This week was one of those weeks in which my biggest accomplishment was getting us all through it. LOL! David was working on three large deadlines. Caroline was out of sorts most of the week. Things kept breaking, including things that were/are very new. I focused on getting through each day. I’d like to say I got through each day with a great attitude but, alas, that would not be true. If I’m perfectly honest, the events surrounding the state of the country have started to get to me a bit. My exasperation level is running quite high at the moment.
In any case, it’s Friday morning and we’re all still moving forward. That’s how life goes sometimes which I wrote about a few years ago in The Power of a Simplified Homeschool Life. I had great hopes for the week. They didn’t materialize. We adjust and keep going.
My general life approach and style of decorating is outlined in The Cozy Life in America (and Why I Prefer It To the Danish Hygge). As always, I’m a trendsetter (ha!) as I realized it is coming back in vogue a number of months ago when I started reading about the Cottagecore movement. (How to Cottagecore Your Life is a fun look at one woman’s take on this movement.)
You can see more about decorating with Cottagecore in the video below. The YouTube comments on this one are great. The women in the comments who have decorated this way for their entire lives (like me) have all sorts of other names for it. Whatever you call it, we’re seeing women moving to real wood furniture, Grandma’s china, antiquing, thrifting, wallpaper, feminine touches, real collections, etc.
Remember all those articles we looked at in the past about the stuff no one wanted to inherit? Millennials who didn’t want to be weighed down with things? Choosing cheap IKEA over solid wood furniture? That’s all changing.
I am thrilled to see the end of the depressing gray and minimalism trend. Honestly? I think it was deliberate part of the larger scheme of the Great Reset. I’m totally serious. I’ve been wanting to write a post about that and really should. Anyway, I’m very much looking forward to all that will be available in decorating and clothing if these trends take hold for the coming decade or more. Bliss!
Remember that we’re moving through the Fourth Turning and will head into the First Turning. The First Turning is very traditional, clearly defined male/female roles, etc. The pendulum is going to swing in a significant manner. I think we’re already starting to see this developing. (If you aren’t familiar with what I’m talking about, scroll down to the chart of the Moods of the Fourth Turning.)
Lastly, I spent quite a bit of time on things around the website. I added a page for my Newsletter Archive so people who are new can go back and read the previous editions. I added a Popular Pages widget in all the various sidebars. (Did you realize I have customized sidebars for the various topics?) I have many pages (not posts) that are indexes of information on all the big topics I write about. I want to encourage people to use them more so I’m in the process of updating them and making sure people know they are there.
I also worked on expanding my free printables a bit. I’m reposting many I had published before and then removed. With changes I’ve made online, I’m rethinking how I go about things here. I still have a few dozen to add that are learning, homemaking, faith, and personal topics so keep checking for what I’ve re-activated.
What is going on in your home? Do you have a specific kind of decorating style? I hope you’ll leave a comment!
Artist: “Portrait of a woman reading” by Ivan Nikolaevich Kramskoi
James 1:1-12
Sallie, I knew if no one else agreed with me that IKEA is cheap junk, you probably would. LOL! Thanks for the information about “cottage core”. Like you, I’ve also been decorating and dressing like this for most of my life. It’s very nice to see a young woman who appreciates these things. I was very disappointed in the trend away from it that millenials were exhibiting. Thanks for wonderful post. It’s a soothing balm for days like these.
Cheryl
I don’t really have a deocrating style, it’s more whatever appeals to me. I’m a fan of comfy hospitality or messy hospitality. I’m going to invite you over if my house is a mess, you’ll see some piles of things, or you’ll see some dust (I really should dust the cordenza), but you’ll still come over when the house is a mess.
I sometimes want a decorating style, but haven’t really figured out what I want.
Jeff and the kids were up in Dallas this weekend, and so I got a fair amount of stuff done. I reorganized the pantry, and got my quilt from lastyear partially quilted, which was nice, and a bit of writing/research done, not as much as I’d hoped because I got a migraine and spent Sunday curled up in pain.