Out with the Old and In with the New....

....and all that jazz!  How's that for a new motto?  Sound familiar?  How many times have you started out the new year thinking this same thought only to let it go somewhere throughout the year.  I know I certainly have!

The problem lies not so much in the second part of this motto, "in with the new" it's the "out with old" that we struggle with right?  If your like me, and I know many of you are, you really do want to organize and declutter and the New Year offers us just that kind of commitment.  

Let's take my new drapes for example.  It wasn't very hard to decide to change them out after I found them on the clearance rack at Hancock Fabrics.  I was even more thrilled to learn there was a further discounted sale on top of that to boot.  

I have been wanting to change the gold plaid drapes out ever since I repainted the den this past summer.  They just didn't quite go with my new color and had a dull look to them.  I've been wanting something new with a black background.

Why black?  Because my room is so large and the dramatic color draws the room in more making it much more cozier.  Additionally, I think black seems to be a wonderfully crisp and fresh accent in home decor.  Black makes such a classic statement in a room but it's the freshness that I am in love with.  Just paint any old piece of furniture black and suddenly you have a fresh new look.

If you wondering if my color of the year is going to be black...well, I doubt it, but maybe.  I do plan to finish off a few pieces in black that I have been hesitating on though.  I want to do this because it will get me towards the goal I have set for myself this year in choosing a "word for the year".

So without further ado....my word for the year is....

FRESH!

After giving this "word for the year" thing some serious thought, I couldn't help but grab hold of the thought or a feeling if you will, that has been in my head quite a bit recently.  I simply want more freshness around me.  

As you can see, this concept has been in my head for sometime.  Would you believe that right in the middle of all the holiday madness when I had so little time to even breath I literally spent one  morning polishing my silver.  Why?  Not because I actually used it, but because I was tired of looking at the tarnish that was accumulating on it.  The tarnish was a metaphor for all the things that seem to be piling up everywhere and detracting from the real beauty I want to see.  Now I can find beauty in the tarnish, really I can, but I don't want to.  I want a FRESH look.  I really do!

My new wine glasses and candle that my son and his girlfriend gave to me for Christmas were a wonderfully new FRESH addition as well.  The glasses are crackled at the bottom and slanted on the top.  I just love how sparkley the crackled glass looks.

The candle they gave me is an old wine bottle that has been recycled and has a wonderfully

 FRESH clean scent.  The bottle has this year's color of the year...emerald green.  Now that's a color I could easily embrace because is so FRESH.

I plan to embrace this word in all my home decor decisions this year.  I will ask myself before buying, is it fresh?  I will ask myself while decluttering and deciding on what to throw out, it is fresh?

I want to also add this to my blog decisions as well.  Is what I am bringing to you fresh?

For me, this doesn't mean that everything I blog about will be a new project or something that hasn't been seen before.  It means that it will not be some of the same old same old that you have seen around here with a little tarnish on it.  It means is will be something new and different from me, something FRESH.  

Now this is a word I can strive to live with.  How about you?

Thanks so much for all of you who have hung in there over the years with me.  I'm still hanging in here.  I will most definitely be fewer and further in between posts and I really do appreciate each of you who understands.  I am looking forward to the new year to see what it holds for me and definitely looking forward to seeing what all it holds for you!

Happy FRESH New Year Everyone!!!