I don’t know what I like best, putting up Christmas decorations or taking them down. I suppose what I do love is the lights – though my neighborhood was not so into it – one was a renter and the other neighbor had twins a day or so after Christmas so they were busy on their own accord. What I DO love about taking the decorations down is that it makes things be back to ORDER. Christmas decorations, though I love them and the memories they hold are another layer on what you already have so it gets a bit messy for me. This time, taking them down I was able to some rearranging, and finally completing some of the things I hadn’t gotten done before. I also acquired some things from my parents winter home in South Florida now that they passed away. I stored some things for my son from their possessions for his first apartment post college, but some really pretty accents blended fairly nicely into our home. So I suppose these things will help me to remind me of my mom and dad and the wonderful memories of their home in Naples FL.

I had the sad task of closing up my parents winter home though they had passed away, mom 5 years ago, dad almost two years and I found myself saying final goodbyes. My sister had actually bought the home from my folks before they passed and had just sold it but I guess it was hard to think of it as her home since it was still filled with my parents things as if they had gone north for the spring. The one nice thing about it was that I was able to keep some of their possessions and incorporate them into our home in Orlando.  Walking around today after getting the Christmas decorations away, I was able to use some of their pieces into our home and took some pictures.

My folks had a passion for collecting unusual art in their Naples home.  Here two wood carvings blended well on the exterior of our turquoise “Pegeen Blue” home.

Tiffany blue house – turquoise and lime green look great together here in this sitting area on the brick porch accented with this metal wall hanging.

Reading room – finally a lamp that worked perfectly – the little decorative ceramic pot was covered with glass and sat on a wooden stand. I kept the wooden board that we tested all of our paint colors on – sort of a art piece – that hid the wiring for the computers

Every one should have a turquoise bed for their dog!! (above)

Their display cabinet and plant stand found a new home in our sun porch.Our sinour

Even mom had a sense of beach style for their home on the coastal shore – and peach, lemon and turquoise was pretty predominate in her home.  Dramatically different than their classic northern home, I felt some of her pieces would be happy at our home. I was so excited to add four leather aqua chairs from her kitchen – they fit great into the desk area and we added them to the interior desks as well as some in our offices.

It was very sad saying good bye to my parents and going into their house last week in Naples.  Knowing I would never go back was very overwhelming and I cried for what seemed like hours.  Finally, I was able to get to work on breaking down their home.  I suppose many who lose parents such as I do finally get to that big grieve… you know the one where you just have the air escape from your lungs, knowing that parts of them will be gone forever.  This past weekend was that time where you walked around their home, expecting to see them, remembering the time you would visit a furniture store with them or some of the art galleries picking out the perfect piece for a corner or a room.  I miss my parents sometimes so much – wanting more of their time, their wisdom, their company.

At least I now have some pretty things in each of our rooms to remind me of them. I will get to the upstairs next week.  For now, I am resting my bones.