New year, fresh start

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I love Christmas decorations. The lights from the tree and the warmth of the decorations are good for my soul. I could sit by the  tree for hours with a cup of hot tea and a book. My favorite time to enjoy the decorations is the week between Christmas and New Years. By then, the hustle and bustle are over. I love this time. I go into hibernation mode. I reflect on the past year and make resolutions for the new.

In the meantime, my home normally goes into disaster mode. The decorations are on their last leg, and hosting family at the house has taken its toll. This would normally be a recipes for this mom losing her stuff and going on a cleaning rampage, but not this week. Every year this one week is my time to let it all go and reflect on the new, calmer me.

Fast forward to January 2...mom is losing her shit! The house looks like a tornado hit it. "Am I the only one who cleans around here??!!" I can't wait for the Christmas decorations to be down; my house to be back to normal; and the kids to go back to school. I need my house back!

Anyway...I love the fresh slate that the new year brings. I make the resolutions every year (exercising every day is never gonna happen). Even though I set goals for myself that aren't really achievable, I do feel that these resolutions are a stepping stone to a better me.

I feel this same way about my home. I have a ritual that I do with the house every year to start things anew:
  1. The Christmas decorations have to come down and be completely put away.
  2. All surfaces have to be cleaned, so that the last bit of dust from underneath the Christmas decorations is gone.
  3. All accessories get congregated together in one place.
  4. I pour myself a large glass of wine.
  5. I begin accessorizing the house to give it a new look.
I do this same thing every-single-year!

This year has been crazy because (as my husband likes to call it) "Snowmageddon" has hit our area. The kids have been out of school for 3 days, giving them a very long weekend, and giving me a reason to consume large quantities of wine. I could no longer take it! Yesterday, was the day!

The decorations are down and mostly put away (hubby is organizing the storage room upstairs, but out of sight, out of mind)...close enough.

I cleaned all the surfaces.



 
I corralled the accessories.
 
I poured myself a glass of wine.
 
I gave the house a fresh start.
entry table

dining room

antique door

wine bar
 
 
Unlike the resolutions to exercise and read everyday, this has actually been done, and it feels amazing! I'll keep those other resolutions next week. ;-)





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