Just do It!

Years ago, when I was taking my Redesign classes, we were each asked to decorate an empty fireplace mantle in a clients home. When it was my turn, I was paralyzed with fear. I whispered to Ann (Anderson) that I couldn’t do it. The house was not my style of decorating, and, naively at the time, I thought that every piece had to be perfect (my idea of perfection, not theirs). She whispered back to me “It’s not about you. Stop thinking. Just do it.”

Once I had recovered from the shock of being told it wasn’t all about me, I knew she was right. We all have different ideas of perfection, it’s what we do with those ideas that matter. The other thing I learned that day was to “Just do it!” A mantra that now carries me through life, teaching me to analyze the important, but not to hesitate with the easy or obvious.

Which is where Interior Redesign comes in. Unless you are painting a room, or knocking down a wall, most decisions can be reversed within a few hours. Looking at a room, fully dressed (both you and the room should be fully dressed, it’s easier that way) it is almost impossible to understand how it will look with a different floor plan.

Even if a designer can “see” it in their head, it is often difficult to explain, and sometimes, well-thought-out ideas may change once the room is emptied. It is far easier to begin moving things around, it gives you a better sense of how the room should be. Often the plan changes; the symmetry may be wrong, or the floor plan impractical. If that happens, just keep moving. Play with the furniture. Try every conceivable idea. Don’t stop and theorize about why you should, or shouldn’t, do something. It’s furniture, it’s moveable. Just do it!

(By the way, I wish I could say that I designed the above room, but I didn’t. I love the eccentric calmness that manages to combine several functions into one space. Beautiful and practical)

Thanks to www.dreamhome-design.blogspot.com for the great photograph.

Decoratively Speaking.



Sometimes, we are reluctant to give up the much-loved items that we covet. We become disorganized collectors of things that we simply must have (and keep). But, for many of us, excess can be just another reason to decorate!

Postcards, jewelry, notes-to-self, cd's. Anything (but shampoo)
can go in the pockets of this shower curtain.

Keep what you have, but be creative. Often, interesting (and decorative) solutions can be found for the same price as a hum-drum piece of rubbish. Don’t hide things away in boxes or cupboards. If you love it, show it…



Don't throw a favorite cup away, use it.
You are recycling, and getting daily pleasure at the same time.

 














Justify the splurge by using it in-between cake time. It's the
perfect place for keys, watches or loose change.

 

Over the door storage isn't just for coats. Hang towels,shoes,
 necklaces, belts, ties, dog leashes....



If your cup collection has grown bigger than your cabinet, hang them up.



Bowls are a clutterers best friend. Small things fit inside perfectly.



A ladder propped against a wall is a shelf
that can hold far more than you think. 

Wine on the wall. How convenient.

20 perfect little cubbies to put things in. Absolutely anything.



                                                               

Sources:  www.urbanoutfitters.com (shower curtain) www.potterybarn.com (cubby, cup hooks and over-the-door hanger). www.ewineracks.com  (wine storage)
The other items are used/vintage from stock images.

The "Stuff" We Keep

Hoarding has become the ugly sister of clutter; an in-your-face television representation of lives that have tipped the scales of common sense. We are shown piles upon piles of paper and belongings, showcased in homes that haven’t been cleaned in decades, a public process that sometimes seems more humiliating than helpful.

Are we really that extreme? No, but many of us are busy and overwhelmed with our “stuff”. According to the IRS, “You must keep your records as long as they may be needed for the administration of any provision of the Internal Revenue Code”…..

So, with that helpful sentence, here are some easy ways to try and control it (clutter, not the IRS) without losing your mind, or your mail.

• If you want to keep receipts, papers and household bills forever, put them in plastic storage boxes, label them and put them in an attic, cellar or neatly stacked in a closet or laundry room. If they will be visible, buy neat, black containers to minimize their visibility. Don’t let them take over your “living” space.
• Spend a day recycling. Check your town for guidelines on what you can recycle. Ask about recycling paint and oil cans, computer equipment, cell phones, anything that can’t go in the regular garbage.
• Load up your car and dedicate a nice, sunny day to getting rid of it all.
• Don’t keep things you don’t need (or want).
• Throw away broken and damaged items if you haven’t repaired them in over 6 months.
• Have a system for the mail that works for your lifestyle. Promise yourself you will take care of the mail every day.
• Give away ugly and/or useless things that annoy you on a daily basis. Someone else may appreciate them.
• Keep things that are important to you (but not necessarily want displayed) in a keepsake box or vintage suitcase, somewhere safe, dry and together.
• Get rid of clothes that you no longer wear, or don’t fit. They're so many organizations that will take them, re-use them and sort them for you. At the very least you could put them in bags and drop them in one of those clothing bins.
• Don’t buy more storage bins to control what you have – it will just grow and evolve into something uncontrollable. Challenge yourself to use what you already have.
• Consider decoupaging your old newspapers onto the wall.

Things that Bling!

Unlike Magpies, I am not attracted to shiny objects. If I buy something new for my house, the next day you will find me sanding or painting it, trying to make it look older than it is. I am the same with clothing, rebelling against beads or sequins, no matter how appropriate they may be for the occasion. Even jewelry; preferring vintage to modern, I will always let my silver tarnish, and I would rather wear glass beads than diamonds (really!).

As a decorator, I worried that this would be one of my challenges; something that I have to work at, because it goes against my personal style. But, oddly enough, what I realized was that every home, regardless of its style, needs a little sparkle. How you decide to add the sparkle is up to you. It doesn’t have to be a chandelier dripping in jewels (although I think I have fallen in love with the one in the picture), it can be something as simple as a glass bowl filled with apples or a pretty, ceramic vase on a shelf.

A window, perhaps, could be the easiest solution; even if they aren’t clean, open the curtains and let the glass be part of the decoration. Anything that transfers light around a room will work. Hang mirrors or necklaces in unexpected places for a pretty, practical type of energy.

A little shine makes all the difference. It becomes the vehicle for light to reflect and bounce around a room. Without it, a home could appear dull, bogged down by its opaqueness.

So, even if you are like me, and hesitate to use things that “bling”, be cautious, but add some anyway – you just might fall in love!

Many thanks to Erickson Beamon for his fabulous Glam Rock Chandelier image!