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Temporary Decorating

Zero waste temporary decorating

Every year our family goes on vacation for a week to a camp on a lake. Without going into detail, I will just say that it has been many decades since these cabins have been updated, but that’s okay because we are not going there for the sleeping accommodations but for the lake/boating/skiing/swimming/etc., right? For a lot of people that might be true but while I do enjoy all of those things, as I have grown older, living/cooking/sleeping in a space that exhibits beauty has become important to me as well. Really important. I would apologize for this except for the fact that God created beauty in this world so clearly it was important to him, too. This year though, instead of complaining to anyone and everyone within ear shot, I decided to put my big girl pants on, take the bull by the horns, and make some change!

We are only there for a week so I didn’t want to spend too much time decorating. Since I have been coming here for almost a decade, I knew what I was working with. I picked the pieces that made me cringe the most and came up with ways to alter them. Before leaving town, I stopped by a farm stand and grabbed a gorgeous bouquet of fresh cut flowers for $8.50 (what?!) and put them in a cup with water for the drive. A great co-pilot, no? Once at the camp, I divided the flowers into 4 smaller bouquets and placed them into jars I had brought with me to be placed on various surfaces. Two of these bouquets were given a few days later as gifts to brighten other cabins. The Mexican blanket and white sheet were fashioned into a couch cover. A table cloth for the table. Ripped pages from my favorite calendar got taped up all over (and I mean all.over.) the cabin. I also brought a set of white curtains to temporarily take the place of one of the rough sets already there.

Altogether it took about 20 minutes to stage the cabin for the week. Was it worth it? Absolutely. It was one of the best weeks I have had at this camp and one of the main reasons was because I had made our cabin as beautiful as I could. When I was in it, instead of sitting there, glaring at the old pictures, tables, walls, couch, bathroom,etc., I was able to put my energies into making from-scratch chocolate chip cookie ice cream sandwiches for the camp or relax while reading This Old House magazine… the things I enjoy doing when I’m on vacation.

So what’s the takeaway from this? If beauty is important to you, good for you! You can embrace it even while living less waste and even while staying in an old cabin for a week. A little can go a long way and I know those around me sure were thankful I wasn’t griping about the “gross couch” for the 8th year in a row.

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