I am a morning person (I know don’t hate me) but I always have been! I am spoiled by my husband because EVERY morning he brings me coffee in bed with one ice cube in it. Black coffee with 1 ice cube is my perfect cup. :) So thankful for him and the ways he says he loves me through serving. My favorite morning quote is from “Anne of Green Gables” where Anne says that “mornings are fresh with no mistakes in it”! It’s so true! It’s a resounding hopeful feeling to start anew everyday. Can you tell I love mornings? LOL!

Since I was 17 coffee and mornings just went together. I was teaching an aerobics class at the downtown YMCA in Fort Worth, Texas at 5:00 am… so my coffee NEED started then. That one or two cup a day quickly turned into a pot a day and more caffeine in the afternoon, of course! We could discuss the positive and negative effects of coffee and caffeine all day but for me, I don’t like being controlled or addicted to something.

My husband Sean rarely drinks coffee and would tease me on occasion about my consumption. I knew I needed to lessen it but quite frankly I just didn’t want to… enough. I love the smell, the taste, the experience and the little high you get from coffee! It’s hard to let all that go! However, my designer-friend Paige Smiley started posting about her caffeine consumption and getting off of it. At first I thought she was crazy! About 1 week after her withdrawals subsided she posted about how much energy she has everyday?!? What? No caffeine and more energy…hmm.

As you would have it I got sick a week later, real sick. So, I didn’t drink coffee for a week and went through my withdrawals while being sick! It was my time to try this no caffeine or very limited caffeine world. To my surprise, it’s been about a month and I only have my one cup of coffee (brought to me by my sweet husband) every morning and my energy is MUCH better! Plus a huge bonus is I have saved tons of money not buying coffee at Starbucks! BONUS!

As I went into the new year with less coffee, I realized my life needed less of many things. Less busy, less TV, less stress, less anxiety and less ingratitude… So many times we’re focused on more and less can make just as much of an impact.

Honestly, it’s so true with design. We think more stuff will get us the look we want, but in reality less stuff can be far more beautiful! So as you design or work on your home…why not do with less? Take out some of the accessories from the shelves, remove some pillows, sell or giveaway those pieces you don’t love and live with less. You might just find you don’t need more.

Designer with a purpose,

Micah Abbananto