Yes you heard it here first – French Happy Shabby Chic is back.
I tried adding modern pieces to my home from modern shops, to find that I was throwing out trends that I no longer liked quite quickly! which wasn’t very ozone friendly…I even tried living with the pared back look and although I liked it for a while…I felt something was missing.
I have been feeling very unhappy lately and even had a mini breakdown last week…Yep I hit ground zero! luckily my family gathered around me and picked me up, I know they all love me, but I felt that I was spinning too many plates in my life and I just needed some time for myself…that’s something that I never seem to get, being a carer to 3 people is very wearing…sometimes you just want to scream! and my way of coping has been to stay up to silly o’clock so that I can do everything that I want to do for myself as well…
That idea though has thoroughly worn me out, trying to burn the candle at both ends is not a good idea if you want to stay heathly and the fact that I am in denial about having type 2 diabetes and constantly eating lots of sweet treats has just added to my poor state of mind…I do this you see! It’s like a recurring circle, I feel depressed, eat something sweet to make myself feel good…immediately feel bad! Then I stay up too late and have to get up early and all this added together just made me hit rock bottom! I know I should go to bed at a reasonable time, but the only time that I don’t get disturbed is when everyone is asleep and that time for me is bliss!
So! after thinking for a while and looking around the house, I asked Freddy if he would mind me adding some more of my happy shabby pieces into the mix…I felt I needed to add some more colour into my life, to try to make me feel happy again! I thought I needed a change when we moved to this house, but we have been here 3 years now and I still feel that I haven’t got it right! When we first moved in, I tried to do the happy shabby look, but it just didn’t work…then we took it all out, and went for a more pared back look and for a while that felt good, well for a while anyway!
Then we added a bit of vintage in with the modern accessories, ferns, gold and quirky modern pieces…and yep I liked it! I really really liked it!
The thought of adding anything red! oh no! not me…I am not going back there! I thought to myself! but really! is that really me? and after my mini breakdown, I started thinking what do I really want! when was I at my happiest…and the more I think about it, it was when we were living on the Island and we decorated in a french happy shabby chic style…with rather of a lot of Cath Kidston thrown in (back then Cath’s homewares were to die for!) I started to look at old blog posts from that era and my heart skipped a beat!
So out came all our vintage french enamel and other old favourites, there was mess everywhere, but it was a beautiful mess! I was supposed to of sold a lot of this stuff, but I couldn’t bare to part with my favourites and stored it away, just in case one day I would have this eureka moment and want it all back! Fred stayed out of my way while I played house! I asked him if he minded me changing the look again, as he really liked the modern look, but he said he just wanted me to be happy!
The pictures I have shown you in this post is the progress…ha and the mess!
This time I have incorporated old mixed with quirky, modern and chic…items that make my heart sing. Everything, I look at sparks joy!
I keep asking Freddy if he likes it…but he just say’s sarcastically ‘it’s nice’.
But to me…it’s my ‘happy’ and I can’t wait to get all the house under it’s spell again!
…and hopefully if I can get to bed earlier, it might make me feel better in myself so that I can have more time to do the things that I enjoy!
My pictures aren’t the finished room design…but I will be posting the final pictures soon!
P.S I have recently moved over to a Self Hosted WordPress platform,
so some of my older posts might be out of line or have huge out of focus pictures –
sorry about that guys and gals…I was going to correct it all but lifes too short!
Love to you all
The girl is back!!! Missed your style, your joy xx
Hooray – back to the look that made me first fall in love with your blog! Oh, how I have missed your colorful, vintage style and of course your sweet little caravan. Hopefully this change will bring back the happy in your life.
I, too, was attracted to your blog because of the happy, colorful, vintage pieces you had styled so perfectly! So glad they are coming back…especially if it is helping you find peace!
So glad you are back to Happy style! xx
So glad you’re back! I do love the all white, minimal look too, but it isn’t me either, I’ve tried, but, it just looks like a sterile roomset. beautiful, but no personality and most importantly, humour! I want to look around my home and smile x
I very recently stumbled across your blog through pinterest when I saw a lovely, colorful retro kitchen (i.e. love, love, love). So, I’ve just started following your fun and interesting blog and I like your colorful, retro style. I don’t know your story but we all have one. All I can say is follow your heart. My husband is always telling me “you think too much”. Yeah it’s what we women do! Well, I’m often a late nighter, too, more so due to age (this old lady keeps looking back at me in the mirror….I am finally starting to accept her….and I like her). My flock has flown from the nest (for a while now) and I had lots of me time……didn’t know what to do with it. But, eventually I found my way, and I started just doing “my own thing” and I’m really starting to enjoy being my eccentric self. My kids tell me, “you’re weird”. And I say to them, “thank you”! Peace Love and Joy. And thank for sharing your creative self!
I found your blog years ago and loved it because of your cheery , happy style ! I loved all your colors , your enamelware, and oh, just everything ! You have great style ! Full of life and personality. Here in the US , so many people have moved on to a pared down look and not much color at all ! And while I love how it looks soothing and all, it just doesn’t hold my interest for long. Their pictures look like they were taken in black and white !!!! I , like you, pared down , changed things up a bit but then felt unhappy , so brought my colorful things back out , and I am so glad I did !!! …..I miss all the pretty colorful rooms people used to have . I am wondering if people will tire of the all greys and start bringing some color to their life . Hope so ! I can so relate to what you said about being a caregiver and the staying up way too late …. It’s the only time you have peace . Hopefully bringing your colorful , happy things out you will feel more like your old self and I hope somehow you can find more time for yourself. That’s so important !!!
Your colourful, happy style is what attracted me to your blog in the first place so it’s great to see it back again. It suits you so well. I know what you mean by the modern look going out of style so quickly. Sticking to what you know best and gives you such pleasure is a good idea. Looking after yourself properly is also a very good idea. Great post.
I’m glad you found yourself again.
Welcome back to flowery, pretty things x
I always loved your style! love this post x