Well hello, come on in!  How’s your day going so far?  I feel pretty rested after a much needed break, yet glad to be back too.  I can finally say that over the past three years of decluttering my home, I’ve finally found some balance through having the minimalist home that I desire.

My ideal decor always includes just enough color and artistry while still keeping things simple.

I thought you may enjoy seeing a bit of my home today.  I wanted to share with you my living room through “the looking glass”.  I recently received an Olloclip for my birthday.  I couldn’t help but want to photograph my living room with the fish eye lens for fun.  Yes, my birthday was last week hence also my week off from writing.

Some things have definitely changed since I last photographed the living room. For starters we no longer have a desktop computer. Now my husband and I both have laptops. The desk area is now my sewing station as well as holds our printer and other business supplies for my Etsy shop Azuha.

You may notice that I added a wooden table runner that we already had to the top of the bookshelf which is slightly different than the decor in Beautiful Books.  I gave two vases a new home on top of the shelf along with fresh sunflowers in a ridiculously large beer mug.

Much of our furniture is a dark espresso wood which I’ve always thought to be so elegant.  When decorating with dark espresso wood, it is important to use contrasting colors in some form to prevent the overall look being too dark.  We are lucky to have light colored wood floors as a contrast.

I’ve been playing around with adding color with fresh flower, plants, bright colored throw pillows, and a few art pieces.

I love the light wicker basket next to the computer desk which holds the colorful yarns and other materials that I use for my Etsy store Azuha.  Functional decor is the ideal way to decorate.  The patchwork throw pillow adds so much festive color.  My hubby picked that one out!  Good choice Love!

Although not minimalist at all, a rather large possession that has entered our home is the huge flat screen television which my husband proudly brought home one day.  I can easily live without TV mostly because I love the internet.  My husband is not so much the same.  Honestly if we were the same, things would be extremely boring.

My favorite succulent plant is now on our coffee table and continues to grow wild.  I’m sure that it is long past due to be re-potted.  Although fresh flowers are absolutely beautiful, I think potted plants are even better.

One of the most important elements of any place that I live is to have a large open space to dance, exercise, and do yoga.  I would rather have the space over things.

Abundant space is necessary for me to feel free.

I have a bunch of other decorating ideas that I will probably do before the year is over.

I love reinventing items we already have and creating a new space and energy with it in a new way.

I have a few ideas on displaying some of the artwork that we have in a more abstract way.  I look forward to sharing that with you when I can.

I’ve continually been going through photos this summer and I’ve created a scrapbook that I adore. I’m one who enjoys keeping memories in physical form just never too many.

The idea of a mixed media collage of photography on canvas seems like the perfect art piece.

Oh, you have to go now?  OK, well thanks for stopping by!  Maybe next time we can have a more leisure visit and even my favorite chai tea.  And just in case you are interested, make sure you check out some of articles that help with decluttering here.

See more from my home here.  Have a beautiful day!

(Images by Dawn Michelle)

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