My husband and I
recently moved from an old 1880's apartment building in "Historic" Baltimore to
a brand new town-home in Nashville. We have lived here for about 4 months, and
are still in the process of turning this house into our home. So far, I LOVE it;
It's so clean and organized, (mainly because it's still very empty) and all of
our new furniture is a huge upgrade from the stuff we had during our college and
med-school years. The problem is that now I feel so obsessed about keeping
everything "like new", especially because it has to look nice for at least all 7 of my husband's residency years and hopefully through his Attending years. I "freak" out when our pets jump on our new
furniture (leaving hair and scratches), or scratch the wood floors, or have an accident on the new carpet.
I've always been a "neat-freak", even in our old apartment in Baltimore that was so old it always looked dirty no matter how much I cleaned it; but if
we got another scratch on the old couch, it just blended in with the hundred
other ones, and if our puppy had an accident, or we tracked mud/snow onto the
carpets, I did my best to clean it up, but it never really bothered me- we were
renters, and everything was so old and stained anyways.
Our old apartment in Baltimore
We have been working
hard and saving to create that "magazine perfect" living room. We figured it was
where we would spend the majority of our time (we don't get out much), so it
should receive the majority of our furniture budget. I was so excited the day we
ordered our new couch and chairs, and have been dreaming about how "perfect" it would be
for the last 12 weeks that it took to be delivered. Our couch finally arrived last weekend, and it is so COMFORTABLE and beautiful. But, as soon as I
plopped down onto it, my puppy and kitties wanted to hop up there with me, and I
had to go into "M.O.M" mode (Mean Ol' Mommy)!! I've already vacuumed it twice
(in 48 hours), and have been guarding it like a hawk. I can only imagine how my
husband will react when we have a child and they spit-up or spill food on the
new furniture or carpet. EEK!! I guess that's why they have professional
upholstery cleaners... Maybe we should have gone with a slip cover!
Image from potterybarn.com
I'll post another picture when our new living room is complete.
What's the point of
having nice things, if we can't truly enjoy them?? My new couch may be beautiful
and comfortable, but I was probably less stressed on the old, wore out, knobby
one, where I felt free to indulge in some cuddle time with my pets! Yet, the old, sloppy furniture was not nearly as inviting as our new stuff. The new stuff is relaxing in a different way. Sure, I have to try harder to keep it clean, but the whole feel of the room is so peaceful and brings much joy to my husband and I as we relax together in our living room. I guess the lesson here is that we just have to learn to find the new joys in every situation.
The following verse is from my Good Morning Girls study this week: 1John2:15
"Do not love the world, or anything in the world".
This reminded me that we must not LOVE the things in our lives. If I'm not in LOVE with this new furniture, I won't care about the imperfections caused from using it, and instead, I will find much joy and happiness LIVING with it to create lovely memories with my friends and family.
