Thursday Tutorial: Home Decorating the Sentimental Way

This week's tutorial is about home decorating...yes, I know, really do we need another blog about home decorating...BUT this one is a little different.  I was doing my normal internet browsing...you know the place you go to online after all the emails have been replied to, the exams all graded, the house all picked up, the kids all in bed, yada yada yada.

So I was browsing and I came across a free download of the sheet music to Silent Night.  Okay so what does Silent Night's sheet music and home decorating have anything to do with one another...well you see...in this tutorial I'm sharing my philosophy on home decorating.  Your home should be about creating a space that makes you happy, that makes you comfortable, and reminds you of the experiences you have had in your life.  It should be a reflection of your family and what inspires you as a family.

Any person can recreate the pages of the Pottery Barn or Ballard Design Catalogs at a cost, of course.  Yes, your house will look beautiful and complete...even polished and finished.   Sounds nice, right?  The perfect pillows fluffed in the perfect position on the chic couch that looks great (oh wait, but isn't that comfortable to sit on.)  Wouldn't it feel a little empty?  Wouldn't you be missing the YOU in your house?  I think so and so does my heart.

So back to that Silent Night Sheet Music and a happy heart...

When I begin thinking about how I'm going to decorate a space in my home, I always consider my budget...but I also consider and think about things I like or that represent a memory or experience for me or my family...so I came across this free download browsing...or maybe even on pinterest...

You see every Christmas Eve me and my whole extended family go to church at 11 pm at our country church.  Every year at midnight, we end the service much like other churches singing Silent Night by candlelight.  And every year, I cry, no wait, wail like a baby, but it's a good cry.  It never fails...I just can't help it.  I'm not sure what it is...if we are all together as a family, whether it's such a special spiritual moment, or I'm just exhausted from all the holiday celebrations or maybe all three, but it always happens.  So when I saw this free download, I had to slip it on the desktop for safe keeping.    A few weeks later, I realized what I could do with it...frame it and hang it on the wall for a Christmas decoration.   So I have a cool meaningful decoration for the cost of a black frame from Wal-Mart or Target.  SCORE!

This has happened other times as well...I have this family tree in my dining room...well play room for now, but eventually will be my dining room...I found these really cool old wool letters, 1-5, several years ago.  I think I bought them for $2.00 somewhere. The hubs asked, "What are you going to do with those?"   My response, "I don't know."  Of course, he rolled his eyes as if saying here she goes again...crazy lady!  Well it happens there are five people in our family, so I thought one day...how can I use these to make a unique family tree...each person represented by one of the wool numbers?  So I traced a large oak tree from ...
another free download

Finished Family Tree

Then I added the wool numbers to the tree with a name plate on the tree.  Just a little tracing and taping and I have a unique family tree and one dining room wall decorated.

So the point of this tutorial is to grab up the things that you are drawn to in life and mean something to you...even if you don't know how you will use them right then.  They will be there when something creative comes across your computer or an idea pops into your head.  Add that shell that you found with your kids walking the beach on Spring Break to the decor in the bathroom.  Frame the sheet music to the song that you and your husband danced to at your wedding.  Then when you look at that decoration...you'll smile and be reminded of that moment in your life.  So throw away those catalogs you get in the mail and think outside the box or at least make room for those personal touches that inspire and keep you being the YOU you want to be in life.  This Christmas season I'll be smiling/crying over my Silent Night sheet music everyday!  That makes a happy heart!