A Triumph over Decorating Paralysis: Part One

Remember when you were little and everyone used to always ask you what you wanted to be when you grew up?  Like me, your career of choice probably changed many times as you were figuring out your interests, hobbies, and skills.  When I was in sixth grade, it seemed everyone wanted to be a veterinarian, a marine biologist, or an interior decorator.  At one time or another, each of these seemed to be my destiny, too.  Why, I’ll never know.  I don’t like animals enough to plan on ever want a pet, I rarely go swimming because I hate having wet hair and dried out skin, and I suffer from SEVERE decorating paralysis (it’s totally a thing; Google it).  Thank goodness we don’t have to pick our future when we’re 11. 

Marine biology does look pretty glorious.

I think I finally crossed “interior decorator” off my list the summer after The Sims came out in 2000. I spent far too many of my lazy summer days playing this extremely addicting game in which you create a family of Sims by choosing what they look like, what they wear, and their personalities.  You then use money that they earn at their jobs to build and decorate a house for them from scratch.  I found the decorating fun, entertaining, and actually pretty overwhelming.  I mean, do I start with the cool black and white tile?  Or find something that matches the fun, bright red wallpaper?  Or maybe I should decorate around the sleek and modern lime green sofa.  There were just so many options!!   And the paralysis tells me that once I pick something, I can’t change it.  The direction is decided and the only place to go is forward.  So DON’T SCREW IT UP!

See the black and white tile?  I told you it was cool.

This is the same pressure I feel when I try to look at shower curtains, rugs, and bookshelves.  The paralysis means I have a very hard time knowing how to start decorating my home.  I contemplate various colors, themes, and styles and then worry that once I start, I will hate it and be stuck with it.  So, I generally put off making a real decision for as long as I can.  And then I usually end up sticking to neutrals.  You can’t go too wrong with neutrals, right?

When I found out we were having a little boy, I was so excited to turn our spare bedroom into his nursery… until I remembered that I am awful at decorating.  The Pinterest boards were crushing me with their millions of cute options.  However, I now live to tell the tale of how I overcame those overwhelming feelings and prevailed over my paralysis to create a room that I am quite proud of, thank you very much.  In honor of moving in one week, I want to share this beauty that I finally finished just before Memorial Day (I know, he was born before Christmas!). 

It took me several months to finally settle on a theme.  I knew I wanted something more gender neutral that didn’t scream “BABY!” and came across one theme that never seemed to leave the back of my mind.  I think I fell in love with it because it always reminds me of my own childhood and my mother.  She often sang songs to me when she tucked me in for bed and throughout the day.  She loved to sing “You Are My Sunshine” and started leaving the last word of each line for us to sing.  She would sing, “You are my ___” and we were supposed to fill in the blank by singing, “sunshine.”  It was a fun game that always made us smile.  Sometimes, when my younger brothers were in a cantankerous mood, they would fill in all the blanks by shouting, “nothing” instead.  It usually made us giggle until no one was grouchy anymore.

I have always planned on sharing that song (and tradition) with my own kids, so I loved the idea of doing his room full of yellows and sunshine.  Deciding on the theme really got the ball rolling and gave me lots of ideas for the projects I wanted to complete for his room.  I was so excited to have him here.  He certainly was the bright spot of my year and continues to make me smile every day, when skies are gray, blue, and everything in between.  

Some inspiration

Love this print