With the Holidays fast approaching I have noticed my home has become to sprout little piles of miscellany, carefully covering any flat surface they can inhabit. As I came upstairs with my cup of tea I smiled to myself; my dining room table reminded me of a friend's house which is constantly filled with little piles of books. Dozens of them; all neat, waiting to be read, in categories that are the constant decoration in his home. My dining room table has now become the same way; we are eating breakfast in puzzle formation, moving each pile around to make room for another.
I aspire to be a minimalist, a person who has very little clutter and is organized, but it doesn't seem to happen. I wish I knew where other people put their bills and library books. Scraps of paper with phone numbers, DVDs to be returned and receipts to take to the dry cleaners. Where do they all go? Are they piled in an office and dealt with once a week, accompanied by a glass of wine and an aspirin? Are people so efficient that they have baskets by the door for things that need to be returned? Are bills highlighted, pre-stamped and filed according to date?
For me, I am a bit inbetween. I don't want my clutter to become decoration, but I convince myself that as long as it is in neat piles, and the bills are paid on time, I am organized.
One thing I have realized is that my clutter stems from a need to be able to see things. If I can't see what I have then I tend to forget. I need visual reminders of things I need to do, and as I am inspired by what I see, I seem to be predisposed to live in a loosely haphazard, decorative way.
With Thanksgiving and Christmas almost here I thought I would write a few of my own ideas on how I try to keep ahead of the clutter and staying organized without making myself crazy.
- Spend a few minutes each night writing out what you need to do the next day. It will help you sleep better.
- If you send out a lot of cards at this time of year, keep them in a box with a pen, your address book, stamps and labels, ready to work on when you have time. Make a note on your calendar to remind you to write them. Allocate enough time, over several days if needed. Send them off as soon as they are done.
- Plan who you need to buy for and write a list of ideas (make a budget). If you are buying online try to consolidate as much as possible. Many places offer free shipping if you spend over a certain amount, plus it's easier to keep track of your orders if you just use one or two places.
(www.amazon.com and www.anthropologie.com are very good for inexpensive and unique gifts)
- Go through the mail when it arrives and discard what you don't want immediately. Especially at this time of year; don't keep catalogs and "free offer" coupons unless you were planning on buying from them anyway.
- Pay bills early if you are going to be away over the Holidays. Don't be caught by bank closings and late fees.
- Hang a sturdy bag on the door handle and put in it anything that needs to be returned or dropped off. Take it with you each time you leave the house.
- Keep pens, pencils and a good supply of paper by the telephone, computer and in the car.
- Clean out your car each week. Or, put a medium sized container in the trunk and throw absolutely everything in there (get the kids to pitch it over the back seat). When it gets filled with too much stuff, take it into the house and go through it.
Finally, if it all gets too much, go to bed with a book and a bar of chocolate.
.
Monday, November 23, 2009
Monday, November 2, 2009
Italy, or somewhere else.
I am having a Sophia Loren moment. It is 40 degrees Fahrenheit outside (4 Celsius) but I am waltzing around the house in a long skirt and a small cardigan, barefoot, pretending I am in Italy. In my head it is 1968, a more elegant time, and I am about to sit down at an old typewriter to finish my manuscript. For me, this counteracts the dull, coldness of the outside and helps me to focus. It makes me smile as I work. As I begin, I contemplate how pretending to be something we are not can transform us, in our minds, into something else. By deliberately capturing a specific notion in our head we can influence our emotions, and therefore change the way we feel. This logically (or illogically) tells me that I can do the same thing in my house.
Using the transformation idea I am thinking about changing my living room. It is looking a bit stale. It has been the same way for several months now, and although I like the eclectic feel, and the colors, I think it looks a bit too composed. If we leave our homes and accessories the same way for too long it becomes like wallpaper, we don't see what we have anymore and even the most arresting design will become boring.
I have decided to decorate the room around an idea, my focus is on the end result, not the process. My first thought is that I want to defy the weather outside and make the room appear warmer, like my sunny, Italian daydream. However, my visions of sandstone steps and blue oceans are abruptly shattered by the harsh reality of at least five months of Winter. I save Italy for another day, because I know that when it is freezing cold what I really need is to feel warm and comfortable. Maybe more English cottage (or pub) than Italian villa.
As soon as I have the idea, my writing becomes distracted. I want to move the sofa and I am doing a mental inventory of all the other furniture that I have around the house. I need some unexpected pieces, maybe an old wooden bench from outside, or some bricks? Don't ask me what I would do with the bricks, but they are lovely, hand-cast and full of character (a dear friend found them years ago, by a dumpster. We carried them away a few at a time when no-one was looking). I will find a place for the bricks.
I might have to add some woollen plaid blankets somewhere. When I say "somewhere", what I kindly mean is to cover the part of the sofa that the cat has shredded. Unfortunately, I always have to drape a blanket over that corner, but fortunately for me the sofa is quite ugly so any distraction is always a good one.
In my head my cottage idea cannot have too much pattern. I want it to look ridiculously cluttered, without being messy. A place where you know you can curl up for hours; tucked away amidst the pattern and the organized chaos, sneaking little pockets of time protecting yourself from the nasty cold outside.
I know this is one of my wandering-off-on-a-tangent posts, but truly, sometimes, we should let our imagination do the decorating for us. We don't need to spend hundreds of dollars to create a new look in our home. What we do need, however, is a positive thought, an inspiration or an idea. We need a direction. Instead of focusing on what we don't have, or what we think we need, think about what we want and then figure out how to get there. If I just said that I hated my living room I would be instantly creating a dead end for myself, it is a negative thought that will put me at a standstill. But, if I think about what I want my living room to be eg. warm, cozy, cluttered (I know, go figure!) then I am putting a positive idea into my head. A positive idea that makes me think of the possibilities instead of the limitations.
So, next time you want to redecorate, work backwards, think about the end result. Go barefoot if it helps....
Using the transformation idea I am thinking about changing my living room. It is looking a bit stale. It has been the same way for several months now, and although I like the eclectic feel, and the colors, I think it looks a bit too composed. If we leave our homes and accessories the same way for too long it becomes like wallpaper, we don't see what we have anymore and even the most arresting design will become boring.
I have decided to decorate the room around an idea, my focus is on the end result, not the process. My first thought is that I want to defy the weather outside and make the room appear warmer, like my sunny, Italian daydream. However, my visions of sandstone steps and blue oceans are abruptly shattered by the harsh reality of at least five months of Winter. I save Italy for another day, because I know that when it is freezing cold what I really need is to feel warm and comfortable. Maybe more English cottage (or pub) than Italian villa.
As soon as I have the idea, my writing becomes distracted. I want to move the sofa and I am doing a mental inventory of all the other furniture that I have around the house. I need some unexpected pieces, maybe an old wooden bench from outside, or some bricks? Don't ask me what I would do with the bricks, but they are lovely, hand-cast and full of character (a dear friend found them years ago, by a dumpster. We carried them away a few at a time when no-one was looking). I will find a place for the bricks.
I might have to add some woollen plaid blankets somewhere. When I say "somewhere", what I kindly mean is to cover the part of the sofa that the cat has shredded. Unfortunately, I always have to drape a blanket over that corner, but fortunately for me the sofa is quite ugly so any distraction is always a good one.
In my head my cottage idea cannot have too much pattern. I want it to look ridiculously cluttered, without being messy. A place where you know you can curl up for hours; tucked away amidst the pattern and the organized chaos, sneaking little pockets of time protecting yourself from the nasty cold outside.
I know this is one of my wandering-off-on-a-tangent posts, but truly, sometimes, we should let our imagination do the decorating for us. We don't need to spend hundreds of dollars to create a new look in our home. What we do need, however, is a positive thought, an inspiration or an idea. We need a direction. Instead of focusing on what we don't have, or what we think we need, think about what we want and then figure out how to get there. If I just said that I hated my living room I would be instantly creating a dead end for myself, it is a negative thought that will put me at a standstill. But, if I think about what I want my living room to be eg. warm, cozy, cluttered (I know, go figure!) then I am putting a positive idea into my head. A positive idea that makes me think of the possibilities instead of the limitations.
So, next time you want to redecorate, work backwards, think about the end result. Go barefoot if it helps....
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Gift giving - naturally.
It’s Friday. It’s raining. I have good hair. I am meeting my dear friend for lunch today, at her house, and I want to take her a present. I don’t have to. I’ve reached that strangely grown-up time in my life where I don’t take a present to somebody’s home unless I really want to (and I truly enjoy being with that person). This does beg the question, why do we go to someones home if we don't like them? But that's another story.
But it’s raining. And, much as I love her, I don’t want to go out into the rain, to the shops, because I am not even sure what I want to take.
As I got ready I thought about the whole idea of giving presents; for some people it is an obligation, a nuisance, and for others it is a joy and a demonstration of their feelings. My theory is that if we want to do things that make people happy then it shouldn't be complicated (and it should make us happy too).
So, with that in mind I started to think about what to take to my friend. Hydrangeas are my first thought. My garden is filled with Hydrangeas of all colors and sizes but, aside from the fact that they are laden with rain, they take up a lot of space on a table and would need a large vase to hold them. I decide to wander around my garden for inspiration (in the aforementioned drizzly rain). I have a Thyme plant on the back step. With frost looming I thought that would be a good gift. My friend loves to cook and eat fresh, organic produce. Perfect. I bring it inside, pick out the dead leaves that had taken residence, washed the excess dirt off and prune it so that it looks cared for.
Turns out it looked so happy in my kitchen that I put it on my windowsill, and decided not to give it away afterall.
I then remembered I had some more herbs, which I had planted in a half-barrel, in a rather dismal attempt to try and grow a Mediterranean garden. How ironic, it looked like rubbish all year and now, as Winter approaches, it decides to take on some form of fabulousness! I dug up the large, fluffy Oregano and went to look for one of my favorite terracotta pots (I found a pile of old, odd shaped pots just lying on the side of the road years ago, abandoned. I like to imagine they have lived a long, interesting life, squirreled away in some secret garden – maybe even a castle courtyyard overlooking a cliff). I planted the Oregano in one of these pots and put a rock on the side for decoration (in reality it was to stop the plant from tipping out). Found a small china saucer to put underneath it and I was done. It would look at home in anyone’s kitchen.
Anyway, after potting my herb plant I wanted to share my ideas for gift-giving (not the Wedding sort, just the everyday, I’m happy to see you, sort).
- My first idea is to always shop at home first. I know as I write this that it does take a bit of forethought, but overtime it will become a habit, and you will be surprised at how much you can improvise with what you have around you. I love to bake, but I also know that when I don’t have all the ingredients there are some delicious box/refrigerator items. Brownie mixes (Ghirardelli) and sweet Bread mixes (Krusteaz) are always very good (you can easily add extra chocolate, nuts or dried fruit to these too without changing the cooking time). Don’t mean to be rude, but steer clear of the cut and slice cookies in the refrigerator section, buy a box of pre-made cookies instead.
- Check your pantry cupboards. Do you have something delicious that hasn’t expired? (e.g. imported box of tea, cookies, specialty jam, hot-chocolate and marshmallows). Unopened of course.
- Flowers or plants from the garden that you can pick (or dig up)?
- If I have nothing at home then I do head to the shops, but admittedly I usually spend a few moments before I go, thinking about my budget and planning what I would like to buy. This saves time and stress.
- Don’t overlook the beauty of seasonal fruit and vegetables. Find the absolute best you can, put them in a clear cellophane bag and tie with a ribbon (grapes, peaches, asparagus, tomatoes on the vine, fresh cranberries). Miniature fruit is another one of my favorites, especially in the Fall (e.g. lady apples, clementines, forelle pears).
- Bottle of wine from your home town (or country) or one that has a particularly funny label on it (Australian ones especially, have a lot of funny names and pictures and are often around $10).
- Flowers or plants from the supermarket. Find the most natural looking bunch of flowers there (gerberas, sunflowers, chrysanthemums, tulips etc). Ask for a cellophane floral sleeve to put them in. These keep them fresh, and always make your gift look a bit nicer without being too fussy. Remove any baby’s breathe, ferns, rubber bands, labels or price tags. Cut the stems all the same length. Place back inside the cellophane bag and either take as is, wrap in gift wrap or tie a ribbon around the middle. Fold down or cut the cellophane neatly if it is too high.
- Plants. Same idea. Go to the supermarket and pick something natural. Remove any garish decorations, price tags etc (if you need the care label try to hide it, or just give it to them later).If the plastic pot is covered in a foil or paper sleeve that you don’t like, change it. Take it off, put a piece of plastic (or a plastic bag) over the holes then cover with a square of your own wrapping paper. Tie with a ribbon, or, for a quieter look, just carefully tape the wrapping paper to itself so that it doesn’t fall off. Even easier, just take all the extras off, put some tissue in a bag and put the “nude” plant in the bag, letting it peek out the top.
- Inexpensive book that you know pertains to that person’s life at the moment (e.g. the funny side of parenting for a mother raising teenagers).
- Chocolate, a really delicious bar. Wrap it as if it is the most precious thing in the world.
- Daily desk calendar of their favorite indulgence (travel, shoes, handbags…)
- Anything that they love (favorite candy bar, shampoo, soap, beer, lip-gloss, Twinkies etc)
- A balloon. Who doesn’t love a balloon?
- Check your pantry cupboards. Do you have something delicious that hasn’t expired? (e.g. imported box of tea, cookies, specialty jam, hot-chocolate and marshmallows). Unopened of course.
- Flowers or plants from the garden that you can pick (or dig up)?
- If I have nothing at home then I do head to the shops, but admittedly I usually spend a few moments before I go, thinking about my budget and planning what I would like to buy. This saves time and stress.
- Don’t overlook the beauty of seasonal fruit and vegetables. Find the absolute best you can, put them in a clear cellophane bag and tie with a ribbon (grapes, peaches, asparagus, tomatoes on the vine, fresh cranberries). Miniature fruit is another one of my favorites, especially in the Fall (e.g. lady apples, clementines, forelle pears).
- Bottle of wine from your home town (or country) or one that has a particularly funny label on it (Australian ones especially, have a lot of funny names and pictures and are often around $10).
- Flowers or plants from the supermarket. Find the most natural looking bunch of flowers there (gerberas, sunflowers, chrysanthemums, tulips etc). Ask for a cellophane floral sleeve to put them in. These keep them fresh, and always make your gift look a bit nicer without being too fussy. Remove any baby’s breathe, ferns, rubber bands, labels or price tags. Cut the stems all the same length. Place back inside the cellophane bag and either take as is, wrap in gift wrap or tie a ribbon around the middle. Fold down or cut the cellophane neatly if it is too high.
- Plants. Same idea. Go to the supermarket and pick something natural. Remove any garish decorations, price tags etc (if you need the care label try to hide it, or just give it to them later).If the plastic pot is covered in a foil or paper sleeve that you don’t like, change it. Take it off, put a piece of plastic (or a plastic bag) over the holes then cover with a square of your own wrapping paper. Tie with a ribbon, or, for a quieter look, just carefully tape the wrapping paper to itself so that it doesn’t fall off. Even easier, just take all the extras off, put some tissue in a bag and put the “nude” plant in the bag, letting it peek out the top.
- Inexpensive book that you know pertains to that person’s life at the moment (e.g. the funny side of parenting for a mother raising teenagers).
- Chocolate, a really delicious bar. Wrap it as if it is the most precious thing in the world.
- Daily desk calendar of their favorite indulgence (travel, shoes, handbags…)
- Anything that they love (favorite candy bar, shampoo, soap, beer, lip-gloss, Twinkies etc)
- A balloon. Who doesn’t love a balloon?
Well, you get the idea, the list could go on; but the point is that with just a little time and thought (and not a lot of money) it is very easy to give gifts to people that we care about.
Friday, October 2, 2009
Decorating with Children - Part 2
I love my daughter dearly, I must do, because I promised not to disclose the contents of the debris that lurked in her room. Things that had not seen the light of day since George W. Bush first entered the White House, and many things that, if offered, would be happily accepted by any of the CSI franchise.
It took four days to finish her room. Painting was the least of it. I took as much out of the room as I could, but the rest I had to move from wall to wall as I painted. Some things were put back while the paint was still wet, and I know there are smudges of purple in areas that there shouldn't be. Decorating is never a perfect process, but like any room, once it's re-loaded the imperfections disappear, and, if we are lucky, we see it as a whole, not just a single piece.
The end result is better than I had hoped. I finished about 10 minutes before she came home from school yesterday. I turned on all the lights, made the bed and fussed with the curtains. Just like a makeover show on HGTV I made her close her eyes while I opened the door. When she opened them she squealed. She loved it so much.
The best part for me is that her room now reflects who she is at this exact moment. It is filled with what is important to her. Her hamster and hermit crabs are on the desk by her bed (so that she can watch them as she goes to sleep). The small loveseat has been rediscovered as a place to sit with her friends. Her collection of rocks, shells, bones and claws (!) have been given their own shelf. There is plenty of room to add more, and she can finally see what she has without sorting through worn, paper bags and special, little cardboard containers. I gave her a white board for drawing and a cork board so that she can pin up art work and photographs. Things that she still loves, but doesn't need on a daily basis, were stored away; still accessible but not on display.
Before I began her room I decided to do a consultation with her. I pretended she was a client ; asking what she liked and didn't like,what she wanted and how much leeway I had to use my own ideas. I wrote notes as we talked and I sketched a plan of the room. We discussed the placement of her bed and whether or not she liked to sit by the window. What could I store away and what did she need to have in plain sight. The small amount of time that this took helped me to understand her as a person, not just a girl who recoiled in horror every week when asked to clean her room.
As parents we often ignore what our children want in lieu of what we think is right for them. Decorating a room is an easy opportunity to let them create their perfect world, to show them that we care about what is important to them.
It took four days to finish her room. Painting was the least of it. I took as much out of the room as I could, but the rest I had to move from wall to wall as I painted. Some things were put back while the paint was still wet, and I know there are smudges of purple in areas that there shouldn't be. Decorating is never a perfect process, but like any room, once it's re-loaded the imperfections disappear, and, if we are lucky, we see it as a whole, not just a single piece.
The end result is better than I had hoped. I finished about 10 minutes before she came home from school yesterday. I turned on all the lights, made the bed and fussed with the curtains. Just like a makeover show on HGTV I made her close her eyes while I opened the door. When she opened them she squealed. She loved it so much.
The best part for me is that her room now reflects who she is at this exact moment. It is filled with what is important to her. Her hamster and hermit crabs are on the desk by her bed (so that she can watch them as she goes to sleep). The small loveseat has been rediscovered as a place to sit with her friends. Her collection of rocks, shells, bones and claws (!) have been given their own shelf. There is plenty of room to add more, and she can finally see what she has without sorting through worn, paper bags and special, little cardboard containers. I gave her a white board for drawing and a cork board so that she can pin up art work and photographs. Things that she still loves, but doesn't need on a daily basis, were stored away; still accessible but not on display.
Before I began her room I decided to do a consultation with her. I pretended she was a client ; asking what she liked and didn't like,what she wanted and how much leeway I had to use my own ideas. I wrote notes as we talked and I sketched a plan of the room. We discussed the placement of her bed and whether or not she liked to sit by the window. What could I store away and what did she need to have in plain sight. The small amount of time that this took helped me to understand her as a person, not just a girl who recoiled in horror every week when asked to clean her room.
As parents we often ignore what our children want in lieu of what we think is right for them. Decorating a room is an easy opportunity to let them create their perfect world, to show them that we care about what is important to them.
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Decorating with Children
I had to write this title. As I did all I could think of were putting hooks all over the wall and attaching my children to them. Of course I never would, but it's a funny visual.
It is time to decorate my daughter's room again. She is 10. Gone are the days of looking at the Disney color charts, and picking out the pinkiest pink in the entire universe. This time she, asked what her budget would be, when could I start and how many friends could she invite over to help. Her budget is $35, excluding paint and of course her friends can help. However, I know who will be doing most of the work. The color she picked is called vintage purple, just the name makes me happy. It conjures up visions of daisies, worn out leather and great guitar rifts played in an open field. But I digress, this is after all her room, not mine.
I never tire of decorating; as soon as she asked for my help, I found myself sketching layouts and writing down ideas. Decorating and design are an inexplicable joy for me, I will never push for a client or ask to redo someones home, but if you ask for my advice I can guarantee you that my head has already started the planning process.
Before I forget, yes, I will post before and afters of her room as soon as it is done.
For most people having a baby is all about the cute clothes and the squidgy, little faces, for me it was also another opportunity to decorate. My inspiration for her room was a wonderful set of curtains that were bright, lime green with abstract yellow blobs on them. I painted two walls yellow and the opposing ones green. The ceiling was painted sky blue with white clouds. Of course we had glow in the dark stars, how could you not? I also found glow in the dark paint at the craft store (which really does work and lasts forever). The accessories and crib were all red, yellow, blue and green. It was an easy palette to decorate with. As she grew up, and started to walk, she loved the colorfulness of it. Add to the room a few hundred toys and it became a kaleidoscope of messy color.
Ever the lazy mother I drew pictures of her clothes and taped them to the outside of the drawers. I was determined that from an early age she could learn to find her clothes and put them away. Little did I know that just because she knew what to do, didn't mean she would actually do it. Apparently I was lazy and naive. But when she was little my theory worked really well. As she figured out the pictures (eg. a t-shirt, pants, dress, underwear) I added the words so that she could learn through recognition. It became a game for her and an artistic outlet for me. I continued the theme and drew things on the walls around the house, writing the name next to them so that she could learn what they were. A word of caution, if you ever do this, do not use a permanent marker, years later I still have the words "Chair" peering through the paint in the living room. I have used every product available and still the words continue to bleed through. I wrote it seven years ago....
When she was five she had to have a pink room. I, foolishly, let her pick the color. It was a bright, fuchsia pink that became quite dark when I began to paint the wall. It looked horrible. I immediately went out and got a new, softer pink, trying to convince my daughter that it was the same color, that it had just faded when it came out of the can. I still feel bad that I lied to her about it.
We (I) decided that the pink room needed fairies. My friend and I found wall stickers of fairies. I painted a tree and the fairies danced around the tree. I painted her lampshades to match and glued the fairies on them (it's ok to do this, it dims the light a bit but it is not hazardous in any way). Her Aunt gave her a lovely canopy for her bed that had flowers around the top, it matched the fairy theme and became a little hideaway for her and her friends to sit in. I found 5 large pink circles of carpet that became lily-pads for them to hop on as they made their way around the room. She still has them and her friends still play with them like giant pieces of hopscotch.
About 2 years later we hit the Pop Star phase. Hannah Montana ruled our universe for approximately 5 months. Everything had to be Hannah. We took down most of the fairies, hung up a Hannah poster and tried to make the room look a little more grown up. I gave my daughter a budget of $25 and we went to Target. She bought a pink and orange beaded curtain for her door, a pink lava lamp, a pink and purple laundry hamper and some other accessories. She was so excited to be able to buy her own things and working within a budget made her feel very grown-up. It was a good lesson for us both. I would really recommend doing this with young children.
As abruptly as it started, the Hannah phase finished. In came the Jonas Brothers and a need for a more sophisticated room. She and her friends were starting to hang out in her room more and she was, I think, a little self-conscious that it was so cluttered and some of the items were a little young. I have always let her keep her room the way she wanted. Now and again I make her clean it up, but as long as her bed is made and there aren't any actual living fungi anywhere I give her carte blanche to do with it whatever she wants.
So now here we are, ready to paint again. It is going to be purple (vintage, of course, which makes me smile - it's kind of a murky, faded purple) less cluttered and a more mature version of a girls room. I broke the bad news to her, it had to be cleaned before we could paint.......She was shocked and told me "But you're a house designer, can't you do it all for me?". So, I asked "Would you like me to clean your room, organize it, paint and redecorate it while you're at school, sweetie?". "Yes please" she said............
Well, after I had stopped laughing, she really did have to tidy her room. Fortunately for her I can't resist a decorating job, and I have been dying to redecorate her room for a while now. The only instructions I have is to not look under the bed or in her desk, that's where her private things are. As bad as I can be, I promise that I won't look. She is at the stage where I am not sure I want to read everything that is going on in her head, some things are better left unsaid. The fact that she told me where not to look made me giggle.
I decided to treat her like a client. I asked her what her requirements were (hamster, hermit crabs, lava lamp, books and cd player by bed) and what she did and didn't like about the room (not enough space, too much clutter, too babyish, loved the windows and the light, still liked her flower canopy and beaded door).
We discussed some options and decided that the bed and sofa would stay where they were, but everything else I could move if I wanted to. After sketching up a plan I told her I would try to start this week.
Darling that she is, she even offered to pay me a fee...
It is time to decorate my daughter's room again. She is 10. Gone are the days of looking at the Disney color charts, and picking out the pinkiest pink in the entire universe. This time she, asked what her budget would be, when could I start and how many friends could she invite over to help. Her budget is $35, excluding paint and of course her friends can help. However, I know who will be doing most of the work. The color she picked is called vintage purple, just the name makes me happy. It conjures up visions of daisies, worn out leather and great guitar rifts played in an open field. But I digress, this is after all her room, not mine.
I never tire of decorating; as soon as she asked for my help, I found myself sketching layouts and writing down ideas. Decorating and design are an inexplicable joy for me, I will never push for a client or ask to redo someones home, but if you ask for my advice I can guarantee you that my head has already started the planning process.
Before I forget, yes, I will post before and afters of her room as soon as it is done.
For most people having a baby is all about the cute clothes and the squidgy, little faces, for me it was also another opportunity to decorate. My inspiration for her room was a wonderful set of curtains that were bright, lime green with abstract yellow blobs on them. I painted two walls yellow and the opposing ones green. The ceiling was painted sky blue with white clouds. Of course we had glow in the dark stars, how could you not? I also found glow in the dark paint at the craft store (which really does work and lasts forever). The accessories and crib were all red, yellow, blue and green. It was an easy palette to decorate with. As she grew up, and started to walk, she loved the colorfulness of it. Add to the room a few hundred toys and it became a kaleidoscope of messy color.
Ever the lazy mother I drew pictures of her clothes and taped them to the outside of the drawers. I was determined that from an early age she could learn to find her clothes and put them away. Little did I know that just because she knew what to do, didn't mean she would actually do it. Apparently I was lazy and naive. But when she was little my theory worked really well. As she figured out the pictures (eg. a t-shirt, pants, dress, underwear) I added the words so that she could learn through recognition. It became a game for her and an artistic outlet for me. I continued the theme and drew things on the walls around the house, writing the name next to them so that she could learn what they were. A word of caution, if you ever do this, do not use a permanent marker, years later I still have the words "Chair" peering through the paint in the living room. I have used every product available and still the words continue to bleed through. I wrote it seven years ago....
When she was five she had to have a pink room. I, foolishly, let her pick the color. It was a bright, fuchsia pink that became quite dark when I began to paint the wall. It looked horrible. I immediately went out and got a new, softer pink, trying to convince my daughter that it was the same color, that it had just faded when it came out of the can. I still feel bad that I lied to her about it.
We (I) decided that the pink room needed fairies. My friend and I found wall stickers of fairies. I painted a tree and the fairies danced around the tree. I painted her lampshades to match and glued the fairies on them (it's ok to do this, it dims the light a bit but it is not hazardous in any way). Her Aunt gave her a lovely canopy for her bed that had flowers around the top, it matched the fairy theme and became a little hideaway for her and her friends to sit in. I found 5 large pink circles of carpet that became lily-pads for them to hop on as they made their way around the room. She still has them and her friends still play with them like giant pieces of hopscotch.
About 2 years later we hit the Pop Star phase. Hannah Montana ruled our universe for approximately 5 months. Everything had to be Hannah. We took down most of the fairies, hung up a Hannah poster and tried to make the room look a little more grown up. I gave my daughter a budget of $25 and we went to Target. She bought a pink and orange beaded curtain for her door, a pink lava lamp, a pink and purple laundry hamper and some other accessories. She was so excited to be able to buy her own things and working within a budget made her feel very grown-up. It was a good lesson for us both. I would really recommend doing this with young children.
As abruptly as it started, the Hannah phase finished. In came the Jonas Brothers and a need for a more sophisticated room. She and her friends were starting to hang out in her room more and she was, I think, a little self-conscious that it was so cluttered and some of the items were a little young. I have always let her keep her room the way she wanted. Now and again I make her clean it up, but as long as her bed is made and there aren't any actual living fungi anywhere I give her carte blanche to do with it whatever she wants.
So now here we are, ready to paint again. It is going to be purple (vintage, of course, which makes me smile - it's kind of a murky, faded purple) less cluttered and a more mature version of a girls room. I broke the bad news to her, it had to be cleaned before we could paint.......She was shocked and told me "But you're a house designer, can't you do it all for me?". So, I asked "Would you like me to clean your room, organize it, paint and redecorate it while you're at school, sweetie?". "Yes please" she said............
Well, after I had stopped laughing, she really did have to tidy her room. Fortunately for her I can't resist a decorating job, and I have been dying to redecorate her room for a while now. The only instructions I have is to not look under the bed or in her desk, that's where her private things are. As bad as I can be, I promise that I won't look. She is at the stage where I am not sure I want to read everything that is going on in her head, some things are better left unsaid. The fact that she told me where not to look made me giggle.
I decided to treat her like a client. I asked her what her requirements were (hamster, hermit crabs, lava lamp, books and cd player by bed) and what she did and didn't like about the room (not enough space, too much clutter, too babyish, loved the windows and the light, still liked her flower canopy and beaded door).
We discussed some options and decided that the bed and sofa would stay where they were, but everything else I could move if I wanted to. After sketching up a plan I told her I would try to start this week.
Darling that she is, she even offered to pay me a fee...
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