What is October without scary movies and a raging fire?

That is how I finished my day. Mike started a fire, and I popped a DVD in the PS3 and we watched old black and white horror movies from the Vincent Price catalog. 

I am finally in the mood for Halloween. 

I found an interesting blog this morning. It was largely dedicated to home decorating, but the entry I read was about finding comfort in your home and in your life. It was a list of six things you can do right now to make you like your home more. I went through the list and attempted to do all six. 

I cleaned something. It said to find a small area…spend only thirty minutes…and clean this area thoroughly. Perhaps just sweeping the floors, or de-clutter a cabinet. I chose to sweep the floors in my living room. And as the little wood chips and dog fur were swept away, I did feel better. In fact, I cleaned and rearranged the entire room. And it turned out better than I’d ever imagined.

Next, I painted something. I took an old dresser and painted it in a neutral beige. I added new hardware and antiqued it by sanding the edges until the dresser looked vintage, and very expensive. It cost me less than twenty dollars and no more than an hour to make the change, and it looks amazing in my keeping room! I would have never believed such a simple change would make such a large impact. 

I fixed something. It required three minutes and the sewing machine. I now have a repaired grain sack to hang on the wall tomorrow.

I made my house smell good. I opened the windows, letting the fresh fall air in. Then I opened a bag of harvest potpourri and poured it into a bowl on my newly painted dresser.  

I made a few changes in the rooms, “shopping the house” was what she called it. I was actually able to use the same dresser for this task. I took it from my bedroom where it did nothing more than take up space with its tired old finish, and moved it to the keeping room where it makes a nice addition to the room.

And finally, I did something out of the ordinary. This is where the old black and white movies came into play. I used to love watching old movies, but somewhere along the way, I got too busy. I slowed things down a bit today, and put on movies made back in a time before DVDs, cell phones, and the internet. 

I would love to challenge you to try this list of tasks. Let me know how it made a difference in your day. It certainly made a difference in mine. I feel totally refreshed and ready to start fresh tomorrow…I may just do it again!

Until the next time…I’ll be sleeping peacefully after a nice Friday!