went to my home teacher's house for dinner last night

[ladykemma2]

their kids are all flown and they have all new stuff. leather sofas, fresh furniture, everything neat as a pin. there was no clutter anywhere.

i am having a bout of envy.

why is this bothering me and what about it can i achieve?

1. the paint was fresh, or rather, the walls were not beat up and aging. so i need to paint and refresh my home.

2. it was a minimalist decor. Nothing was visible. office clutter and computer stuff takes over my living area. the ironing board tends to stay up for months in my living space. hmmm.

3. the leather sofas were new. hmmmm. My extended stay in england and visiting old english homes broke me of this "having to have everything new and matchy matchy". i still need (want) a washable slipcover for my beat up but structurally sound chippendale sofa.

4. i think i have not been addressing my need for beauty. and not dealing with repairs the way my ex husband used to.

oy.

[MaryCarney]

That is very insightful!!

[NewLeaf]

When I get to feeling dissatisfied w/my home I switch things from one room to another. It makes the rooms look new. A fresh coat of paint is the best way to refresh a home.

[Daisygirl]

I'm going through the same thing myself. If you saw my painting rant thread you'll know I am currently painting. I am going for a serene neutral look (never before seen in MY home!) The decorating bug has bitten me bigtime, too.

[Contrary Housewife]

I hear ya. I think it's the clutter and grunge that really makes a house look old, not so much the age or type of furniture. I really need to go through and wipe all the smudges and fingerprints off the walls and doors, vacuum zealously, and clear out some clutter.

I wonder what their closets look like. ::

[Palooka]

I can't handle clutter and like things simple and neat.

I change my furniture around and re-organize everything to keep it fresh and happy.

My closet is really slacking!

European decor just makes sense!

[McD]

I have been having the same thoughts/feelings lately. My house is an older home, built in 1940. It has a lot of character...and with that it has a lot of character 'flaws'.

I've noticed that the more I get rid of 'stuff' the better I feel about my house in general. Little things are helping my home feel fresher to me.

I am removing the big bulky armoire from my entryway (moving it to the basement for storage of blankets/sheets, etc) and replacing it with a small hallway table. The result will be an entryway that looks less clutter and more spacious.

I want to rearrange my living room and remove the bookshelf of dvds/movies. It looks cluttery and would free up more room in the living room.

We are also fighting the battle of the baby stuff. I want Maggie's cradle downstairs (as opposed to a huge playpen) but then I have to figure out where we have room for it.

Never-ending battle, you know? I fix up one thing and find 9 million more. Something that helped me was walking through every room in my house and writing down a comprehensive lsit of things I want to do in that room. It gives me a sense of accomplishment to be able to cross things off the list as I do them, as well as gives me a list of things to work to that are more spendy (i.e. carpet replacement).

It's also helped me think outside the box on how to update/freshen the house until we can afford to do what we want in each room, like okay instead of replacing 4 rooms + stairyway of carpet, we can get the rugs professionally cleaned, then get a decorative area rug in the living room to brighten it up

[HandyMom]

I know what you mean. My stuff just gets shuffled from one place to another and I am not loving a lot of it anymore. I'd prefer to surround myself with things I really love than shabby junk that is only more work for me to clean or try and find a place for. I'm going to put my old beatup livingroom furniture out to the curb and have nothing in there until I can get something nice that I like. I can't even stand to sit on it anymore and it's not worth paying someone to steam clean it -- it's shot.

[ladykemma2]

i went and walked around ethan allen and bassett furniture yesterday. i discovered that a sofa is within financial reach, but there is nothing wrong with this sofa except it needs a professionally fitted (washable ) slipcover.

when i was in england, when i visited grand manor homes, i noticed that rich people use slipcovers in the grand houses, not replacing the furniture all the time like americans do. maybe that's why they are wealthy. (they bought classic traditional style pieces - not junk)

i need to get up off my butt and paint. i will chunk it into doable chunks. -"just do this wall just for today!"

[ladykemma2]

update: i got off my butt and painted the small bath chocolate brown. now it needs crown moulding and the trim painted to look really nice.

[dcompton]

I'm interesting to see how some of you are sprucing up your places. I'm off this week and I've been, tiny bit by tiny bit, doing a declutter, and tonight or tomorrow will make a change that will be for the better.

I'm doing away with my computer area in the bedroom. It's a huge clutter magnet, and I waste way too much time on the computer anyway. I'll stash it in a drawer.

Then the table, a small round drop leaf table, can go into the dining room to give me a food prep place in addition to the miniature sailboat galley size kitchen. Who knows? Maybe I'll be less averse to chopping veggies! I think it is really going to make me more comfortable in the apartment -- and free up a lot of time by making the computer a bit of a hassle to get to.

[MyMelody]

I am loving the effect that spray paint can have on things I don't like the color of anymore, or things that I find inexpensively @ Goodwill. Lamps, shelves, vases, candle sconces, picture frames, etc, all looks fresh with just a little attention.

Here's a before and after of some $5 lamps who just needed a color change. They live in my bedroom now!

From this:


To this:

[ladykemma2]

i'm a "good will", "side of the road furniture" type of gal too!

nice paint job!

[ladykemma2]

update: i was wandering around walmart and stumbled across "sure fit" slipcovers. wow, they sure fit.

navy blue chippendale sofa now looks very nice.

[ladykemma2]

update: i took down the navy blue curtains, washed and pressed them. the curtains are old and faded, but ok.

the room still needs fresh paint.