Small Tweaks

 

One of the most important lessons I’ve learned in the past couple of years (at least regarding house and home) is that a home never truly has an after picture.

            They all start somewhere, of course, and sometimes that somewhere looks rough at first glance. It makes a proper before picture. Likewise, many homes go through initial transformations that are grand and lend themselves to an after picture.

            But home is always growing and changing, just like we are. I’ve mentioned it before on here, but I’m coming back to it today, because I found fresh reminders of it this week.

            As some of you might remember, we have a collection of watercolor paintings of our homes throughout our marriage. Perhaps a more accurate statement would be that we have a collection of frames that hold watercolor paintings of the first two homes and blank canvases for the last three. We’ve commissioned them from our artist friend, but she has a full time job and does these projects on the side, so I’m not sure how quickly she’ll be able to get to all of them.

            The empty frames have been up for a while now, and while I love the way their presence completes the framing on the wall, the blanks feel very incomplete.

            I don’t want to pressure our friend who is painting for us. I know she’ll complete them as she can, and I know they’ll be amazing and utterly worth the wait.

            This week, I found a cost-effective work-around to the delay. I found an app that transforms photos into watercolor-esque paintings. You upload your photo, pick the version of watercolor you want, and save it. You can have it printed in any size you like.

            The app was less than $4, and I found a good sale on prints over the holiday weekend. They should arrive in a few days, and we’ll have a truly complete wall to carry us over until the actual paintings are ready.

            I’m smiling just thinking about this small tweak, because I know that our after dining room will look even better once the gallery wall is truly complete. And then it’ll be after again someday – even if it’s months down the road – when the real art is finished.

            It’s not about constant change. That isn’t the point. The point is to embrace what’s in front of us while seeing the potential beyond it. I love our dining room fully right now. I love it with its half empty frames. I love it with its little white crate that I haven’t yet figured out how to fill. I love it with its empty lantern that hasn’t been given a candle to softly glow. Along the way, I’ll figure out those things and bring finishing touches. It’ll keep being more and more after.

            We’re a work in progress and so are our homes. Let’s not ever give up on them. Let’s love them just the way they are, and let’s love them enough to make them the best they can be – over time. One little tweak at a time, we can make home a little warmer and more complete.