W H O A M I?
People do not have to be of the same lived circumstances to have something very special in common. My story and your story are different, but what we can experience and understand together is that the tapestry of the everyday person’s day-to-day is made up of hard work, struggles, triumphs, surprises, pain, joy, imagination, exhaustion, resilience. We are all busy, we are all focused on ten different things at once, we are motivated, we are doing the very best we can. We are the sparrows making something beautiful out of what resources we pull together
When I moved out on my own I was seventeen and chose New York City of all places. At the time, I received a generous $1000 a month from my folks to cover rent (actually possible then) but otherwise was left to my own devices. For nearly three years I lived on bodega coffee and rice and beans, sewed new underwear from recycled tee shirts and got very good at slipping under MTA turnstiles. To furnish my place I learned how to hunt for things discarded on the sidewalk, and to navigate and negotiate on Craigslist, building my apartment home slowly (so slowly) from literal scratch.
I can’t recall buying a single piece from an actual store, but can remember the exact street corner where I found my first set of dishes. And while I cannot stress enough that there was truly nothing even remotely romantic about actually living the starving artist lifestyle, I did get to start adulthood learning to make do with what I could find.
At twenty I moved to New England and met one of my greatest friends and mentors, Sarah (of Small Victories Design*). Through her I learned how to patiently thrift, the joy you can find at a porch tag sale or a really great Salvation Army, and the power of a good vignette! I probably made less than $10,000 that year, but the creaky villagehouse apartment I had then was my first where I walked from room to room admiring what I’d pulled off. I felt proud of and energized by the home I made because it was me, and that felt so good.
This continued over the years. Every space I moved into was just as sort of blah as the next when I’d arrive, but then I’d work like hell to improve it just so I felt more grounded. Apart from being financially limited, work and life led to being somewhat transient - and that sort of existence can really make you feel unmoored. What foundational bedrock I lacked in my professional and geographic worlds I’ve always manifested in my living spaces. It never happens immediately, but I’ve always found the process enjoyable and cathartic.
Twenty years after that New England apartment, I’ve spent the majority of them as the head of a single-parent household* , and have always had more than one job, living in a post-2008 economy. Truth be told, paycheck-to-paycheck is the only way of life I’ve known.
Yet, every home my son and I have had tells a different story than that. With intention, I’ve used what resources I could to make each home we’ve shared over the years not only beautiful and meaningful to us, but warm and inviting to outsiders - homes I’ve felt proud to show off, that felt put together in the way I wanted to feel: sophisticated but playful, intentionally curated with personal items and things that make us smile. They’ve been so reflective of me and him that I felt as I sat in them, You know what? I’m doing a good job of providing a warm and stable environment for me and my kid. Even when we’ve been poor, at home we didn’t feel poor.
As a perpetual renter and one that has occupied and decorated over twenty of living spaces within twenty-four years - and having done so using the barest of budgets by hunting, thrifting, and using whatever tricks I can - I feel I am not only qualified for this work, but am passionately and personally connected to it. I believe in and know intimately the empowerment a well-curated home can bring to a hard-working person’s life. It is a wonderful thing, to start with something that doesn’t feel very glamorous, but to transform it into something magnificent. The secret is patience, knowing where to look, trusting your gut, and only picking what you love.
Do I expect that every client will be familiar with this kind of financial constraint that I had? Absolutely not. I share these details simply to illustrate my understanding of how possible it is to feel grounded, and to believe in your own ability to seek out treasure and creative solutions. Even if you live comfortably, you may not have the luxury of time, vision, or bandwidth to make a big house. You can benefit from the process simply because you are looking to build a unique, warm home in a way that is creative, inexpensive, and enjoyable. I’ve got you.
From one sparrow, to another.
Molly Grace
