160 days
June 21st is my happy place
My husband and I have owned our home for 20 years. Over the years, the home has been through a lot of redecorating, remodeling and upgrades. More recently, I asked my husband to pick up some white paint suggested by Amber Lewis, author of Made for Living, a book I purchased at Station 7 Station in Seattle’s Capital Hill shop. She is an interior designer and has an entire chapter about white paint. She writes about choosing a few options, considering your feeling for the space, light in the space, windows, lighting, room use … since I’m so busy these days I just went for it and sent the husband to Benjamin Moore for a gallon of White Dove. Here’s what she says about “White Dove”:
“The color White Dove by Dunn-Edwards is a perfect clean and bright white, ideal for mid-century-style homes …” - Amber Lewis
Most of my home is already white. Last summer we painted the walls, painted over the dark grey walls in the diningroom with pale grey, added white shiplap to many walls, lighter furniture, lighter rugs … the last hold out was our livingroom fireplace, which is now … White Dove.
Subsequently I made a few shopping trips to Crate & Barrel and the Home Goods stores. I packed my cart with white textured goods - new blanket, varied height vases of interesting texture, natural accents. I was looking to brighten up my home in any way I could. I suddenly realized I needed more light everywhere! I was drowning in dark.
Not that my home wasn’t already pretty white, but our rambler doesn’t get much natural light. It’s a 1968 build with big windows, but crazy big eaves. I was suffering from a depression that I couldn’t shake in my day. You see, I leave for work around 7am, I’m inside all day and my desk faces away from the window in my office. I leave after 4pm and it’s already dusk. By the time I arrive home, it’s past sundown and dark again. I realize Seattle isn’t the best place to reside during the winter. I can honestly say that I can’t remember a winter that has affected me this badly. Weekends are too short and we’re very busy in court these days so working from home is a non-option on most days.
I’ve been thinking about what I can do to make it through the next 160 days. Here’s what I came up with:
Purchased Vitamin D3 - Strong sunlight triggers vitamin D production in your skin. Your liver and kidneys complete the conversion to vitamin D’s most active form, 1,25-dihydroxy vitamin D, also called vitamin D3. In theory, you can make all the vitamin D you need for the year with a few minutes of direct exposure to the sun a few times a week during the summer months. In reality, many people do not produce the required vitamin D, either because their skin is unable to absorb it, or they don’t spend enough time outside. Many also fail to get what they need from food and dietary supplements. According to the USDA’s 2015 dietary guidelines for Americans, most children and adults consistently come up short for vitamin D.* - www.centrum.com
Ordered fresh flowers for my office twice per month. We don’t have the benefit of grabbing flowers from the public market during the winter, so I think this will help cheer up my office. Thoughts of summer days.
Forcing myself to get out of my office during the lunch hour for some fresh air and sunlight. A little harder during a rainy day or with the cloud cover. I may try to purchase a daylight lamp to help boost my natural Vit D3. Here’s one I found: Daylight Lamp.
Brightening up my home helps my mood when I return home. I enjoy combing through my new home decor books for ideas. The husband is working on completing our sunroom ceiling and as soon as it’s no longer a construction zone, we can begin enjoying the firepit and outdoor heater. Hopefully soon we’ll have a partially heated space to read a book with a cuppa hot tea.
I’ve rambled and gotten a bit off topic. I believe by speaking up about my recent depression, it will help me and help others. The family plan is to be at our place in Cabo San Lucas during the summer equinox - soaking up some much needed true Vit D3! But until then, I’ve just got to look forward to weekends and sunny days.
I’ll keep you posted!
Gabby
