Friends! How about that eclipse?! Did you watch it, in person or on the TV? I did both. It was only a partial one here and it was overcast, but — hey — the sun’s so bright I could see it right through the clouds (with my handy-dandy eclipse glasses). What an amazing sight.
Also, I survived the move! The casita was cleaned this afternoon (not by me, I left it to the professionals) and I’m across the courtyard in the new place. What a slog this was. I hate the logistics and, especially in this case, the trips back and forth which started to feel like Sisyphus rolling that boulder uphill for an eternity.
The part I love, though, is “playing house” – setting up a new space, switching things around, figuring out where the paintings and tchotchkes will go, what looks nice, and how it all fits together. And I will admit that at least for me, a living space is never cleaner than when I’ve just moved in, despite my best efforts at dusting and general maintenance.
Things I’ve already figured out I love: the front, walled garden, which I’ll be adding some perennials to, it’s mostly shrub plantings. The additional light, since there are more windows all around. Enough window space to fit my plants in, since I no longer have Succulent Island under a kitchen skylight. A bathroom that is warmer (yay!) and with hot water that reaches it a lot faster. It’s the little things, you know?
Anyhow, perfume. The space in this photo was the home office of the previous resident. He is a lawyer and it’s a large nook (or a small room) behind folding doors off the living room; there are more shelves to the right, out of view. He of course had it jam-packed with a desktop computer and monitors, files, paperwork, and legal tomes. I took one look at it and visions of floor to ceiling perfume danced in my head, in part because I’ll be sharing this house with a fellow perfumista! Carolyn is a dear friend who I first “met” virtually through the Posse. She already lived in Santa Fe, helped me out with some move-related groundwork in 2021, and we became fast friends IRL after I arrived. I am pretty sure that between the two of us we will have those deep shelves and this entire space (aka “the ‘fume room”) filled with fragrance; there’s still more space for shelving at the top of we need it. The desktop and the file cabinet will likely be reserved for mundane stuff like files and a printer and the things normal people keep in an office.
I’ve started slowly unpacking my bottles and have really enjoyed that process of arranging them. Also, it smells incredible in here. You know that moment of going into a beloved perfume store and wishing you could bottle the smell of all those things together? Well, that is exactly what this is, the adjacent living room already smells like the best parfum d’ambience ever.
If any of you have any thoughts or suggestions for arrangements on these shelves, or any other storage details, please share them. Do you arrange yours by house? Size? Not at all? I am going to get some small storage boxes to keep the tippy ones safe (looking at you, Uncle Serge!) and my decants together, but other than that, I’m still figuring it out.
So far I’ve uncovered no catastrophes in the giant cooler I used to move them. I am thrilled. What did I put on first when unpacking these after their time in storage? Guerlain’s Encens Mythique, and it’s still every bit as lovely.
cover image via Pexels
Related
Trending Products
