July 19, 2007 by

Self Improvement through Home Improvement

“We shape our buildings and our buildings shape us.” Winston Churchill

We talk a lot these days about wanting our homes to reflect our personalities. For instance, if you like to travel, perhaps you put artifacts from your travels on your coffee table. But have you ever thought on a deeper level about how your home in return can shape and define you?

I was watching The Today Show and they were featuring Charleston, South Carolina. Their story mentioned the idea that the stately beautiful homes and buildings in that area have shaped them and defined them as people–gracious and refined.

Remember in “Gone with the Wind,” when Rhett Butler turns and faces Scarlett O’Hara and says, “Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn…”? While that is the part everyone remembers, read the rest of the quote: “I’m going back to Charleston where there is still a little grace and civility left in the world.”

That is so great. It really speaks to why it is so important to our well-being and success in life to create lovely homes that are authentic representations of ourselves–not just flashing wealth or material things, but showing our character and our values. While we are creating a beautiful place to live, we are also shaping ourselves into the very person we want to be in our fullest potential. We take the seed of what we are and what we want to become and by nurturing it in our surroundings it actually comes to be.

What do you think? Do you think by working on your home you can actually shape your life? Something to think about!

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July 17, 2007 by

Bigger and Bolder is Better

We’ve all been there. You are out shopping and you want to buy something new for your home. But you really don’t know WHAT you want or need. So you wander through some shops, looking for the missing ingredient.

Then your eyes find “it”. That adorable little accessory you can afford and you expect will transform your room from blah to WOW. Or at least add a little something–if not a big WOW then a little nice touch! The sales clerk wraps it up in paper and you take it home, carefully sitting on the seat next to you.

You unwrap it as you go through the front door, running from end table to bookshelf, looking for its home. Here? No. Over there? Ugh. No.

Then reality hits. It was cute in the store, but in your massive great room, YOU CAN’T EVEN NOTICE IT! It doesn’t make a statement at all. So then you pile on a dozen more accessories trying to make the statement and it ends up a mess.

The moral of the story here is this: it is better to buy one bigger, bolder piece for a specific spot in your room than to buy something cute and little and then search for where to put it.

Best bet is to buy in pairs (two lamps, two candlesticks), triplets (three pillows, three frames, etc.) or make sure a single item is a statement all by itself. Consider the size of your room–if it is a “great room” the bigger the better for accessories.

Go for fewer items, more repetition and bolder pieces.

Bigger and Bolder is Better

Look at the photo. It is a real life example from a client (the before picture). Do you see the accessories? The tiny bunnies? Right over there, on the table behind the sofa. Yeah, there they are. Go ahead and laugh. The client laughed too. That is why she called me. She knew she needed help. No more tiny bunnies! Tiny bunnies rarely solve decorating problems.

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