Room With a View...of My Clothes

Next to my family, the greatest love of my life,

is my house.

I really love my house.

I love

EVERYTHING

about it.

Really.

Within my house,

there are spaces and places I love on an even deeper level...

The Porch.

I could spend a day blogging about my porch.

There is much to say about The Porch.

What happens on The Porch, stays on The Porch

Confessions among comrades.

Truth-sharing, Soul-baring moments.

The Porch has magical powers.

The Porch is my all-time favorite space.

My Office

A long, narrow, pear-green, black and white, space

where I write, plan, create and read.

My office is my hiding place.

My sanctuary.

Children are not allowed to cross the threshold without an invitation.

They don't even ask.

The door is almost always closed.

It is a clean, personal, reflective, feminine space...all for me.

All mine.

I love this space, but don't spend as much time here as I'd like.

While it makes sense for women to list kitchens as a favorite space,

I will not.

For some, the Master Bedroom or Bath deserve special mention,

but not in my home.

I love My Personal Boutique.

My Dressing Room.

My Closet.

I read an article a few years ago, about organizing a closet, to create a store-of-sorts, where everything is perfectly suited and perfectly fitted for one specific customer. A shop, where everything lining the walls is just the right size, color and style for one person. Where upon entering, the client instantly sees an ideal assortment of garments and accessories designed with HER in mind. I LOVED this idea and jumped at the chance to create it in my home.

I replaced plastic and wire hangers (thumbs-up to Joan Crawford), with wooden ones.

Hung everything facing in the same direction.

Grouped clothes into families (The Pants & The Skirts are neighbors to The Dresses).

Organized each family even further, by color: reds, then oranges and yellows, etc.

Got rid of the too-old, wrong-sized, ill-fitting, nothing-to-go-with, cheap purchases of the past.

Lined my shoes along the wall, organized my accessories and...

Voila!!!

My closet improved 100%.

I decided to only fill my closet with things I absolutely loved.

To never again get into the trap of buying things just because they were on sale or in my size.

Vowed to resist purchasing items close enough to what I wanted.

Renounced my habit of getting things almost the right size.

Determined to buy less black, and add more color.

Committed to changing my style, spending-patterns and mindsets...

All in pursuit of a Fabulous Closet.

So, now I have a Boutique.

I shop there every morning.

I hang out there some in the afternoon.

It isn't celebrity-sized, or filled with expensive things.

I bet I have 1/3 the normal amount of clothing for women my age.

REALLY.

I have a few nice things.

Killer shoes and boots.

Pricey purses I've managed to collect over the years.

A couple of great scarves, belts and hats.

Yummy sweaters, funky tops and classic jeans.

I love EVERY item I own.

When I stop loving something, I give it away.

So someone else can love it.

My jewelry is an artistic display.

Necklaces, earrings and bracelets hang from a cork-board on one wall.

I keep a cutesy chair in one corner and two mirrors in other spots.

A retro portrait of a 1920s Flapper, putting on red lipstick, hangs between two windows.

Next on my list is a little chandelier, set of just-right curtains and a wash of paint for the walls.

I watched my mom powder her nose, blot her lips and put on mascara

from my perch on the side of the bathtub or atop the clothes hamper.

The Closet is where my girls gather, to watch their mother transform.

They like to swagger in my shoes and flash my jewelry.

They style outfits, and I strut their choices while they accessorize me.

I love this space.

When I'm blue, I venture into my Dressing Room.

I turn up my tunes and step into a pair of my highest heels.

I leave the Cranky Mom, Dutiful Wife and Under-Appreciated Everything Else,

at the door...and I dance.

My Closet.

My 6'x8' Fashion Vault.

I love my closet, therefore I am...

A woman.

And I love being a woman.

Crap, no pictures of the closet! No cameras allowed in The Boutique!