I have seen many of Erica’s decluttering and re-decorating attempts foiled by her emotional attachment to objects. Only recently has she begun to incorporate the most meaningful of these objects into her actual decorating. Erica was very inspired during her initial and enthusiastic employment of the Marie Kondo method. After the initial purge, she continued to employ the method with varying degrees of success. The little displays in her terrarium and on her dresser being the most consistent.

The Terrarium: The terrarium was first purchased for practical reasons: to keep one curious kitten out of Erica’s plans. At first, it only contained three rather boring pothos plants in three extremely boring black flower pots. Since those original plants outgrew their home, the terrarium has become a whimsical display replete with family heirlooms. (A terrarium is also a great place to protect delicate knickknacks from cats.)

The bird shaped candle holder was a gift from a family friend who has since passed away. Since candles and cats are also a bad combination, it now holds a small succulent propagation.

A small cat figurine it’s a gift from her mother. Before that it was a gift to her from Erica’s great-great-grandmother. It was given to Erica when she followed in the long-held family tradition of being a cat person.

The pottery mug is also a gift from her mother, as is the plant inside it. The mug, thrown by her mother at some childhood summer camp and at some point boxed up in the attic for many, many years is now looked upon every single day.

The tea cup is inherited from her grandmother. She was a prim and quiet woman who shared Erica’s love of tea and floral prints. The plants inside it also comes from her mother’s house. You can see where Erica gets her hesitancy to purchase house plants.

The Dresser: Erica has managed to pare down the objects on her dresser to just a few with great significance to her. The plant is one of the first she brought from her childhood home, wrapped in a wet paper towels and successfully ushered through airport security. The dachshund jewelry and wallet holder was also a gift from that since past family friend, who used to take Erica antique shopping. The plaque was a gift from an aunt Erica does not see very often but thinks of fondly.

The small quilted potholder, from what I gather, has the most interesting story. Erica went on a few youth service trips in high school, one of which involved repainting and repairing the roof have an elderly woman’s house in the mountains of West Virginia. One afternoon Erica and her sister spent hours listening to the woman tell them her life story and in the end she gave them each a handmade potholder. Making quilted potholders was how she occupied her time in her old age. As with many youth service trips, Erica I never had any contact with this woman again, but enjoys the daily reminder of that pleasant afternoon in West Virginia.

I know Erica often sees only the spaces in her apartment that are heavily cluttered or those sentimental items that she has not yet figured out how to properly display. She will get there, and I hope that she spends a little more time seeing these two little displays and taking pride in what she has constructed.

-Carolyn