Monday, February 13, 2012

The Dream House

A little history.  When I moved into my condo nearly 3 and a half years ago, I had the whole think painted (with the help of my family) in less than 4 days time. I spent well over a month choosing colors for the walls. I lived there just shy of a year, but I will always remember that first home that I bought with fondness because it was the first place that I made my own.

We have lived in our current apartment for 2 years and 4 months.  Our decor consists of the following:

-a gray sectional couch, that I LOVE ( it was the only thing we bought new, aside from a book case from IKEA)
-a few colorful pillows
-a few vases (one a wedding gift and the other flea market finds)
-two framed photos (one of just David and I and another of us with the dogs)
-lots of plants, in varying states of health
-4 dog beds
-white walls
-really hideous sheets on our bed
-a lot of mismatched furniture bought of eBay for cheap ( Our best deal so far has been a solid wood table, 6 chairs, china cabinet, and sideboard for 5€...yup, 5€)

We do not have the following:
-curtains (not really necessary because no one can see into our house. Also not practical because we have slanted ceilings)
- pictures or any kind of decoration hung on the walls
- a rug

While our apartment does feel like home, I feel that it lacks personality. Specifically, mine. (I should note here that my husband has no real interest in home decor.  He doesn't even care if our house is clean. :))  I spend a lot of time on the Internet looking at home decor blogs and website.  I cannot wait to decorate my home,  just not this home. I feel a little conflicted, especially since my parents have been slowly redoing their house for the last 2 years.  Let's just say I am a bit green with envy.

I think my hang up comes from the fact that David and I view our living conditions as temporary.  It is 100% certain that within the next three years we will move. Most likely back to the states.  Therefore, I makes no sense for us to invest our money in finding exactly the right table, bed, wardrobe, etc.  If we move to the states, we will most likely purge most of our belongings, such as furniture, electronics, worn out clothes, and so on.  Most likely the only things that will move with us are clothes, shoes, computers, textbooks (yes we moved textbooks to Germany) and a few select kitchen items (such as good knives). 

Another deterrent for me is that I just do not care for most of the decor choices available in Germany.  Don't get me wrong, I love color...just not red and orange which seem to be in abundance here.  I also do not care much for prints.  Particularly, when it comes to bed linens. I love solid fabrics with texture, which seems to be impossible to find.  I was given the gift of bed sheets (that I got to pick out) from my in-laws for my birthday in 2009.  In two years, I have yet to find THE sheets for our bed.  My idea of what looks good is just different that what I can find here.


David and I love to talk about our future home.  Big yard, on a lake, hardwood floors, open floor plan.  I have even found David searching through MLS listings looking for "deals."  What can I say, we like to dream.  David dreams about private lakes and I dream about a kitchen that is bigger than my parent's walk in closet. Some days I just sit and dream about closets...oh how I miss closets. I am not even talking about the "dream" closets that are all over pinterest.  I just want a closet and not a wardrobe. Period.  Sorry, continuing...Mostly we just dream about having a place to call our own.

Every cent that I do not spend "decorating" our apartment is just another cent I can spend decorating our house.  Call me crazy, but I think the sacrifice is worth it.  Besides, in the end it doesn't really matter what the place I live looks like. It only matters that it is safe, protects us from the elements, and full of memories.  Our apartment certainly fullfills those requirements.

Am I making sense here? Sometimes when I am home and starting at our blank walls I feel like I don't...

 

2 comments:

  1. Dreaming is good -- and in time, you can make them come true.

    Keep dreaming... it moves us forward.

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  2. I can totally relate! I also see our apartment as temporary and hope that in the next few years we shall move on to either a bigger apartment or house, so in the meantime I lack the motivation to spends loads of time and money improving this place!

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