"Nobody ever sits in here!" A co-worker in a business where I was decorating invited me over to her house one day. The small room in question had some nice furniture, including a secretary that looked very valuable and a bit formal. And the other furniture was upholstered to be equally formal. The family included a motorcycle owner and some teens.
We picked a wide wale cord for an armchair and ottoman, and replaced silky looks with sturdy fabric in "early American" turkey red and dark green. The mood was definitely curl up and get cozy. No television in there made it perfect for reading the paper, petting the cat, writing a letter . . . even homework.
The floor plan enhanced the peace and quiet - the room wasn't the best route to the refrigerator, so people weren't passing through and chattering on the way. The owner called a few days after we were finished and announced that the whole family was already into putting their feet up and relaxing there.
Sound impossible? This was a real family, not like some I've seen on television. With a little thought (okay, more than a little) can you carve out a low pressure hideout at your place? The younger your kids, the easier it might be to start that custom now.
PS If your family's dream oasis hopes for less quiet and more "touchdown" just start with a sketch on a napkin. Maybe you want more kitchen access or a fridge (and trash facilities) right in the oasis room. Or do you want the game time relaxing furniture and big screen right in the kitchen? Dream. Make it yours.
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Tuesday, August 27, 2013
Thursday, August 22, 2013
Your Oasis
What we hate most about clutter is usually how it looks. Right now I'm not concerned about how it looks to neighbors unless they burst into tears when dropping over for coffee. I just mean how it looks to us. Our over-stuff can be distracting and nagging us when we're supposed to be ordering ornamental chard by mail. Or getting some sleep.
When the whole of my stuff in my room is just to much to "fix" right now, I've come up with something that helps. My tiny oasis.
Since I'm a drop-it, I come back to the house and drop my sun glasses and keys on the chest of drawers. But now I pick them back up and put them in the set of clear plastic pockets on the back of the door.
I need my oasis, and the top of that chest of drawers is it right now. I need it to be orderly and pretty because my eyes go right there when I enter or even glance into this room. There's a little lamp there, and my beautiful green frosted glass box from my best decorating boss. There are two little flowering plants, and my clock and water glass. Of course, one sand dollar from my wonderful years at the beach. Best of all, a get-well drawing my pal Tom made and gave me at the first hospital last year. Last but not least, a perfectly unobtrusive small set of 3 tiny notepads.
What keeps the surface honest (almost always) is that the top drawer of the chest absorbs all the little bottles and tubes from the medical world, and more grooming stuff, and the renegade sox, so I don't have to look at them.
In my old apartment in the hills, a coffee table and two chairs were my oasis - no pills, no lotions, no abandoned cola bottles. Just a peaceful surface and a place to get comfortable.
If you're about to go into a big, dramatic clear-out, toss-out, dump-out for whatever reason, PLEASE make your oasis first. Piles of boxes and bags may grow in other rooms or other corners, but you'll need your calm corner to withdraw and regroup after all that carrying and all that deciding.
This oasis is doubly important if you work at home. I can't give you a sure fire remedy to keep the rest of the household out of it, but keep insisting, bribe them if you must. Keeping it uncluttered is for you even if you have to evict some lunch they left behind.
What's your favorite oasis? Or where do you want one?
More on this soon.
When the whole of my stuff in my room is just to much to "fix" right now, I've come up with something that helps. My tiny oasis.
Since I'm a drop-it, I come back to the house and drop my sun glasses and keys on the chest of drawers. But now I pick them back up and put them in the set of clear plastic pockets on the back of the door.
I need my oasis, and the top of that chest of drawers is it right now. I need it to be orderly and pretty because my eyes go right there when I enter or even glance into this room. There's a little lamp there, and my beautiful green frosted glass box from my best decorating boss. There are two little flowering plants, and my clock and water glass. Of course, one sand dollar from my wonderful years at the beach. Best of all, a get-well drawing my pal Tom made and gave me at the first hospital last year. Last but not least, a perfectly unobtrusive small set of 3 tiny notepads.
What keeps the surface honest (almost always) is that the top drawer of the chest absorbs all the little bottles and tubes from the medical world, and more grooming stuff, and the renegade sox, so I don't have to look at them.
In my old apartment in the hills, a coffee table and two chairs were my oasis - no pills, no lotions, no abandoned cola bottles. Just a peaceful surface and a place to get comfortable.
If you're about to go into a big, dramatic clear-out, toss-out, dump-out for whatever reason, PLEASE make your oasis first. Piles of boxes and bags may grow in other rooms or other corners, but you'll need your calm corner to withdraw and regroup after all that carrying and all that deciding.
This oasis is doubly important if you work at home. I can't give you a sure fire remedy to keep the rest of the household out of it, but keep insisting, bribe them if you must. Keeping it uncluttered is for you even if you have to evict some lunch they left behind.
What's your favorite oasis? Or where do you want one?
Friday, August 16, 2013
What Does Your Closet Say?
Somebody won't like this, but here's what I've noticed through the years in closet design and reading shelter magazines. . .
If the closet belongs to an entertainer who is seen as well as heard, there will be a lot of clothes.
If I'm touring an old landmark home that may no longer be occupied, the closets will likely be surprisingly small, even if the lady's closet is in a dressing room/private sitting room where a friend might come to talk fashion and have tea.
In an upscale magazine closet ad, we will see very few clothes. The "rich" signal is fine cabinet work, even if the plan seems inconvenient to us. It will be clear that the fictitious "home" has a lot of room for closets. The clothes in the ad photo are never crowded--there is empty space. I wish I'd had a couple of those pictures in my real estate days, to show to people who wanted a great price for their houses.
Conversely, the most jam-packed closets I ever saw were in very modest homes where the budget didn't allow me to make extensive changes. And these were often the very customers who refused to lay out their clothes and consider thinning them out to get more room.
I'd love to hear your ideas on what this may mean. Are the rich more likely to thin out their wardrobes? Can they say goodbye to clothes more easily? Do they feel secure because they expect to afford more clothes next season? Or do they feel insecure if they don't make room to shop often? Or were most of their clothes at the cleaners?
There are exceptions, of course. But the contrast makes me think.
If the closet belongs to an entertainer who is seen as well as heard, there will be a lot of clothes.
If I'm touring an old landmark home that may no longer be occupied, the closets will likely be surprisingly small, even if the lady's closet is in a dressing room/private sitting room where a friend might come to talk fashion and have tea.
In an upscale magazine closet ad, we will see very few clothes. The "rich" signal is fine cabinet work, even if the plan seems inconvenient to us. It will be clear that the fictitious "home" has a lot of room for closets. The clothes in the ad photo are never crowded--there is empty space. I wish I'd had a couple of those pictures in my real estate days, to show to people who wanted a great price for their houses.
Conversely, the most jam-packed closets I ever saw were in very modest homes where the budget didn't allow me to make extensive changes. And these were often the very customers who refused to lay out their clothes and consider thinning them out to get more room.
I'd love to hear your ideas on what this may mean. Are the rich more likely to thin out their wardrobes? Can they say goodbye to clothes more easily? Do they feel secure because they expect to afford more clothes next season? Or do they feel insecure if they don't make room to shop often? Or were most of their clothes at the cleaners?
There are exceptions, of course. But the contrast makes me think.
Friday, August 2, 2013
The Secret Life of Closets
My favorite thing I think I ever did in a closet was for a young girl's closet. The mom had a tight budget and just wanted everything done with shelves. But there was a younger child in the family also, who certainly knew how to get things off other people's shelves.
I convinced the mother that we should put in a little drawer with a lock and key, so the big sister could have one small nest of secure privacy for her favorite tiny treasures. I don't think I ever had anything like that when I was a girl.
Closets, in short, can be whatever we need.
I convinced the mother that we should put in a little drawer with a lock and key, so the big sister could have one small nest of secure privacy for her favorite tiny treasures. I don't think I ever had anything like that when I was a girl.
Closets, in short, can be whatever we need.
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