Design is Hard

A Perfect Gray left the cutest comment the other day.  I asked y'all your opinion (that phrase is so southern) about whether or not I could cover the backs of the bookshelves.  She told me I would laugh about her response, which I did.  Her books have been covered, uncovered, and now flipped around....just showing their neutral goodness.

It seems Sibella Court has a penchant for white books, too.

I even did this while staging our previous home to sell:

I did have a lot more color in our other home...but choosing only (mostly) white books and turning some around help to neutralize the bookcase a little.

You know, her comment about what she did got me thinking about how far some of us will go for good design.  Just like Carrie with her Manolos...

Some of us are willing to endure pain for good design.

One of my favorite rooms of all time..an image of the Brown Camp Lofts from Country Home Magazine (R. I. P.)

Some things I (and my family) have gone through on my quest for beauty...

1.  Arguments with my honey, Chris

He's a cutey, isn't he  (You can tell he is in the film industry...who else could deal with all that hair!)

I think he has now learned that this is my art; a form of expression of my heart.  It has been a long journey, though, for him to understand.  I think it took me a while to learn how to properly communicate this to him, too.  Now, he is so on board that he bought me my own toolbox and filled it up with decorating goodies.  That shows his support more than anything he could say.

Time:

Some shot someone caught of me in college and then put on Facebook (this is exactly one of the reasons I'm not on there anymore)...But, I was about a size 4 then, and a comfy size 8 now.

I have chosen this.  Any of you with young kids know that you get little, if any, time to workout.  I do get some...I have a great husband and mother-in-law.  But I don't use this time at yoga.  I do walk from time to time, but mostly I spend this time at antique stores or looking at paint samples.   

I really don't think you can have time for it all.  Am I wrong?

My kids pay another price.  They have spent as much time in Anthropologie or reading design books as they have in storytime or reading Dr. Seuss.

Here is evidence of Liam not on-board with my staging...

and a few seconds later.

I used to feel so guilty about it, but now I really think I am a better mom when I have my own passions to occupy my mind.  I do my best to be present with them when I am with them, too.  I am not always successful at this, but I try to be!

Good design takes a lot of physicality, too!  Moving and hauling and nailing are fun, but tiring.

Do you think design is hard work, too?  What is that old saying, "Anything worth having is a lot of hard work." ?

Oh, and some more work I did yesterday...here is a pic of my friend & client's house:

we're making progress....

Have a good weekend.  Julie