So Christmas is over...

And all the décor is put away 

[mostly – if you consider it setting outside the attic door in the playroom ‘put away.’] 

or out of sight and that’s good. 

I alluded to, or actually SAID that my 

One Little Word / verse / thought for the year is simplify. 

When we moved into our old house almost 15 years ago we were a little appalled at how much STUFF we had accumulated in the nooks and crannies of the house we’d lived in for 13 years, so we agreed [‘made a rule’] to not fall to the same, 

hmmmm,  ‘collection’ tendencies that we had before. 

HA.

So the truth is – I’m getting a little overwhelmed with all the STUFF in our home.

I’ve long said that I’m much more creative if I have fewer options to work with and even went a couple of years with a Once a Month giveaway to pass on a lot of the creative things I wasn’t using… 

that stopped a few years ago…ahem. 

But I still do pretty well to always have a bag of clothes ready to go to Goodwill. 

 After all , most of my clothes come from thrift stores , or at a deep, deep discount, so I don’t have a problem passing them on once I’m tired of them,,, because, hey – 

I  know there will always be another $5 skirt down the road…lol.

[With flash / without flash - which do you prefer?]

I’m feeling overwhelmed with a lot of the stuff in our house, and while I regularly do things to de-clutter – it’s time to get back to the simple – and not just with the STUFF – but with my eating – the way I spend my time – etc. I’m tired of filling my life with clutter when there’s SO MUCH MORE out there than having my face in front of a screen.

All that to say, I LOVE reading decorating blogs and ideas 

of how to FILL your home with the beauty of the season! 

But I’ve just come to realize [again] that my soul is calmer if I’m not surrounded by clutter. So here’s my ‘winter mantle’ for lack of a better caption -  I still love this ‘shiplap’ above and the blue jars [that have been tucked away in the attic about five years!] 

I kept the deer out [and strategically placed a little milk glass candy dish that’s filled with pine cones from the our great sequoia trip three years ago to hide the ‘Merry Christmas’ on the front… lol.] I’ve added in the chalk board that my mama’s gr-daddy used in school and the black framed H on the other side…. I love it. 

And the simplicity of it soothes my soul. 

Shouldn’t that be what home is all about?