Now that we’re well past the halfway point of the year, I thought it was high time I share an update on my New Year’s resolution. If you remember, I kicked off 2020 with a new commitment to only shop secondhand (or artisan-made) home décor—no purchasing pillows from Target, or mass-produced ceramics from H&M. Nope! I was going to limit my home décor shopping to more sustainable and supportive resources, like secondhand thrift stores and handmade shops, both locally and online.

My resolution was based on the very best of intentions, but I think it’s safe to say that 2020 didn’t turn out quite like any of us had planned. Like so many of you (especially here in the states), I was homebound by March, and my only means of purchasing home décor for our space was via the Internet.

Not being able to go in person to my favorite thrift and antique stores was the first major blow to my resolution. The second came down to budget. As much as I wanted to be able to spend a premium in order to support handmade artisans and pre-curated secondhand finds from shops that shipped (like those on Etsy), I just couldn’t.

Covid has cut my business income in half this year, and, to be frank, I’m barely scraping by. Thank goodness John and I are smart savers and have no debt other than the house. I don’t know how we’d make it otherwise!

At any rate, the idea of spending an abundance of my meager budget on the very best, most sustainably sourced home décor available just wasn’t an option. It’s embarrassing to admit that, but it’s the truth. I’m not perfect, and this year has really thrown all of my big plans for a loop.

If redecorating and refreshing our home wasn’t part of my business, I probably wouldn’t shop at all for decorative things. But it’s my job to help inspire you, so I’m happy to continue doing it and factoring it into my monthly expenses. I just, unfortunately, haven’t been able to stick to my commitment to shopping secondhand and handmade at the same time.

While this update is a bit of a negative one, I want to make a promise to you and to myself that I’m not giving up. I have hope that things will go back to “normal” someday, and that I’ll be able to shop at my favorite local artisan and thrift stores again soon. In fact, I’ve begun the slow process of carefully getting back out into public (with a mask, of course!), and have been adding a couple of secondhand décor pieces to my collection that I can’t wait to share about soon.

I may not have been able to stick my New Year’s resolution for 2020, but I’m going to do everything I can to get back to a good place where it is possible to commit to exclusively secondhand décor shopping. I still fully believe in the intent behind my resolution, and am excited to follow through with it as soon as conceivably possible.

Have you guys stuck to your NYE resolutions? If you’ve fallen off the bandwagon like I have, I wonder if it’s possible for us to recommit to the original promises we made through the rest of the year. Now that I’m tentatively getting back out there and my business continues to move forward, I feel like it’s possible if I plan ahead and invest in items strategically. If you’d like to make today the restart date of your resolution, I’m here to cheer you on! You’ve got this.