Hi Friends! Welcome.
I've been so excited about the Marie Kondo show on Netflix (who hasn't, right?!). I had discovered her book 5 years ago and it really resonated with me. Over the course of a few years, it really helped me embrace the concept of minimalism and made it ok to let go of things I had held on to "just in case." Her concept of "sparking joy" also hit home and I remember using that as a checkpoint every time I wanted to buy something new.
I was recently telling a colleague about the show and this idea of "sparking joy," and her response really surprised me, she said, “I can’t think of anything that sparks joy for me in my home, not clothes, not furniture, not anything. In fact, if there was a fire I would just want to get out safely with my family and I wouldn’t miss anything.”
Of course, I agree that if there was a fire, I would just want to be safe with my family, BUT I would definitely miss a few things, especially in this house. Now that we own a house, we’ve had the opportunities to decorate it with some things we love. For years, we lived with futons and hand-me-downs while living vicariously though HGTV shows and fantasizing while adding décor photos on Pinterest, so when we bought our house in 2016, I was SOOO ready to add beautiful things.
In Marie Kondo’s show, she asks people if items spark joy as a way of knowing what you should keep versus donate or trash, but I started thinking, surrounding yourself by items that spark joy is more than just figuring out what to keep, it’s about figuring out what you LOVE to look at every day. Things that make you go *ching*.
So I started thinking about what sparks joy for me in my house and the first thing that stuck out to me was a sideboard that I bought at Homegoods last year, it’s solid wood with an intricate pattern, was made in India and equally as important (to this budget-minded girl), it was such a great price!
As I looked at my sideboard I realized, this is a piece I would definitely carry with me through different moves and houses. It’s unique, the warm wood has a great tone and is neutral enough that it can go with different styles.
As I looked around I realized there’s so much more I love! Most of the things I love are actually art pieces or photographs from our travels. So what sparks joy to me, for the most part, are unique pieces and pieces that spark a memory of a happy place, a happy time, a great adventure. So here’s a roundup of just some of my faves.
Homegoods Sideboard
For about a year and a half, we had another side table here and while it worked fine, it was a bit small for the space and didn't provide any storage. I knew I wanted a sideboard here and that it had to be unique. I actually followed one from World Market with an old world, farmhouse style for over a year and when we finally decided to go buy it, it looked dilapidated in person, I was so bummed.
Homegoods to the rescue! We decided to check out Homegoods and I spotted this and I was like WOW and thought ok I really like this and it's probably going to be pricey, I'm willing to pay up to $400 (maybe). I checked the price - $250, WHAT! OMG I'M BUYING THIS IMMEDIATELY - CARLOS RUN AND GET A CART BEFORE ANYONE ELSE FINDS THIS! So yes, it was an exciting day, it fits perfectly in the space and it was meant to be. The end.
Paris prints and San Francisco art
These three pictures bring me so much joy. Paris is a special place to me because I studied French for 8 years and studied abroad in Paris during college for almost 6 months. When Carlos and I were dating just a few months, we took a trip to Paris with friends and it was such a fun trip, and surreal and romantic, and it cemented the fact that he was the one for me. We bought these cardboard posters there and I’ve carried them around from apartment to apartment until we bought our house. On a whim before our first house warming, I decided to frame them in these beautiful (and inexpensive) gold Target frames and love them.
The black and white picture in the middle is also a fave. While exploring San Francisco, we saw an arts fair and were attracted to a tent where an old Chinese man was hand-drawing type this art. His style was graphic and contrasting and it brought San Francisco to life in a comic-like manner.
I love the juxtaposition of putting these sets of prints together.
Prints from Savannah, GA
On our trip to Savannah in 2016, we went into a gallery located in City Market that had a lot of cool pieces. While a lot of the pieces were unique and our style, I hadn’t seen anything that really caught my eye until I turned around and saw this ethereal picture of a woman’s face shrouded in pink fog. I loved it and immediately could see it working in our master bedroom. Then I spotted the second picture of the woman with the bold lips and knew it was a match I needed to have. The artist happened to be born in Spain and lived around the world before he and his mom (who’s is also an artist) settled in Savannah, somehow his story made it even better. Sidenote: These are copies of paintings he did, I originally thought they were photographs. Pretty cool right?
Picture ledge with fave travel photos
We finally started to design our master bedroom last year (more to come on another post) and on one wall we added a picture ledge with favorite travel pictures. From left to right, cheesy smiles in Dotonbori, Osaka, Japan; Carlos posing in front of the lake in Parque Retiro in Madrid (during our honeymoon); and finally me posing in front of the coolest tree in Ibiza (also taken during our honeymoon, and this area in Ibiza made me feel very model-esque!).
So that’s it, a few of the things that spark joy in my house. What are some of the things that spark joy for you? Whether it’s home decor, clothing, books, stationary, etc, what makes you go “ching!”?
Thanks for reading. Byyyeeee!