— old country house blog —

Design Dilemma – GETTING STARTED- time to lean, time to clean!

December 5, 2012
DESIGN DILEMMA:

One of the most commonly heard phrases
when I am discussing a Design Dilemma with
someone is:
“I just don’t know where to BEGIN!”
and right behind that Phrase is a 
 Best friend named “Procrastination” who
 is the first cousin to 
“Decisional Paralysis”.
Thank Goodness it is NOT TERMINAL.

Where to begin?
First. Take a deep breath. RELAX. 
and I know this sounds simplistic but – CLEAN.
Yes, it is as simple as that. 
Free yourself of all the clutter and crap that does not serve a purpose.
This is my rule.
No free rides. If it does not serve a purpose it goes.
You have to make a clean break of it. Don’t hold onto crap. Junk. 
Because trust me….
Crap has the reproductive power of a rabbit and will
multiply seemingly overnight.
do those deer antlers serve a purpose…YES…they style the table and make me happy!
HERE is a post I did on Closet Cleaning which i call THE BIG PURGE.
NEXT
I DIVIDE my STUFF into 5 CATEGORIES

1. MOST PRECIOUS – these are the things that you would grab in the case of a fire.
Irreplaceable things. These things will NEVER go, so just keep them in a safe place. Photos. Heirlooms. Handprints of your baby…etc. Art.

2. SEMI PRECIOUS – These are still very personal, and precious, but if they burned in the fire..you could replace them. Lots of decorative things are Semi Precious…like antlers etc.

3. DAILY USE  – These are things you use on a daily basis…Utilitarian things. Lamps, bedding, dishes, rugs, towels etc. Don’t keep them if you don’t use them

4. SEASONAL OR HOLIDAY Use – These are things that you store and pull out a few times a year. But would just have to go buy again if you got rid of them. So just control yourself .

5. EVERYTHING ELSE – This is the stuff that you keep because of sentimental reasons, guilt, too much storage , too many Target runs….multiples, too many towels, sheets, etc.

Have you seen those makeover shows where they make people bring the entire contents of their closets…and then they systematically throw everything away. YOU have to make a clean break of it. Are you hanging onto College stuff, single person stuff, baby stuff or Kid stuff?
You CANNOT make a positive decorating choice in the direction of change…
while still hanging on to the past. YES, you CAn incorporate the past and I will show you how and Don’t throw out the baby with the bathwater..
…but at least clean the water!

 Just think about it.

and
NEXT UP – THE ASSESSMENT – HOW to decide where to start.
THE ANCHOR.

Anchor- (ank-her) -any of various devices for binding one part of a structure to another.

Here is your HOMEWORK.
Answer this question:

What WILL YOU use to TIE your room/home together – ART, FABRIC CHOICES, RUGS?
what will be your Anchor?

AND EXTRA CREDIT
if you do Pinterest – start a board for the particular room you are decorating and if not…
Dig through magazines and books and look for things that you like.
FIND INSPIRATION!

7 thoughts on “Design Dilemma – GETTING STARTED- time to lean, time to clean!”

  1. Thank you! Thank you! I am so happy you’re doing this! I am deep in the midst of Decisional Paralysis. We just moved into our new house and I just cannot decide what to do. I’m off to do my Pinterest homework!

  3. I love this. It’s almost like being in nursing school and doing care plans but with decorating and no one dies due to a wrong decision!!!!!

    1. OMG! You crack me up! Yes, like Nursing School and also unlike Care plans…these might actually be of some use!
      Care Plans drove me crazy…!!!But they did help you think things through…step by step…Hmmm Maybe I should have my kids do Care Plans for cleaning their rooms???

    2. The thought of care planning my kids room would give me some psychosis and alopecia!!!! Thankfully we are moving in 12 days. That will temporarily clean the rooms up! 🙂

  4. THIS is SO what I am doing come January…I am already making a companion journal..going to try a scrapbook approach…something I can put into my hands..alongside Pinterest of course:)
    gotta love Pinterest!
    my anchor…that is my conundrum. I will try to narrow that down for next week:)
    happy friday!

Comments are closed.