To redecorate or not to redecorate?

I spend the last two days unpacking and having major trouble deciding what I should do with my grandma’s house. Should I move her things? Would re-decorating be disrespectful to her memory? I haven't brought myself to sleep in her bedroom yet even though it's by far the biggest and had the master bathroom attached to it. While my dad had sifted through all of grandma's things and got everything important to him, the house definitely was still completely her. 

Her house was fairly new, although the decent size yard in the back had been somewhat neglected over the past couple of years as my grandma’s health deteriorated. The exterior of the house could use a few minor touch ups, and the interior definitely needed updating, but the layout of this house was pure perfection in my eyes. The main floor had large windows facing west (and get this guys, I could see the ocean from the living room…it was a couple miles away, but still!!), which also meant that the entire main floor got crazy amounts of sunshine. The main floor also had a fireplace, an open kitchen with a breakfast bar and hidden pantry, and a laundry room with tons of storage. Upstairs were the master bedroom, and two smaller bedrooms (one of which had been mine ever since my grandma moved into the house). My favorite part about the house, especially since I was going to be living alone for the foreseeable future, was that there was no basement. I don’t know about you guys, but dark basements creep me out.

I wasn’t sure what to do about the redecorating, so I ended up calling my dad and seeing how he felt about it. I've always been a daddy's girl so I apologize that our conversations will always sound like I'm 12.

He picked up on the first ring.

"Dad, I have a problem.”

"What's up? Are you feeling homesick? We can put you on the first flight home if you're uncomfortable there", he sounded seriously concerned.

I sighed. "Not it's not that. I mean I obviously miss you and mom, but I think this was a good move. It's just that I'm not sure if I should, or I guess can, make grandma's house my own..."

Dad went on to reassure me that I can make whatever changes I want, and that he would try to come down if I felt like making renovations to it and needed help, or if I wanted him to put in a new deck in the back. Best dad ever? Yup!

We talked for a few more minutes and then hung up. Okay now I was feeling a little bit homesick...

To fight off my mood that had taken a turn towards melancholy and to stop myself from a pity party I decided to head down the street to the hardware store and buy some paint. Re-decorating it is! A new coat of paint was much needed in the kitchen and living room, and some updating was necessary to the whole main floor.

I braided my long, blonde hair back in a French braid, changed out of my sweatpants (hey, I'm still in the process of moving) and into a pair of jeans. Deciding that it was way too nice out to drive down the couple blocks it was to the hardware store, I grabbed my sweater, purse, and sunglasses and walked there instead.