All we need

"Be grateful for the home you have, knowing that at this moment, all you have is all you need."
-Sarah Ban Breathnach

Making an apartment a home:

Our beautiful bedroom shutters (that barely shut).

A few days after moving in I found a very flat metal box shoved to the back of a closet. This box was mysteriously heavy. Covered in stickers and labels of all kinds, torn and faded, I dusted it off and read the postage marked 1943. The thought crossed my mind, what if there's something freaky in here? Should I open it? Wait, what if there's stacks of dollar bills in there? Ha! So I opened it no luck with the bills... but that beautiful old reel of film was tucked inside, all strapped down with cords. I am still dying to find out what is on that film. Until then I found the most perfect place for it on our wall. Smack dab in the center, with the box top on the very left. I love to imagine the fascinating stories that little box could tell and the endless history it holds.

I collect birds and nests of all kinds. I found this perfect little nest and had to hang it on the wall. That beautiful oil painting with the shimmering golden tailed birds, was found in our apartment too. I was just in heaven finding all these treasures right in our old apartment. Every time I look at them I smile and think about how beautiful these aged pieces of life are.

         Our simple homemade headboard.

When you move five times a year,(ok, being a little dramatic)up and down stairs,in and out of tiny little apartments, big beds and headboards become your worst enemies!We decided our New York life will be one without headboards! Walking around the upper west side of Manhattan I found the man on our old street corner selling books. He is there everyday, same place, same time. With boxes of books spread across the sidewalk, he smokes his cigar and reads as the busy city goers pass by. I always take a look at his collections. I have found many gems in his stacks. This particular day I found old Beatles music books. I paid him five dollars in cash and rushed home as my head went crazy with all sorts of ideas and projects I could use these music pages for. I found some twine and clothes pins in my crafty bag, and hung this temporary headboard. John of course said "it needs texture" so he took all the sheets down, crumbled them up making the perfect creases and wrinkles, then hung them all back up. I love my little opinionated decorator man!

 Whether it be five stories up in the sky, or the ground level of a vintage brownstone, small and old and creaky, it is all we need and I love that!