Notes From A Bohemian Cottage

Happy AlphabeThursday! Today my D is for Decorating. I am not good at decorating. I have good taste, don't get me wrong, of course I have good taste. I just do not know how to put it all together. Also, my taste is very...um...shall we say...eclectic. It is my mom's fault.

Growing up we always had a strange assemblage of furnishings and decor. A mixture of family pieces, antiques and odds and ends. A combination my mom's diverse flair for decorating and a lack of financing. Bookshelves in every nook and cranny, including the hallway! Nothing matched. I hated it. I just wanted everything to match. One year we bought a whole living room set, straight off the showroom floor. Overstuffed sectional sofa with matching (yes matching) end tables, coffee table and lamps. It was the one and only time I remember having a whole room in our house that...ya, you guessed it...matched. We moved shortly thereafter and that living room set was quickly pieced out, servicing new rooms and odd corners of the new house. We never matched again.

I knew that when I grew up and had a home of my own I would drive straight to the nearest furniture store, find my favorite grouping, wrap it up and take it home. Each room of my house would look just like a showroom. Sofas purposefully flanked by matching end tables. Headboards purposefully flanked by matching end tables, with matching dresser against the opposite wall. Everything. would. be. perfect. But as it turns out. I hate it. I hate matching furniture. Oh, do not get me wrong. It looks amazing at the store. It even looks amazing in my friends' homes. But it isn't me. Come on! Who was I kidding, my clothes never even match!

So here I sit, in my little bohemian cottage, full of hand-me-downs, thrift store finds and odds and ends. Bookshelves in every corner and a dining table in the middle of the living room.No real antiques because I am way cheaper than my mom. Nothing matches. Well except one sofa table and one end table that I bought together for our first home. They are in different rooms. I became my mother. Good thing. She lives in a wonderful space that really suits her. That is it I guess. Our space, our homes, our rooms must authentically reflect who we are. I was trying to make my outside into something that did not jive with my inside. I do not know why yet, perhaps just to rebel against my upbringing. I will have to explore that. But finally I have begun to make peace with my insides and am becoming more comfortable with showing that to the world. So, letting my inner bohemian shine through is a step toward living more authentically I guess. Well, that is all I have to say on the matter. For now anyway.

Quote of the Day: "I would be most content if my children grew up to be the kind of people who think decorating consists mostly of building enough bookshelves.

--Anna Quindlen author