Not Just Spring Cleaning

Since moving into my little house in February (I'm renting from some friends who live out of state), I have rearranged my main room several times...I'd say at least once a month. I'm talking entire pieces of furniture moved to different walls, and I did it all myself (well, except when my front door had to come off to get my "new" (used) couch inside...I had some manpower help for that haha).

I don't have any pictures to post, because I keep changing stuff around, but once I achieve the feng shui I'm looking for I'll reveal the final product. I haven't let anyone except family see my little house, because it's become very important to me that my house have the right  feel before I start inviting people over. I don't really know when that started, because when I first moved in I was really excited to have a housewarming party. I suppose it's because I moved in the middle of my last semester of grad school, and I was too busy to focus on putting my house together for the first 3 months I lived in it. Furniture was just kind of placed willy-nilly or in a "temporary location," and then every surface was quickly overtaken by textbooks, notebooks, papers, and writing utensils.

When I graduated in May, I took a good look at my living space and was flabbergasted to see how disorganized everything was, and how un-home-like it felt as a result. Now, I'm not a particularly organized person as it is (I can't keep my car or my room clean to save my life!), but I am a master at maintaining "organized chaos." Things may not always be where they "should be," but I always usually know where things are. In fact, well-meaning people (mom) who try to put things "where they belong" frustrate me to no end, because then I can't find anything because it's not where I put it!

But there's a fine line beteween manageable disorganization and total chaos, and for several months I teetered over the edge of the latter. Over the last several weeks, however, I have reached more of a middle ground, and I'm working my way toward the more liveable side of the line.

Once I've regained control of all the furniture that's already in my house (most of which are hand-me-downs from the house I grew up in), I'm super excited to start adding little touches that reflect my own personality and style. I browse and window shop all the time, and I've got my eye on items I found in Pier 1, Home Goods, Cost Plus World Market, and even Changing Hands bookstore in Tempe (along with the great selection of books, the store has lots of decorative knick-knacky things that I absolutely swooned over when I was there last week).

The style I'll be going for is "country cottage chic"...I've always said that I'm a big city girl with a small town heart, and my impending interior-decorating project is certain to reflect that!