# Art speaks.

We have owned our house for almost two and a half years. We bought it 3 days before our wedding, so it was a bit of a hectic time. We did a few projects, and then we moved in slowly. We moved all of our boxes into the basement and started unpacking them and bringing things up as we needed them.

Two and a half years later we still have boxes in our basement. Mostly, the things left in them are our keepsake, sentimental things and extra kitchen appliances. There are many boxes that are mostly empty but still contains a few miscellaneous items, so there they still sit. #RealLife

It also took a very long time to start to decorate. I'm still not sure why exactly... Perhaps it was the fact that the walls were pristine and freshly painted, and I didn't want to be the one to put holes in them... or the fact that I was working a job that zapped my energy and enthusiasm and made me want to go home and veg out.

Whatever it was... we didn't decorate. Until Hazel. We went into full blown nesting mode for her nursery and there were more decorations in her room than the rest of the house combined.

When I was home on maternity leave, the lack of decoration in our living room really started getting to me. I was home on the couch a lot while recovering and nursing, and eventually the blank walls started to bother me. A lot.  So I did something I haven't done in a long time. I made art. Nothing complicated, but something to bring some color to the bland, tan walls.

{  Pardon the poor lighting... and by golly, I didn't realize they were so crooked. #Notaprofessionalpicturehanger  }

Once I started putting holes in the walls. I couldn't stop. I hung mirrors, paintings, and photos. We hung up quite a few photos from Hazel's newborn shot, but it's a little weird if every wall has pictures of yourselves (we probably have too many as it is... like really big ones) so we needed to differentiate.

{  Photo canvas was a gift from our friend Alesha and the N from/made by my sister-in-law Cara  }

We've also been baby proofing. Installing a gate and we just switched out our TV stand to one (that was my grandma's... thanks gma!) that can actually hide all the electronics and cords from Hazel. The one before had everything semi-hidden in baskets that were open to baby hands.

But back to the art... During my leave I did quite a bit of shopping for more art to bring more color and life to our walls, but I had a hard time finding something that I really liked. I searched places like Target, Home Goods, Garden Ridge, and other stores that sell affordable decorations (hello being on partially unpaid maternity leave). There were plenty of things that matched, but I couldn't commit because they didn't make me care about them.

Well, this week was a different story. There are a few consignment stores in town that I'd been wanting to visit. One was full of old, funky smelling things. But on the wall I saw some paintings and immediately knew they were mine. I checked the price tag just in case, but the grand total for 2 paintings came to $28.

The one that spoke to my heart, was the maple wings (or helicopter/whilybird/samara). My love of trees runs deep, as you well know, and I have a particular soft spot for maples. The nest compliments it nicely and I wanted something else to hang with the other. It also reminds me of the robin's nest that was on Hazel's window ledge (which made me debate incorporating these into the nursery).

They are quite possibly someone's high school art. They are signed in sharpie on the back, a name I cannot read, and one is dated '04 the other '07. Made while I was in high school. Or perhaps the owner of the items in that part of the store is a hobbyist painter. I'll probably never know who made them, but I love that someone did. They were made by human hands. I can still see some of the pencil lines where the artist first sketched the shape of the whirlybird.

I am really no judge of good vs. bad art from a technical stand point, but to me these are perfect. They have found their home with someone who loves them. The more I look at them, the happier they make me, and THAT is the best thing art can do. That makes them perfect. They speak to me.

{  Also, in the spirit of #RealLife... our couch normally has haphazard pillows/blankets and lots of things sitting on the arms... and you can't see it, but the dog hair is a problem.  }


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