Inspiration and balance

My dear and lovely readers, thank you for allowing me to take a blog holiday and being there when I returned. I must say I feel very refreshed. Not only did I not visit my own blog, I did not visit many blogs at all in the time I was ‘in Paris with Sabine’ (catching up with my work).

Something I found out is that I am very suggestible and easily influenced by others opinions. I love reading others blogs, especially those encouraging of the French Chic lifestyle but find myself concerned with thoughts that are not my own. Does anyone have any suggestions on how they can stay on their own path and not be pulled off course by others beautiful writing and images? It even made me question reading books, but only for a minute though. And that thought especially stopped when my copy of Ines’ Parisian Chic arrived in the mail a few weeks ago.

Another thing to consider is the time factor. I have spent a lot more time off the laptop and in my life. And that’s what it’s all about isn’t it? Shouldn’t our inspiration be a springboard for our lives instead of being our lives?

With my quest to have balance, I will be spending less time on the computer and may not catch up with blogs daily. I hope you are not offended, but I may not even have time to comment, even though I will be reading. And in turn, do not feel obligated to comment on anything I post. Only do so if you really want to.

Of course I love receiving comments, it’s fabulous to have feedback, but I never want anyone to feel as if they have to or my feelings will be hurt. Part of being a grown up (and blossoming into a chic-er version of oneself) is deciding what you want to do and what you don’t. And not apologising for it. I hope I have found a way to continue blogging without it consuming vast amounts of time.

I also have another question for you. I would love to hear your suggestions for topics. I have many up my sleeve, but sometimes wonder if I don’t repeat myself. And if I wrote on everything that is in my ideas notebook I certainly would. I don’t think that would be a bad thing, as some blogs I love to read and have done for many years repeat their messages over and over. It creates continuity.

But for myself writing, I feel like I might be boring you. So I am putting it to you, is there anything you would particularly like to hear my thoughts on? You can let me know in the comments section (so much for not asking anyone to leave a comment!) or email me privately – how to be chic (at) gmail (dot) com.

Loving your home

Today, on my day off at home I did one of my favourite things – potter. Pottering is part housework, part moving things around, part prettifying your abode. We live in a small home, and it’s a constant effort to not let stuff take over. I make regular trips to the charity store with drop-offs and work my way around areas as they bother me.

Because our living area is petite, there is not a large difference in the way I can rearrange furniture, but I do it anyway. I swap the sofas over (they go well together but do not match) and shift the side tables around. I turn the rectangular dining table to face longways rather than sideways. The art on the wall is moved around.

All ornaments are taken down, washed in the kitchen and then put back in other areas. Sometimes some are put away and others are taken out. We have very few surfaces for ornaments and rotating them makes you appreciate them more. At the moment I have a white theme going on.

And while I’m doing all this of course I can vacuum every part of the carpet including corners and edges, and polish the tables.

I only do it when the urge takes me, that way it’s fun. It really makes everything look fresh and new, having been cleaned and the furniture and paintings/prints in different places.

When your home looks stale and boring, dusty and uninspiring, it is tempting to go shopping for some light entertainment and buy a rug, candle or doodad. Resist that temptation for when you get home again, your dusty and stale home will still be there and you will have added an extra piece of clutter.

A pottering day (or even pottering-few-hours like I had) is just the tonic. Your home will feel like a très stylish boutique hotel. Sadly the image above is not where I live. It's one of my favourite places to stay - The Langham Hotel.