Looking Back to Move Forward

What a year it has been.  I don’t know about you, but never in my lifetime did I think I would see anything like a worldwide pandemic.  It has turned all of our lives upside down in one way or another.  We have had to adapt and change everything from the way we do business and the way we work, to the way we socialize with friends and family, to the way we deal with all this change both physically and emotionally.

I think it’s time for all of us to dig deep and look for the good that has come out of 2020.  If we focus on the bad, that gets us nowhere except in a worse place than we already are.  I have always believed that in looking back, we are preparing ourselves to move forward.  I encourage you to do the same.  Here’s what I discovered as I reviewed the last twelve months.

The home design and renovation business has exploded as has home organizing, and after a couple of months of being home with less work, I am so thankful that now we are overrun with so many new and returning clients.  And, like so many, I have learned to work with my clients virtually and in-person far more efficiently than before.  Perhaps that’s the first good thing to come out of all this.

I’ve worked on homes, cottages, condos and apartments to make them more functional and beautiful.  I have re-designed several home offices or created them from scratch.

I have worked on several kitchen “refresh” projects, redesigned a few living rooms with wonderful new paint colours, furniture, draperies, and accessories, and have designed dozens of storage cabinets and closets for small and large spaces.  I even worked with a client to help coordinate the installation of solar power and a generator.

I have spent hours online sourcing everything from light fixtures to cabinet hardware to flooring to purse hangers to storage bins and so much more.

On top of all that, we filmed Season 3 of The Big Downsize which will air in the Spring of 2021 on Vision TV.  Stay tuned to my social media and this newsletter for more on that over the coming months.

I have attended online sessions on business building, home organizing techniques, and new product launches for everything from area rugs to hardware.  That’s a good thing that came out of some downtime – more time for learning.

I started practicing yoga online instead of in-person, which I have to say is one of the really good things that came out of the pandemic.  I really enjoy practicing from home rather than in the studio.  Go figure.  And just before the sh.. hit the fan, as the saying goes, I took the trip of a lifetime to Los Cabos, Mexico.  As I look back through my calendar, I am also reminded of several wonderful trips on our very own doorstep from Prince Edward Island to Annapolis Royal and in between.

2020 has been a year of lots of sweat and some tears, lots of smiling and some frowning, some good days and some bad days.  All in all, it sounds like life.  Here’s hoping that 2021 allows us all to expand our horizon, imagine what is possible and move forward.