024 | A Simple Refresh
Cultivating sanctuary in our homes is about setting the stage for how we want to live in a way that fosters refreshment and renewal. This time of year, the tone I want to set is both festive and calming ( All is calm, all is bright ). Sometimes the way I do that is with a simple refresh using what we already have.
Case in point—this beautiful ceramic vase was a wedding gift from our niece and her husband. Since we moved into our house six years ago, it has held dried hydrangeas from the garden at our old house. Surprisingly, they held their shape nicely, but they were really faded so it was time for a change. The dried hydrangea arrangement I cut this fall was looking a little bedraggled, so I moved the best pieces—along with a little pop of blue—into the ceramic vase that will return to its place in the shelves in our lower level family room.
The result—a simple refresh that uses the best of what I had and now makes space for a lovely poinsettia by the fireplace. The cut glass vase (one of my dad’s golf trophies! ) that held the dried hydrangeas will now hold extra pine cuttings from the tree we’ll get tomorrow plus a few other decor items I have from past year’s outdoor pots. I’ll have an arrangement that lasts through Christmas at minimal expense.
You can do this too by changing the mix of things that are displayed together, moving a beloved item to a new location where it’s more of a feature, editing out extra items to create a simpler visual vignette, or shopping your own home. Remember there’s no right or wrong way to do this—pay attention to what gives you calm or joy or whatever feeling you want to create in that space.
What fresh tone can you create by using what you already have in a new way?
