When true simplicity is gained
I was checking out a yard sale recently, looking over some furniture that was for sale. They had some Early American pieces and some Mediterranean style stuff, things I remembered from the 70’s and 80’s as being the trendy styles of furniture. Funny, I had a hard time feeling the least desire to own any of those styles again.
Times change and tastes change. Someone on the local news site posted an ad looking for avocado green ceramic tiles to fix their bathroom. My mother lives in the same area, and her bathroom has that green tile, so I knew exactly what they wanted and why. It’s impossible to find that same shade today, although I would say it’s more of a cross between olive and puce than avocado! In the 70’s the hot colors for decorating were harvest gold, avocado green, and burnt orange. To this day none of those colors appeals to me whatsoever. My tastes have changed. I want rich, vivid colors now, jewel tones. Where I use to like ruffled curtains now I like sheers and draperies. Gone are the curves and flourishes of the Early American stuff we had when we started keeping house. Now I go for styles with clean lines and no clutter, like Mission or Scandinavian.
The older I get, the less “stuff” I want to fuss with, the fewer hassles in maintenance. I don’t want shelves full of knicknacks to dust each week. Each day I declutter some area of the home and pack away or dispose of all sorts of stuff that today I wonder why we moved it when we came here, and why we’ve kept it all these years. I guess it comes from having more time on my hands
I don’t want to spend my “golden years” living in a museum of carefully preserved furnishings. What we have is meant to be used and enjoyed. I would rather enjoy the company of dear friends that worry about impressing the Better Hoimes and Garden set. It’s not that I don’t like order and beauty. I do! My concepts of order and beauty have changed. Order now means that my priorities are different: people matter more than things, events are more important than tasks to be done. Beauty is the sparkle in my granddaughter’s eye and the music in the laughter of kids as they rumble past the windows on our deck.
