Loving my new living room

This summer has been the worst for my family in a long, long time. My family had not three but four deaths—my husband just learned of another on his side over the weekend. I had a miscarriage, as did two close friends. I’ve had several dental issues, a tire blowout, a sick kid more often than usual and plenty of other tiny pieces that have added up to make it a really difficult season. I’m SO ready for fall and for some major positivity.

One of the quickest ways to change things, of course, is to do a quick makeover. Most of the women I know will change their hair when they want a change. I used to do this, too, but I’d love my short cut for a month and then hate it for two years while I grew it back. So this time, I decided to paint the living room. It was a green color from when my grandmother had it painted many years ago, and now it’s called “gentle fawn,” and I adore it.

I keep finding myself stopping and staring at my pretty living room, looking at all of my art and singing (to the tune of “Mambo Number 5”):

A little bit of China hanging there,

A little bit of South Africa everywhere

A little bit of Mexico on the wall

A little bit of Ireland, hear the call?

A little bit of Indonesia on the shelf

A little bit of Finland, there’s an elf (okay, it’s a moomin house, but there could be an elf inside…)

You get the idea.

How do you make a quick change in your life? Do your quick changes usually inspire more?

Photos courtesy of Sara S. I know they're cropped weird, but I took them around photos of Wood Sprite.