Here I’ve started this project, and I don’t have  a good answer for this. I think I will know it when I see it.  But the definition of charming?  Pleasing and delightful. Its synonyms include bewitching, enchanting, and engaging.  What lovely thoughts for a life. The song that inspired this quest for me, Joan Armitrading’s This Charming Life, contains the refrain, “I live and love with you this charming life.”  And that’s what I want to be able to say about my own life.

There’s a lot of work to do on me, within this project, to be certain. And believe me, I’m working on that, in more ways than you can possibly imagine, and which I’ll talk more about later.

But part of it is also making a charming life around me.  You see, I will never be one surrounded by Lilly Pulitzer. It’s pretty, but it’s not me.  I have a gothic side. I like steampunk and iron and angles.  I like black. But sometimes this side of me gets too dominant, and I want to be surrounded by other pretty things.  I think it’s related to that whole I-want-to-wear-pink-and-purple thing.  So one of the first things I did was focus on my environment.

I added more dragonflies to the walls around my living room. I’ve always loved dragonflies, and I know this isn’t the taste of a lot of other people, but it makes me happy. I also traded in the sofa’s black slipcover and red throw pillows. Now, the sofa is covered in a soft, sage green with throw pillows in shades of purple. To me, it brings a sense of warmth and comfort to the room. It makes me feel as though it really is a place for me to live. I bought a comforter in shades of purple and white for the bed this winter, instead of the usual deep red that I use. I’ve resumed my habit of buying fresh flowers for the house each week. Small changes, yes, but ones that make my own home feel even more home-y to me.

It will never win a spot on a tour of homes, but that’s ok. I want my home to be a place where I can find enchantment and charm. And as I’m creating my charming life, it’s an easy way to make small changes. I’m hoping that some external changes will influence some internal changes… so stay tuned to see where this journey takes me.