Inspired Chaos is... a symphony.
As we prepare for the change of the seasons and approach the holidays, we celebrate the transition with our semi-annual shop theme and decor turnover. Every nook and cranny gets a deep cleaning, with new and rearranged displays - down to fresh curtains on the windows, updated fabrics, and many newly curated products to fill the shop.
"A River Runs Through It" may have been my favorite theme yet (Spring/Summer 2021) and I am sad to see it go - from our fishing pole jewelry display with river rock accents, fishing lures and greenery to the 1800's canoe turned into a shelf. A simple design took me right back to some of my best childhood memories.
Choosing a theme or inspiration for the cooler months is a bit more challenging. Colors are darker/richer, textiles are heavier and our flowers and greenery fade away. Still, with that being said, there’s a sense of excitement looking forward to the cooler months ahead, a feeling of gratitude for the holidays to come.
When I close my eyes and think of Autumn, I feel a cool fall breeze and hear the rustle of the golden leaves preparing to fall from the trees. I smell apple butter cooking in the town square at our beloved Apple Butter Festival and hear the laughter of friends from near and far. When I think about holidays, I think about togetherness - the crazy loud noise of my large family at my grandmother's home. I think about Christmas carols filling the small church I attended while growing up. I hear my dad singing,"Heat Miser" and "Snow Miser" from his favorite holiday movie, "A Year Without a Santa Claus." I smile, thinking of customers visiting the store with their holiday shopping lists, excited to share their finds with their loved ones and laughing at the snarky gifts they decide to throw in.
It's a sweet sound, composed of simple harmonies, creating a chaotic chorus.
With our new theme, "A Seasonal Symphony," we bring together a composition of unique elements - different textures and patterns to create an arrangement of the heart.
"A Seasonal Symphony" will embrace old instruments and musical items that are no longer able to produce their music but can still create unique Inspired Chaos displays. I smile thinking about the gentleman who saved these instruments in his barn for decades with a plan to bring them back to life - a guy much like my mama and me who saw more than warped wood headed for a burn pile, treasures that were begging to be turned into art.
"A Seasonal Symphony" is more than just old instruments used as display - it's embracing the symphony of characters and stories we are blessed with, the companionship you all share. It's when our customers are singing and dancing along with us to our 60's/70's/80's radio station. It's how sometimes our words fail us, but music speaks. It's how music is what feelings sound like. It’s pure and simple joy.
When I was in middle school, I rode along with my dad to a shared Potomac River property to help mow the fields and do some clean up. Some of the older members were sitting along the river, laughing and shooting the bull. It was early spring and the Virginia Bluebells covered the ground as far as the eye could see, almost like a mirror to the bright blue sky above. The sunset created some of the brightest pinks I'd ever seen. As the spring peepers echoed all around us and my dad tended to a campfire, one of the older men limped away into the woods (I figured to go pee - ha ha!) He returned with his harmonica and his buddy's banjo. These old country men - tough and ornery, strong and quiet. They sat around that fire and when they began playing those instruments together with the sounds of nature, echoing around the ridges of the river bed, they created the most beautiful symphony. I felt like I could float right away on their melody into the starry night sky. It was like their bodies had grounded right into the earth and that music was the purest and most magical sound I'd ever heard - easy like a child laughing. It felt like being home.
We can't wait to welcome you back with a "Seasonal Symphony" and hope you feel right at home when we reopen on Saturday, August 28th.
