Since I skipped my annual Spring cleaning last year due to the Coronavirus pandemic, I started early this year. And oh what a fine mess it’s gotten to be!
Tending to hoard things for sentiment’s sake, it took a strong act of indifference to put aside emotions and just let things go! Throughout the initial phase, the inner-conscious mantra repeated “out with the old, in with the new!”
Moving forward, I began to have a mental image of how I wanted my place to look, as it began with a typical “man cave” decorated on the cheap with items picked up either here or there.
But when I started buying things to replace the run-down, dilapidated old things, I faced the dilemma of what style am I achieving. There needs to be a “theme” when it comes to new acquisitions. Currently, the “motif” is industrial, and I don’t mean of the Restoration Hardware variety!
The industrial-look idea began when I constructed a coffee table from reclaimed wood from broken-down picnic tables and a rolling industrial rack from a long defunct factory in the area. My seating arrangement consisted of bent up folding chairs from a local conference center.
As things started to accumulate, I noticed that the “industrial” look was becoming co-mingled with old English, contemporary, and even a little African Tribal and Meso-American thrown in.
The “look” was morphing into an eclectic style, which is a good thing because it developed naturally, without an attempt to force a certain style.
As the “decorating on the cheap” methodology approached a couple of grand in costs, it transformed into what I call “a runaway project.” It’s no longer “cheap” but now an “investment!”
The next “Spring Clean” like this will have to occur long after my “ship comes in!”
