I had trouble with this move. And I didn’t expect it.

Oh, I knew the packing and unpacking was going to be a pain. And I was concerned about the pets settling in. But I didn’t even give a thought to settling myself in. I was excited about school starting, I was a little worried about having to live with people, but I really didn’t think I’d have trouble with the basic idea of this isn’t home.

But oh, I had trouble. Meltdowns a-plenty. We’d work all day, painting and organizing and generally doing everything possible to make this space comfortable, and I’d wake up crying because I was homesick. It was silly. Humiliating in the clear light of day, but there ya have it. It wasn’t home. I was so far out of my comfort zone that I couldn’t even see the comfort zone.

Part of the trouble was just that I’m not ok when my surroundings are a disaster. And it’s not just about unpacking the boxes, sad to say. It’s about making it pretty. Making it my own. And now, I think I have.

Here’s what I began with:

and here’s where I am now:

The most exciting part of the transition is my new study area.
I was initially planning on using my existing bulletin board (the moss green and orange George Morris print on the left) as the palette for the living room, but then I noticed myself dreaming over images of beautiful turquoise oceans on Pinterest, and decided to go with a slightly brighter color scheme. I painted the walls a gorgeous shade of blue, the desk a deep chocolate brown and covered the bulletin board and keyboard tray with a beautiful turquoise , green, and brown paisley print. (It’s Soma Merona Latte. Freaking fabulous.)

I absolutely love it. I love it all. I’m going to spend lots of happy hours here.