Why Do I Do This To Myself???

About a year ago, just before I started blogging, I was deep into the clutches of Rate My Space. Every free moment I had was spent browsing their site for ideas and once I got up the courage I even downloaded some pix of my own spaces. I had huge expectations. Boy was I disappointed. I got mostly good ratings and nice comments, but it was the negative ones that I remembered. I took them to heart and interpreted them as a personal attack on my taste.

Eventually I stopped torturing myself altogether and decided it wasn't for me. Ironically, it was Rate My Space that brought me to Blogland, where life is much happier and uplifting. On my last visit to RMS, I saw a space that had me at hello.

After corresponding with the homeowner, I discovered she had a blog. It was the lovely Kristen from Kristen's Creations, who mentioned that she had a blog, and that she was more interested in blogging lately than RMS. It piqued my curiosity and after getting lost for hours in Kristen's blog, RMS became a distant memory. The rest is blogging history. Later, I learned that many of us started out on RMS and experienced the same sort of discontentment and rejection.

Well, I don't know what got into me ladies. Maybe after a year of being away from Hate My Space, and a year of blogging, which led to a year of completely redoing my entire house, I got the courage to try again. Big mistake. The very first comment I received was a negative one. The feelings of inadequacy came flooding back. Just like being back in High School. What was I thinking. I received 4 stars, whoopie (and why do I even care?), but it was that comment that I dwelled on once again.

It was my family room, one of my favorite rooms in the house. We spend most of our time here and I recently added some new pieces and rearranged some furniture after taking down the railing - remember that?


Apparently, this space is not conducive to conversation. The seating is way too far apart and the rug is a bit too small. This comment came from a woman who by the way, didn't have any of her own spaces on RMS, just likes giving her 2 cents on other spaces. Yes, I looked her up. Am I demented? Yes! But was she right? YES! She was right! The seating arrangement is not close together. She also suggested I move the sofas to focus around the fireplace. Another great idea!


Of course all of that would require moving the massive entertainment center that I promised hubby we would never have to move as long as we still lived in this house. It would also involve a call to the cable company to move the cable to a different wall. I would then have to patch the wall from moving the huge mirror that is anchored to the existing wall to add anchors to another wall (more ginormous holes).

Yeah. Easy peasy. And guess what? I actually considered it!! Went so far as to start moving my sofas closer together. Uh huh. I lived with it like that too. For.about.a.nanosecond. Then I got a V8 and put it all right back where is was. BECAUSE I LIKE IT THAT WAY!

I have discovered that I don't need approval. I don't need affirmation. I don't need compliments. And I most certainly don't need to feel like I'm 15 again. Don't want to. Don't need to. Don't have to. I've said it before ladies and I'll say it again. This is why I love blogging. It is uplifting. It makes me happy. It makes me glad to be a 40-year-old stay at home mom with ADD.
I've also discovered that I LOVE my home just the way it is, awkward layout, too-small rug and all. I love my old desk that sits in a corner and is broken and in disrepair.

I love my fireplace that sits a mile away from my sofas.

I love my $4 bargain table that hubby bought for me because he knew I'd love it.

And I love my entertainment center and mirror exactly where they are.

Does this mean I am through tweaking? Certainly NOT! I will tweak to my heart's desire, but I will do it to please myself. And because it's fun. And because I enjoy doing it. And sharing it with you.

So, you may be wondering what ever happened with Hate My Space? I did what any normal person on Prozac would do. I sucked it up, put on my big girl panties, and removed all of my pictures.......;)

Do You Suffer From This??

I recently stumbled upon a new blogger and her decorating style quickly became embedded in my brain. Since then, I've taken several trips back to her blog as I often do when I find a blog that speaks to me. Becca at Adventures in Decorating coined a new phrase, or rather, affliction that stopped me dead in my tracks. For years I thought I was crazy. I knew there were others out there, but never knew it had a name! It's called, ADD, Attention Decorating Disorder. Symptoms include constantly moving accessories around, switching furniture out, painting and repainting your walls, and still never being quite satisfied with the end result. Besides being in love with Becca's decor, I was so glad to meet a kindred spirit, and one who wasn't afraid to stand up for the rest of us and admit it! My name is Kim, and I have ADD! Now please don't think for a second that I'm mocking anyone who really suffers from ADD. My own sweet 9 year-old, Amy, has had it for years and is on medication for it. I just love the idea at poking fun at ourselves for our innocent little idiosyncrasies. Are ya with me?

My most recent bout of ADD presented itself in my Living Room. I've been tweaking and tweaking and retweaking this room for months and I think I finally got it right, at least for now. I loved the idea of having a wallscape using some of the vintage mirrors I had lying around, (to see that post, go here) only every time I looked at it, it seemed "off". I couldn't figure out what was "off", just knew something was. SOOOO, after many nailholes and tons of spackle, I think I finally achieved the look I was going for. I just had the wrong mirror in the middle.



While I was at my In-Laws the other night, I found an old dirty mirror in a box in their garage. I asked them if I could have it, cause I'm bold like that, and they said yes! I came right home, cleaned it off and made the switcheroo. Poof! Perfection!


Now, go over to Becca's blog and check out her gorgeous home! Trust me, you will not be disappointed!

Tabletop Tuesday

Today I'm joining Barb's new party at Grits and Glamour, called Tabletop Tuesday, cause I like Barb, and I like tabletops.
I think this is such a fun meme to participate in because don't we all just love seeing eachother's vignettes and getting inspired by the beautiful accent tables and how they are decorated? I am always rearranging my accessories so this is a perfect party for me.

I'm only showing a couple this week because I wanna save some for future weeks, but these two are both in my Family Room.
The first one is my Great-Grandmother's old secretary desk I posted about that I was going to have refinished for my 40th birthday, but so many people talked me out of it because it would detract from the value, and I'm SO glad I listened! The part that comes down is off the hinges. I never got around to having it fixed, because if the top comes down it won't fit quite right in the space next to my sofa. And if I keep the top up, I can't show off the pretties inside! So, I decided to keep it just the way it is. Completely imperfect.




This little accent table Mr. MDB got me at an auction for $4. He saw it and immediately knew that I would love it. Isn't he the best! It sits next to the chair that my friend Michelle gave to me, which is next to the fireplace.


And that's it! I told you it wasn't much. But go visit Barb's blog to see beautiful tabletops!

More Pretties for Larkspur Interiors

I have some great new products I'd like to show you that are now featured on my Etsy store. I've been having so much fun since I started selling on Etsy with my BFF, Denise. And gosh darnit, I can't find me a good picture of the two of us at the moment, but I'll be doing a post very soon about this very special person in my life. Without her, I could not have done any of this!

Here are just a few of our new pretties.

Another beautiful Florentine tray.


An adorable tea set.

What I love about this tea set is that the saucers have a spot for the teacups that leaves plenty of room for serving scones!

Lots of Liberty Blue transferware, including this cup and saucer.


These cherubs are actually for mounting on the wall!


Love this sweet decoupage tray!


And a pair of little round victorian prints.



So much fun. Thanks for looking my dear friends and also for all of your support! Enjoy the rest of your week!

Heavy Heart

My heart is breaking today as we got the most devastating news in church this morning. Our beloved pastor has announced that he is being transferred this Summer to a new church. I know that this it the Lord's will and that everything is being done according to His master plan, but it is still so hard to deal with. Not 5 minutes before I heard this news this morning, we pulled into the parking lot and I turned to my husband and said, "Don't you just love this church so much? I'm so happy here." He agreed. Then we went inside. Please pray for us and our church that this will be a smooth transition for the church, our pastor, and the new pastor. Thank you.

Experimenting With My New Toy!

A year ago, I wouldn't have believed you if you told me that I'd be so into photography today. Then again, a year ago, I didn't have a blog. My how my life has changed, and in such a short period of time. I asked Mr. MDB to get me a new camera for Christmas. In case I haven't mentioned it in a while, my man is so wonderful. He knows how much blogging means to me and he enjoys reading my posts. So not only did he get me a new camera, he got me the best camera he could find. He even suggested I take a beginner photography class at our local community college.
At first I wasn't going to even use the camera until I learned everything about it. But Mr. Wonderful talked me into learning as I go. There are so many cool features to this thing.

I have been having so much fun snapping pictures around my home, that I thought I'd share some with you.
These were all taken in the Master Bedroom.




Some pix of the Living Room.



Why not step in the Dining Room with me?




Ooooohweeee! This is FUN! Saunter with me into the Family Room.


Step into my office.......

Hehe - can you see I tried to edit out the screen in that one?? Ha!

Back into the Living Room. I'm experimenting with the "antiquing" feature here.




Some random shots.





Oh gosh, am I getting carried away?? Probably. But thanks for being my guinea pigs! You guys are the best. And with my new toy I feel like a true blogger at last!
Thanks for visiting!