Unexpected Decor Defining

Something really unexpected happened when I did my big closet purge.

Most minimalists advocate putting sentimental things on display whenever possible, to enjoy them and cherish them, as opposed to storing them away and never seeing them. 

      Blake has two pairs of cowboy boots that were his grandpa’s, a brown and a black pair.

      His grandpa John lived and ranched in North Dakota. I got to go out to his ranch once when Jasmine was about a year old. I will always remember grandpa John’s eyes sparkle when he told us this adorable story about his childhood and how he always wished he had dark hair like his brothers did, and how they told him if he ate burnt toast it would darken his hair.

     We’ve had the boots on the upper shelf of our closet, but once I got it all cleaned, I started conditioning all the leather shoes. And so while I had them out, I thought I’d try the display concept for at least a tiny bit.

I took the brown pair of boots and the quirt (a riding whip) that Grandpa John made for Blake as a kid, and set them by the mirror. 

I found this stunning antique mirror at Salvation Army once for $8. I was floating on air. It was sitting right next to a boring new mirror priced at more than $20. I couldn’t believe it. I am head over heals for this mirror. I think it’s me embodied into a furniture piece -- Every time I look at it, I think the wooden curves are my hair poeticized.

When the boots got near it I couldn’t get over how good the wood tone of the mirror looked with the boots.

I loved having a sentimental thing out for us to enjoy. And I especially enjoyed that it’s cowboy boots, because I have cowboys in my family history too.  I have done nothing cowboy-esque in my life. But I feel it in my veins anyway.

Actually, this story proves to me just how much it’s part of me. 

One time when I was a teenager,  I was talking with a friend, and I said, “You know what would be really hot? A British cowboy.” I’ve always had a soft spot for the English accent, and stuff from England has always really intrigued me. And well, that cowboy spirit -- if they were combined… well, I thought that would be amazing. But I knew that wasn’t a thing. England didn’t have cowboys.

WELL, come to find out (and this was totally unbeknownst to me at the time) one of my great grandpa’s was from England, and he moved to America and became a cowboy. My mind will never cease to be amazed by how that was part of my soul without being part of my mind.

So when I saw these cowboy boots next this mirror it reminded me of my British Cowboy soul. And all of a sudden I had a flash of clarity on my entire home decor personality. It was a major lightbulb moment for me. 

I’m not planning on being as literal about it as this small vignette happens to be. But it does really help me when I’m making choices on what stays, what goes, and what comes in.  

I had no idea, doing Marie Kondo’s method in my closet was going to do anything for my interior design! But I love that it did. 

Looking at so many interior design blogs gives me so much inspiration, but it can confuse me at times, “Which look is really me, when I love seeing all of them?" Pinning this concept down right here was so comforting and invigorating at the same time.

I’m not always sure what exactly looks like “British Cowboy” style in the rest of the house -- but I’m having fun figuring it out.