A Letter Of Apology
First, I’d like to offer all of you a heartfelt and sincere apology for being absent from blogging. Last Friday was my first post in 17 long months, a virtual eternity in the online world. Secondly, I would like to thank so many of you for also reaching out to me during this long absence. Many times, a kind word from one of you lifted my mood and I thank you so much for reaching out to me and letting me know that you missed me. I’d like everyone to know that I am fine and healthy and that I have truly missed posting my weekly blogs and hearing from you. I am ready and excited to move on to new posts that I hope will inspire creativity and a DIY spirit from everyone who reads them.
One Door Closes…
But before I get started on that new chapter, I’d like to Tell you what’s been going on for the last year. Last September, my decade long relationship with my partner ended. As I look back at it now, there was a tremendous amount of planning and negotiating from both sides. In fact, we remained living together as roommates for the last year to continue sharing responsibility for caring for his father. As anyone who’s been through a break-up can tell you signs were there for a while and wanting vastly different things is tough to navigate. As the two of us of come through this ‘new normal’, we are both healing and stronger than we were or year and a half ago.
Jab, Jab, Right Hook.
After that happened, last February my partner lost his father and things just got quiet again for the Spring and Summer. When you lose important people on the back of losing a life experience, it can be quite difficult to focus. We were co-caretakers for his dad for most of our time together. When we lost his dad, we lost not only a human, we also lost our daily routine and primary reason for communication. Suddenly, days would go by without a word or even running into one another.
As summer was winding down and Fall was approaching, our pug, Mylow began to show signs of being quite ill. Over the last few years he lost most of his hearing and sight, but he could still sniff out a treat like a pro! Between August and October, he lost a considerable amount of weight and for a dog with a top weight of 26 pounds, withering away to 19 pounds, then 16 pounds, in the course of a couple weeks really caused a lot of concern and worry. And even though he was almost 17 years old, he was still my baby and when he passed in October. Dan and I both felt the loss with profound sadness. To add to this, the day after Mylow died, I moved into a new house. It’s strange how things turn out sometimes... I had closed on my house a month before he died and I scheduled the movers for that morning after, weeks before, so I couldn’t stop any of it from happening. All I wanted to do was to crawl in bed and not exist for a while but when the bell rang at 10 AM, I needed to be ready. The big move came on the heels of a year’s worth of more planning and negotiating. I toured houses, bid on and got out bid on countless houses. I’m sure that anyone who has bought a house in a competitive market knows that stress and anxiety become your primary emotions. Going through that process alone was no treat either.
A Promise Of A New Day
When I moved my emotions were still raw for the first couple months. I just sort of sat amongst boxes and crates and piles of this and that. I didn’t do much. I think I just needed to process everything. But as I sat in my space, over the holidays, I began contemplating all the things that I was going to do. I caught myself beginning to get inspired again. I wanted to create a space that worked for my new life. A space where I could explore my creativity. A space that was safe for me to create in, design in, and stretch my ‘do it yourself wings’ once again.
So here we are. After a year’s worth of up’s and downs I’m finally excited for the future projects again! I can’t wait to share with all of you the plans that I have for the new house, for this blog. My editorial calendar is filling up and I promise you’ll still see DIY projects and lots of content on decorating and interior design. You’ll also be along for some home renovations here and there as well.
Onward And Upward
Going forward, I hope to reconnect with all of you to regain your trust and to inspire and encourage your creativity and to celebrate your design and decorating breakthroughs. As you’re reading this, I encourage you to stop on over to Michael Helwig Interiors to see what’s new and to follow my social media accounts so we can stay connected. I thank you for sticking it out with me during this long absence I’d like to offer you a free gift. It’s a quick download that will totally help you make your home look photoshoot ready. It’s my Secrets Only Designers Know To Make Your Space Rock. I’ve put together 11 super easy tips that will make an immediate impact on your space. You don’t even have to apply all 11 tips at once. Even using just 1 tip will make a huge change! Check it out by clicking the button below.
Thank you so much for stopping back over and I hope to see you here again and to hear from you in the comments below. I appreciate you checking out my content and I’m excited to bring you more projects, DIY’s, and inspiration this year and beyond!
Michael is Principal designer and blogger at Michael Helwig Interiors in beautiful Buffalo, New York. Since 2011, he’s a space planning expert, offering online interior e-design services for folks living in small homes, or for those with awkward and tricky layouts. He’s a frequent expert contributor to many National media publications and news outlets on topics related to decorating, interior design, diy projects, and more. Michael happily shares his experience to help folks avoid expensive mistakes and decorating disappointments. You can follow him on Pinterest, Instagram and Facebook @interiorsmh.
