!
xx