Have I ever told you…

I LOVE SPRING!!!

Spring is so very good for my soul, my body, my home, my family. Spring is such a wonderful gift.

The following quote has really been affecting the manner in which spring is good for us this year:

that you do not know to be useful,

or believe to be beautiful.”

Designer William Morris (1880)

I’m working on making this true in our home. I have such a long way to go, but have been captivated, and I pray, changed, by this thought. Useful or beautiful. That’s all.

Here’s one of my first projects, in the dining room…The thing not of beauty (and too big to truly be useful in our small space) is the toy shelf. The baby is beautiful, and we’ve opted to keep him. Besides, in a couple of years, he’ll be useful, as well.

In the second (“after”) picture, the dining room is obviously not finished. But I’m amazed at how much more I like it without the toy shelf! The toy shelf is now out in the garage, holding most of the tubs of toys. We’re going to rotate them in three at a time, until such time as we have more space.

I am planning to make some sort of curtain for the understairs space, as it is still needed for storage, which is useful. But it’s not beautiful – yet!