Making Things Pretty

Normally I satisfy my creative passions by rearranging and decorating my house. But this past week? I’m rearranging my life. And it’s gotten a little crazy. (I am sitting in this room right now typing this update. Pull up a virtual corner on the sofa in my sun room and I’ll fill you in . . . ).

Ok, so things have gotten crazy, like I said. But not crazy bad. Definitely crazy good. In no particular order, the following has happened in the last week: I resigned from my tech sales job. I started a decor business. And I am starting a new tech sales job shortly after the new decor business officially opens. Like I said, life has gotten a little crazy. But it is the exciting and invigorating kind of crazy. The kind anchored by change and the endless possibilities that that change represents.

After all, our lives are a canvas on which we paint our destiny.

But for now, yes, I am voluntarily unemployed. But note that my wine rack below is empty, so so far – I’m keeping it together. (Oh geez, I just realized that that could be taken the entirely wrong way! Let me clarify: It is empty because I don’t have any wine – not because I drank it all due to self-inflected stress.) Pinky swear. (Do you like vintage stoneware and pretty white pieces like this pitcher? Or unique metal industrial pieces? I’ll have tons of both in my shop!)

When one of my former colleagues called me after my resignation to wish me well and I told him my plan to start a side business making things pretty, his reply really touched my heart when he said, “All of us should be taking time in our lives to make things pretty. I can’t think of a better endeavor.” (Thanks, pal – you know who you are!)

Cue pretty picture. Here’s one I snapped the other day of the vintage crib in my home office …. look at all that pretty stuff! (If you are envisioning me in a sea of throw pillows during this life chapter – that is probably pretty accurate. I have several super cute ones being made for the new shop as I type!)

And so that’s what’s up! I’m running around like a nut in a lot of interim (but fun!) chaos. So today’s blog post is just a little nugget/update/teaser type of deal and a whole lot of pictures I’ve taken around my home with my new camera Cowboy gave me for Christmas. (A necessary tool for me to showcase the fantastic pretty things you’ll be able to buy at our new shop soon!)

So enjoy the little tour as I learn to use the new camera. First up – our stairs in the dark winter morning . . . I’ve got some new plans for that little alcove at the top so stay tuned. Oh, and if you are fan of wooden signs like the “Me & You” one at the top of my stairs, gear up! I’m going to be the Mac Daddy (Mommy?) of wooden signs . . . there will be so many to choose from in my shop!

Next is a wider angle of my Instagram post from this morning and the featured photo on this blog post. I plopped a wreath I’d had forever in this wooden vintage bowl in the parlor and love how the red stands out against the neutrals. Although – our kitten is obsessed with these red berries and is acting like a maniac trying to eat them. There are plastic red berries all over the rug . . . so this wreath’s stint in the bowl may be short lived. (If you use wreathes for accents, our shop will be the place to find an assortment!)

And even though Christmas is coming down in my house as I type, here’s a picture I snapped of the hutch in our formal living room. (Guess what? If you stop by my new shop, you’ll be able to buy these corbels! They are a sneak peek of the some of the archtectual inventory I have compiled so far.)

I snapped this one the other night during the golden hour – I am so glad the former owner built this sun room at the back! It just beckons you, doesn’t it? (The vintage window on the right will also be for sale in our shop along with many similar windows and vintage re-purposed elements.)

One final shot – I take pictures of my living room all the time but here’s one with the new camera. Actual temperatures are going to drop to 25 below zero in a few days. If you need me, I will be right here in this chair by this fire! (Like some of these pillows? Our shop will be a throw pillow explosion, you can bet on it!)

Last but not least – the name of the shop is Grace 1972 and here is the logo! My favorite definition of grace is “undeserved kindness”. What a great place the world would be if we were all kind to people who didn’t deserve it. And of course, 1972 is the year my parents (a couple of kids in a trailer house) had me. It’s symbolic of the fact that all circumstances are temporary, so if you don’t like your circumstances – change them. You are the superhero of your own story.

Thank you for stopping by my blog! More details about the shop and the kind of inventory we will carry will be shared soon. Thank you for your support on this journey toward a dream. May it inspire you to nurture your own dreams, take some risks and make some changes on your own life path.

Peace, Joy and Blessings – 

~Audra

 

“See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.”

Isaiah 43.19