Oh, I cannot stand chaos, my palace is always the court of calamity and order.

Hi, Lux!

It's nice to connect with you again this month, dear friend! Moreover, this topic is of particular interest and relevance to me. For more than 20 years, Mrs. Shady and I lived in a house that had a high vaulted ceiling but a deceptively small amount of usable indoor living space. The lack of ample square footage combined with too much furniture resulted in cramped living. In addition, the large overhead volume created by the cathedral ceiling led to an unpleasant echo effect whenever people spoke, this despite numerous rugs, carpeting and wall hangings we acquired in an effort to absorb sound. Throughout those 20+ years, we kept birds, dogs and cats in the house. As much as we loved them, our pets created dirt and mess and added unpleasant odors to our indoor environment, not to mention noise. The same was true of indoor plants. Lovely as they were, they produced dirt and their leaking and overflowing pots caused water damage.

When we bought a new house and moved north two years ago, we vowed to correct some of these issues, and we did. We no longer have pets. The last one died a few months before we moved. Not having animals in the new house makes it easier to keep it clean, fresh smelling and clutter free. We also did away with indoor plants, choosing instead to decorate with beautiful artificial plants and trees. Although our new house doesn't have an awesome vaulted ceiling throughout the main living area as did our old home, the acoustics in the new one are much better. We can clearly hear each other when we speak. Instead of raising our voices and repeating everything as we often needed to do in our old house, we can now use our "indoor voices" to communicate. Good acoustics in your living space has a calming effect. We also adopted the minimalist approach you mentioned in your article. We didn't try to fill every square inch of space with furnishings. More open space is pleasing to the eye and eliminates that cramped feeling. The house has a basic muted color scheme. The walls are off-white and the flooring is brownish gray. In the great room, we started with area rugs that have a subtle gray and white pattern, then added dashes of color including a royal blue sofa, a world globe, an artificial bamboo tree and an artificial snake tongue. In the kitchen we have bright, mustard yellow bar stools, fruit bowls and other colorful accents. Throughout the main floor and loft of the house, we decorated the walls with framed art prints of classic 18th and early 19th century paintings. For calming mood lighting in the great room, we have a three-prong arching floor lamp, a fireplace and a set of flickering artificial candles. The quality of the air you breathe is also important for peace of mind. We have humidifiers to make the air more breathable in winter and dehumidifiers to do the same in summer. Keeping the house clean and clutter free is a never ending challenge, but it can actually be a joy when you start with the wise decorating choices you outlined. So Lux, those are some of the ways Mrs. Shady and I went "from chaos to calm" and transformed our living space into a sanctuary when we moved into our new house.

I'll be back with a new post at Shady's Place this coming Sunday, March 9, and hope you can stop in. Until then, have a wonderful week ahead, dear friend Lux!