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11 August 2012

A Very Waldorf Home-y Post

I have been a crazy busy mama this week.  One of my regular solutions to feeling rubbish is to have a good clear-out of accumulated rubbish, sort the house out, make my spaces beautiful and useable.  It's the large-scale equivalent of banging pots and pans about in the kitchen after a row.  Whole Life scale wobbles require Whole House scale chaos.  So I came up with a plan.
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You know all those times I've talked about Waldorf Perfect, and how I'm not and not even aiming for it?  Still not.  :)  Still Imperfect.  Still Complicated.  Still the rainbow mad-house overflowing with clothes and books and wellies and art projects.  Still resisting categorisation.

And when Martin came home from work one evening, he found that I'd done this to the hall way:
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Yup, I Lazure painted our house.  In rainbow colours.  With murals of angels all up the stairs.  I know.  Believe me, I know.
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Husband actually says he loves it.  (He says that after so many years here, the house feels like it's actually OURS!)  But his face was a picture, well, I'm guessing it was a shock...  I can imagine how it looked - rainbow hall, wife sitting on the top step with baby in arms, painting a mural, with paint in her hair (mine, not the baby's).  He's a very tolerant husband.
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The Plan also included a whole day of indigo dyeing...  My mum took the three olders out for the day while we did that, though.  See: magic...  Still green...
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And now it's blue!
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We even dyed the gloves.
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If I don't feel exactly cheery, I at least feel tired-in-a-good-way.  I have lovely organic yarn drying on my line, and some neglected areas of the house are clean and tidy and newly painted.  I have new pegs in the hall and the sling storage has been sorted out.  There are fresh flowers in my living room, the dining table is clear, most of the laundry is away, and there is new artwork on the walls.  I feel a little more... empty.  A bit less complicated and messy.
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That's not perfect, but it's a good deal better.

13 comments:

  1. Oh I am a little envious of the homeliness. The problem with moving house is that it will take years for it to feel like ours. Silly, but even having a usual dumping ground (like your kitchen table) is all part of the familiarity which makes a house a home. We were going to resist decorating for 6 months (nearly every wall is white), but the dining room/play room is a cold little room and we have just discussed paper and paint lol. I read on another blog that the Mama had said her goal at home was to not only make it safe and warm but to make it the most beautiful place on earth for her family. The place they most want to be, above all else. Its kind of obvious, but I have never really expressed it as directly as that. I think you are definitely getting there, seems you aren't a white wall person either lol
    Val
    xxx

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    1. Haha nope, not a white wall person! Aw, I'm sure you'll have fun making your new house homely. :)

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  2. Wow, I truly LOVE the painting in your hallway, it beautiful. I showed it to Warren and he thought it was amazing and said you are a clever and inspiring mama :)
    Xx

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    1. Thank you Sue, and Warren too, so kind. It was much easier (and quicker) than I expected, once I got into a rhythm. :)

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  3. Ooops, completely the opposite here, much to John's shock! After years of colour and mismatch and constant changing I have just had him paint the whole downstairs white. All the way through - living room, kitchen and dining room. Loving the calmness of it right now, and the children all think it's great. The olde ones say it makes it more homely because you can see all our stuff istead of it being hidden within the colours of the walls. I think youve got to live with a house for a while before you can see how it should be for you?
    Love all the dyeing yarniness :)
    xx

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    1. Haha I reserve the right to change my mind constantly. But colour is *just* what I needed right now. :)

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  4. Ooops re-reading my comment it reads like I'm disagreeing with your post - you know I'm not, right? :)
    I think your wall looks great and it might well be the type of thing tht comes here when I get bored with the white - which I'm sure John is hoping will take a while.......
    Good for you listening to what your soul is calling

    xx

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    1. I didn't take offence in the slightest, all I "heard" was you sharing what your home and heart are enjoying. :)

      I only get offended when extremely hormonal. ;)

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  5. I love the painting. My hall/stairs is the only place in the house we have not painted. It is also the only white wall, wallpaper the type that is lumpy not sure of its name, it is not me at all. Your whole house will be one beautiful mural :)

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    1. I hate textured paper! It's everywhere in this house. :S

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  6. Love the painted hall. Awesome! :) and so very you xxx

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  7. loving the painting!! wondering if hubby would have a fit if I attempted something like that lol! I love it though!

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Penny for your thoughts? :)