We’ve moved…again.  When we sold our family home of 35 years we initially decided to rent close by to give some thought about where we might want to “settle”.  So we started our new adventure [part 1] with a rental in Irvine.  We’re renting again and I’ll post about the pros and the few cons of that (at our age) in an upcoming post.

-our family home of 35 years-

Irvine, California had been our city of residence for most of our married life and we love it.  Still, just a few miles down the freeway our youngest son, his sweet wife and our granddaughter reside.  I’m not talking about a long drive from our Irvine home to the front door of our family, but as our granddaughter grows we thought it would be nice to have a shorter distance to pick her up from school or attend her sports events and other activities.

So, June 1st we packed up our rental in Irvine and moved down the freeway to Laguna Woods.  More on living in a community of seniors later.  This is a post about wall galleries, after all!

For me, the “fun” in moving comes when I get to start the decorating process.  Everything is moved into the new place and I can begin creating a new nest with my art, furniture, and accessories used in new ways.

As we’ve downsized a little it forces the decisions on what to use and what I either will donate or store.  Thanks to the Konmari method I’ve pared down to only the things I’m certain I’ll use, or love too much to donate.

Art for the wall has been one of the more challenging aspects of the move I’ve had to face.  Inspiration is always just a few clicks away.

I’m fortunate to have a talented daughter-in-law who, along with her mom, came the day we finished moving in and assisted with wonderful ideas and opinions, which truly helped me.

No more excuses about my lack of photography skills…here are a few of the wall displays we put together.

We had this plate rack custom made years ago.  It’s resided in a room with each move but I believe I like it here more than any other location in any other home we’ve lived in.

The mirror over the small entry table was a bathroom mirror in our family home.  You can’t see much detail but the frame is patterned with an acorn chain.  I’ve always loved acorns.

The equestrian-themed oil painting in the dining room was once over our family room sofa in our home.  

The small gallery over the daybed is a work in progress, but it’s where some odds and ends of artwork have landed.

More on our recent home and the rooms within later.

Enjoy your summer!