(((cat))) i did that moreso as a kid. i think i'd paing my room every other year and move things around as i could. i had a lot of fun doing it and i suppose it gave me a feeling of uniqueness. in retrospect, i needed that.

i do less of that now, but i still do love to paint when the bug bites. there's not much i can do as far as rearranging furniture given the layout of the place, but i do enjoy embelishing to make the place mine. and it does change, ever so slightly over time.

do i feel comfortable surrounded by the things i put around me? quite honestly it depends on the day. it really just depends on my mood.some days it feels so empty and other days i couldn't imagine being anywhere else so comfortable.

Before I had my own house, I used to rearrange my bedroom pretty frequently - like, 4-6 times a year (which was no easy feat with the monster of a captain's bed I had!) I'd tire of the layout, or I'd feel the need for something drastic to change, and this was all I could do. Now that I've got my own place, I rarely rearrange. Instead, when I get the urge for that big change, I throw things away/donate. I like the space as empty as possible, or so it seems!

quote:

Anyone feel comfortable in the things they put around them? Or change it as you change or to promote change?

Oh yes, I find a ton of meaning and significance in my relationship with my home surroundings. I love decorating, painting, adding and subtracting things. The changes often mirror something in my internal world or express a value, so my home feels very much like an extension of me. It's my favorite place to be.

I think my most recent change. . . I felt that the front of the house had too many right angles and looked too severe. Once something like that occurs to me it drives me crazy until I figure out a way to "fix" it. I finally bought six huge, drooping, potted ferns to hang across the front porch to add some poetry and softness. I love driving up to the place now. Whenever I come home from errands or whatever I'll sit a moment or two in the driveway to admire the new effect.

I'm also a quilter and right now I'm working on a wall hanging for the living room that will incorporate some religious symbolism that is significant to me, plus a ton of appliqued flowers, leaves, and vines. I have in mind replacing the clock with it. Not sure where the clock will go, though. . . perhaps I'll banish it. Analyze that, lol.

Fun to read about how people interact with their spaces. One quote that stuck out to me from a decorating book I read years ago was "We recreate past place experiences we treasure in our own homes." I like that sense of continuity and externalizing inward treasures.

I didn't do as much with my room growing up as a kid, but I did have a dollhouse that I loved to make furniture for and change up frequently. I think every kid should have one.