Winter. Nothing brings out the interior decorator in me like the first smells of frost in the morning. For whatever reason, the winter season always makes me want to clean and redecorate. Much more so than spring. I've always done things a little bit backwards so I suppose this suits me. Something about opening up all the windows in your house when it's freezing outside to air things out. While sweeping with 3 sweaters and mittens on. I guess it's an adult version of playing Cinderella....?
As a child my mom and I always had a blast decorating for Xmas and the winter holidays. We travelled and lived a lot of places, so decoration was often inspired by the current surroundings.
In the South (USA) we feted a cowboy holiday. In California we had a tree with seashells and made Jumbo shrimp on the barbecue for Christmas day. When we moved more permanently to Canada, all winter white dreams came true. We had a large brick home on a big forested lot with two chimneys that would burn all winter. And the most beautiful snow! Tons of it, weighing the trees, crunching under foot.
Recently celebrations at my parents home have become less consumer oriented and more about the important things. Spending good time together, enjoying good food and walks outside. Most of our decorations have been handmade as activities we do together and since it's a large property there's lots of room for craftiness and experimentation.
Now that I live in the city in my own (albeit) tiny place, I want to keep that handmade cozy spirit going.
