Ping Pong Anyone?

On a whim, a few girlfriends and I decided to take a trip together to Mexico. We picked a town not close to the ocean, but one that is supposedly a bustling city, a popular destination for others who live around Mexico (similar to how Americans travel to New York to see the big city). The pictures on Airbnb looked beautiful as this house is only a block off the main street where you can find amazing bakeries, coffee shops, restaurants, and much more.

When we arrived, we took a tour which was given in Spanish. Luckily, we understood the majority of it even though we aren't fluent in the language (which I really need to change). We were in awe of the wonderful renovations that had been done to the home. A local couple in Mexico would find older properties that were falling apart, remodel them, and then rent them out to people like us, people who wanted to come visit the city and have a place to stay other than a hotel. Airbnb is a wonderful invention but that's another story for another blog, though what really amazed me about this place was how it was decorated.

There was a main house with a master bedroom and bath and a courtyard with a pool. In the back was another building with two separate rooms, each with its own bathroom. It was nice that we each had our own private space, but we also had a main area to use for our meals and to visit with one another and relax.

The artwork for every room was amazing. We felt like we were in a museum. There were huge statues, vases, and beautiful pictures on the wall. I was located in the separate building on the bottom floor that led right out into the courtyard. My friends thought that would be the best for me since it didn't have stairs, but I secretly think I lucked out because it was beautifully decorated and exceedingly charming. I really admired the huge photo over the bed. Each of the rooms had one, but I really liked mine. It was simple and had only a few colors, but was very unique.

One day, I was climbing into bed after a long day of sun when I noticed that it wasn't a picture at all – it was an old ping-pong table! I could see the old white outline of the table's boundaries. I also noticed where the net had been secured. The paint had worn off, but I could see that it used to be green and had been painted over to be blue.

I thought to myself, "What a unique idea!" I grew up having a ping-pong table in my parents basement and enjoyed playing on it for many many years. Eventually, it got really old and started to fall apart. The legs that supported it became unstable and I remember my dad decided to get rid of it. I really am someone who likes to recycle and repurpose things especially now that I am an adult and have a better understanding of the value of things. But, I have never thought about using a ping-pong table top as a piece of artwork on the wall before! This really inspired me. I bought my first home last year and there are a few rooms that still have blank walls because I haven't found the right picture to put on them to occupy the space. Now, I'm a little more open-minded as to what I can use as art.

So many people think they need to go to a store to find things for their home like artwork. Now, I do love supporting local artists, and love going to First Friday (a local art show in Indianapolis where all of the local art galleries open up to the public on Friday nights), but really do like coming up with something unique on my own. Seeing that ping-pong table above my bed really made me think about looking at objects I see every day in a different way. Next time I see something that I appreciate as one thing, I might ask, "What else could I use that for?"

I just think that repurposing items is so much better than throwing them away. So many things have a lot of life left in them, but their lifespan is cut short because most people are just wired to replace old things with new items. As long as those items are new to me, I'm happy – and the more creative the better!