I’m not a “home” person. I often tell people that I’m far from domestic. Cooking, cleaning, decorating, building, painting, caulking, and polishing, etc. just ain’t my thing. I’m out and about or “ITS” aka “In The Streets” according to one of my friends. I’m a single woman on the go and I don’t have time to fold anything along the way.

My mom didn’t raise me to play house. She’s a single parent and had a lot going on so she cooked sometimes but I don’t possess any family recipes. We always had a nicely decorated and clean home but that wasn’t the center of my upbringing. She raised me to do just enough but to make sure that I wasn’t spending all my time in the kitchen or cleaning. There are far more important ways to spend your time was what she said. Live your life!

Domesticity only really crosses my mind when I visit other people’s homes and am blown away by what they’ve been able to do with their space, when company comes to town, and when I think about the possibility of being a wife and mother.

Lately, going out has brought me little to no excitement. I don’t want to be out past 10pm, I don’t have any desire to drink, and I don’t feel like playing the small talk game. Getting all gussied up to be bored just sounds like awful to me. Because of this, I’ve been spending way more time at home and in doing so I have come to realize that I can do much better with my space.

Rome was not built in a day, in fact, no city was built in a day, so I’m certainly not overhauling the place in 24 hours like some TLC show.

Instead, I’m taking one project at a time. I’m in a renting season and will probably be in one for quite a while because the thought of owning a home actually make me sick to my stomach. I know it’s supposed to be the American Dream but it has become Krystal’s Nightmare.

My first project:

-make my Instagram come to life

I take a lot of photos. It didn’t take me long to understand that all of these moments are floating around on Instagram and that if for some reason the site goes kaput then I’d be quite sad. I used Social Print Studio to print copies of my favorite images. Inexpensive, fast, and adorable. Memories make for beautiful decoration.

I simply took some tape ( painter’s tape) and adhered them to the wall. A colorful picture grid is the result and serves as a lovely view when I wake up in the morning. I can add or subtract from the grid or shuffle the order without much work.

More Instagram moments have happened since I made my first two orders so I’m hoping to order at least 2 more sets in the near future to add to the scene.

I’ve been in this city for 3 years and I’m 2 months into my 4th year. It makes me happy to know that I’ve been able to be a part of so many fantastic moments with some of the best people I’ve ever known.

Tip: Decorate with what you love.

Mission Accomplished.

Next Up: Tackling my entryway wall

I’m also going to stop forcing myself to go out when I clearly don’t want to. There’s nothing wrong with spending time at home and taking care of it and at the same time taking care of me. Oh, and you can follow me on Insta @clarkkn.

Lata Y’all.