Visual Bookmarks

You know how some mornings you wake and are just filled with ideas and inspiration? Today was that way for me. It started with a fresh copy of the Dedon catalog landing on my bed to wake me up, thanks to my husband.

I immediately tore into the envelope, taking in the freshly printed paper smell, losing myself in the photographs of Dedon furniture shot in locations around the world, mostly outdoors in natural, lush environments. The cata-book was loaded with quotes, ones you've heard before but that you should never hear just once from the great minds like TS Eliot, Mark Twain and Albert Einstein. After immersing myself into what they call a product catalog (what I call a gorgeously photographed visual travel diary of stunning locations), I got out of my warm nest and looked up at my dresser and this is what I saw.

And I thought, "how pretty". Simple, yet so pretty. And then I examined the top of my dresser a bit and thought, "this is my visual travel diary, too". Because well, it is.

The things in this photo, to you, appear as just junk perhaps or clutter or the sign of a disorganized decorator. But to me, I feel happy when I look upon my things. Did I lovingly arrange them to impress you or present some idea of a lifestyle or trend that I want to be a part of? Um no, this is not impressive work, or even styling, trust me. It's just a free-spirited exercise that I took upon myself a few nights ago to lay out some of my treasures before me so that I could actually wear these things and not allow them to hide in the drawer any longer. I stacked things to add space, because the paper lamp is a bit of a show-off and wanted full attention and well, he is quite pretty so I let him have half of the dresser until I buy a lamp for this space.

Lots of this stuff is from all over the world, gifts from my husband, from friends, from myself. Flea market finds, vintage goods, new handmade craft, ethnic pieces from recent travels to Istanbul and Marrakesh. Together, they compose a bit of a song -- at least until I can hang my art, install some hooks for necklaces, add this and that to organize things. But in some ways, it is fun to just see a work-in-progress isn't it? To see something a bit messy but beautiful in its imperfection. That last sentence also describes me when I wake up in the morning, a bit messy. But my husband would say I'm beautiful and I'd add, "in my imperfection" because I'm not as confident as perhaps I should be when it comes to my appearance...

And next we can move onto the living room where I roamed after rising to get my camera because after all, that is how I took the photos above, and the one below in fact. Imagine that. :) And so I grabbed my camera, looked up, and saw the top of another table, a very imperfect arrangement of things, and thought, "oh yes, this is pretty too."

It is pretty, isn't it? Again, a collection of things that compose the diary that is my life. All of this artwork, pieces I had commissioned, pieces I bought as is, a gift from a friend, a painting/collage that I made, all of it will end up elsewhere eventually. On a wall, in a room, because art like this does deserve special treatment. But for now, leaning here and shown amongst travel postcards from Istanbul, paper craft from a local designer, my vintage ceramic vase filled with branches from my friend Ingrid (I took the berries off Ingrid, they dried up!) and tiny ceramic acorns, some from my friend Paris in Boston (that is really her name, Paris, lovely right?) and others simply a gift from me to me... they all look rather nice in this spot don't they?

All of what I have in my home is a bookmark for me, each item is a bookmark of where I've been, what I felt, what I hope to feel, and how I live my life or have lived my life or will soon live my life.

A home is only beautiful to me if there are signs that the owner actually lives there.

I hope you have a happy weekend. We had snow so the brown tree branches look as though they were coated with powered sugar and the sidewalks crunch, crunch, crunch as you walk on them with big, warm boots... But when you live in a city where hot spiced mulled wine is sold in ceramic cups for 2 Euros on every corner, you really can't complain about the weather because though your outsides are cold your insides feel real nice.

xo,
Holly