Useful & Beautiful

have nothing in your house that you do not know to

be useful, or believe to be beautiful

- william morris

We are a cluttered culture. We crave filled spaces - in our homes...in our lives. We have junk overtaking our drawers, multi-car garages, storage sheds, and possibly rent storage space down the street. Think about that for a moment.....we actually pay for extra space to store our extra stuff.... All of this "more" we thought we needed is sitting somewhere else collecting dust.

At every thought of this lifestyle, I've seen a glimpse of freedom. Freedom from the clutter, freedom from the stress, freedom from the burden. Most people don't look at their house and say, "I think I need some more junk mail piled up on the counter and maybe another load of laundry just sitting by the couch." I don't look around my home and wish I had more clutter. But isn't that what the "more" we're always wanting becomes? Just more sitting around with no purpose, seemingly no value, taking up space, and growing another layer of dust. It's time for a change...I'm trading clutter for useful and beautiful.

About 2 years ago, I had a vision for this skinny little wall that separates my living room from my kitchen. I was never really happy with the items that graced its space. Until one day, I stumbled upon an idea on Pinterest (shhh...it's my other love). The idea was simple and had this sort of industrial beauty. I enlisted the help of my dad to find the boards and the next time he was visiting we went shopping for the other pieces. Now it's one of my favorite walls. Not only did I find a way to make this little space useful, but its purpose became something for beauty.

These are found to be beautiful - art, gifts, and memories.

I'm done with the notion of having something in my home just because someone else has deemed it trendy. I want my home to showcase not just the things I find useful and beautiful, but highlight all the things that I do that are beautiful - raising my children, spending time with family, cooking for those I love. From now on, my collections will consist of laughter, love, and memories.