Contentment

9 October 2014

We have been taking our time with "filling" the spaces of our new home.  I have known that I would not want to rush to fill my house and make every room "perfect".  Instead I wanted to wait until we found the right piece for the right place.

I have always loved our stair design.  In particular the way the stairs turn on themselves for the last couple of steps.  A space was created at the bottom of the stairs.  It is really a nook.  The architecture of the stairs frames this space, and it has been begging for something to fill it.  But it had to be the right "thing".

A couple of months ago Steve and I were shopping for a piece of furniture to fit our side entry foyer, as you enter the house from the garage.  We did find a narrow table at a store in Alexandria which fits perfectly, and gives us drawers for sundry things like keys.  The same store had several pieces of artwork and vases, many of them large.  Some of the vases caught our eye, and we could imagine them fitting well in the space at the bottom of the stairs.  But the piece that really caught my eye was a statue carved from driftwood.  It was different; unique.  It was also several hundred dollars, and we have never spent that much money on something that is purely decorative.  So we didn't get it.

Well, I couldn't stop thinking about this statue.  The more I thought about it the more I just knew it was the perfect piece for the bottom of the stairs.  A couple of weeks ago Steve and I were running, and I told him "enough is enough".  I can't stop thinking about this statue, which tells me I just need to buy it.  I decided that I would go back to the store that day, and if the statue was still there I was buying it.

Perfect, or what?

Needless to say, I bought the statue.

We were told this is a type of statue that is considered a Good Luck Charm.  Villages in islands of Southeast Asia have statues like these at the entry to their village, meant to bring contentment and happiness.   My heart tells me this statue was meant to be in our home.  I am content.

Slowly but surely, artwork is filling the house.

Footnote:  The small strap of bells hanging near the statue was Steve's Dad's.  Harry collected bells, and we have inherited a few.  We had these bells hanging in our "old" Carol Street home for years.  Now our old good luck charm shares space with our new one.