I view the start of the New Year as a time of cleaning out and simplifying. Many of us start dieting or exercising, or vow to quit smoking. Since I don’t smoke, and I enjoy coming in smack in the middle of a middle-aged-group 5k, I start the New Year by a “cleansing diet” for my home. It seems like during the holidays, my house gets more and more filled with stuff. Albeit beautiful stuff, (such as the prettiest Christmas tree I have ever had), it is still stuff, and by January 3 or so, I am worn out by all the visual clutter. So, I perform my annual “home cleansing diet.”

This year I vow to pack my ornaments in an organized fashion. Since the local big box store is already out of plastic ornament bins with individual sections, I am going to create my own. I will use a large plastic bin and line the bottom with our four Christmas stockings (myself, two kids, and the dog). Top that with a few sheets of acid free tissue paper (found at any craft store, or recycle what you get from the dry cleaner), and then a layer of my heaviest ornaments, all wrapped in more acid free paper. Then a layer of cardboard, and the lighter ornaments on top (why do I feel like I am making an ornament layer cake?).

Although I was once told that folks who leave their lights up all year long are bordering on tacky, I think outdoor lights look pretty when they are covered with February snow. Hey, if Tavern on the Green can do it, why can’t I? So, I leave out the white lights, but I do agree that red and green should go back in the attic. The pine garland comes down too, because it turns brown in a month anyway… when I am just too cold to go outside for anything except to run for the mail.

Back indoors, I remove all the other signs of “Merry Christmas” but I always keep some accents of red, since red adds warmth to the winter. I plan to sneak out one night a trim a few clippings off a local holy tree. Just a few sprigs are going to add some festivity to my winter décor. As does pine -- I may add pine branches in a stone vase. I will keep the red candles and ornaments that I placed on my white carrera marble tabletop. I think this year I will also keep my pair of miniature pine trees. Now it looks like a warm house in Aspen, minus the Christmas holidays. And it is so much less cluttered. Christmas décor is fun, but decluttering helps greatly to increase a feeling of calm and serenity. Add in some red for a hint of spice, and my house is ready for a cozy winter’s night!

# # #

REBUILDING THE FIRE

Home is more than a collection of furniture; it’s a feeling. It’s cozy, it’s warm, it’s calm, it’s peaceful, it’s cool, it’s serene … One of my favorite homes belongs to my friends Bobbie Joe and Andy. It’s a perfect size, not too big, and it’s cozy, it’s warm, it smells like cinnamon and apple pie and firewood in the Fall. It has a front picture window that has a 100 mile view of the mountains. It has a center fireplace that is the focal point of the entire home. Open on both sides, we sit on its hearth and share wine and laugh and tell great stories. And a few years ago, this wonderful home burned to the ground.

My own home has been special to me. I designed it myself. Every hinge, every knob, every floor plan, every tile. It’s calm,
it’s serene. It’s white, with touches of gray, and faint hints of pale blue. I designed it to make me feel peaceful… to look like a 50 year old beach house that had acquired a patina. But my own life, like Bobbie’s and Andy’s, takes its own turns. I am getting divorced. And now I am moving my family away from the beach and into a little cottage in town.