Home design, home improvement, decorating, remodeling, de-cluttering… it all sounds like so much work! Oh, and it sounds really expensive too, doesn’t it? Well, it really doesn’t have to be. Don’t feel overwhelmed by a desire to improve your surroundings on your own. The secret to making such changes is in getting the inspiration to bite off one small project at a time…
Step one is simple: Do yourself a favor & just simply sit down for a moment. You need to quiet your mind & look at something captivating in order to get inspired! I often find the colors, textures & patterns outside to be the most inspiring to me.
Now, use your hands to create a window & look around through this small box. Sometimes taking in a snapshot of a scene will give you an artistic viewpoint that you wouldn’t have noticed with a sweeping look around the room, the yard or the scenery. It also helps to block out the visual “noise” (like the swing set, the coats on the rack, the neighbor’s car outside the window, etc.) Do you see something that engages your eye? The colors of the changing leaves…the contrast of the grass against the driveway…the sky dotted by birds in a strangely uniform formation… the angled shadows on the corner of two walls… bright oranges or reds that keep drawing your eyes to those pillows… you get the idea. You might realize through this exercise that you’ve found a color combination or a pattern you would like to see in one of your rooms.
Let’s say you’ve found you have an affinity for the blues & greens you see out on your deck like in the picture here. Do I suggest you go out & redecorate your entire living room in these colors? Not unless you want to! (Wow, you really did get inspired today…)
What you might try instead is to walk around your house & collect a few things within this scheme… pull them together & create a vignette somewhere small & contained, someplace which already has a neutral palate*. A centerpiece on your dining table, a powder room, a guestroom bed or a corner of your office might work well for starters. Arranging a bowl of pears, a candle, an apple-green dish against a backdrop of a cool blue photograph would give you a nice taste of this color scheme without the time, effort or investment of an entirely redecorated room. Try it on & see if you like it for a while before you run out & buy a gallon of paint.
(*We’ll talk more about this later, but I must mention that the best part about keeping your basic walls & furnishings neutral is that you can move colors in & out via your accent pieces for dramatic updates without an enormous overhaul.)
I’m so glad you’ve found yourself here on the Marmot Home Design blog. Please come back & visit often. We’ll be sharing lots (OMG, TONS!) of simple ways for you to take on projects that create an environment you really love for you & your family to enjoy every day.
Next Time on MHD.com: Editing your decor for more serene surroundings. Total cost: $0.00
Let’s Get Inspired….
Home design, home improvement, decorating, remodeling, de-cluttering… it all sounds like so much work! Oh, and it sounds really expensive too, doesn’t it? Well, it really doesn’t have to be. Don’t feel overwhelmed by a desire to improve your surroundings on your own. The secret to making such changes is in getting the inspiration to bite off one small project at a time…
Now, use your hands to create a window & look around through this small box. Sometimes taking in a snapshot of a scene will give you an artistic viewpoint that you wouldn’t have noticed with a sweeping look around the room, the yard or the scenery. It also helps to block out the visual “noise” (like the swing set, the coats on the rack, the neighbor’s car outside the window, etc.) Do you see something that engages your eye? The colors of the changing leaves…the contrast of the grass against the driveway…the sky dotted by birds in a strangely uniform formation… the angled shadows on the corner of two walls… bright oranges or reds that keep drawing your eyes to those pillows… you get the idea. You might realize through this exercise that you’ve found a color combination or a pattern you would like to see in one of your rooms.
What you might try instead is to walk around your house & collect a few things within this scheme… pull them together & create a vignette somewhere small & contained, someplace which already has a neutral palate*. A centerpiece on your dining table, a powder room, a guestroom bed or a corner of your office might work well for starters. Arranging a bowl of pears, a candle, an apple-green dish against a backdrop of a cool blue photograph would give you a nice taste of this color scheme without the time, effort or investment of an entirely redecorated room. Try it on & see if you like it for a while before you run out & buy a gallon of paint.
(*We’ll talk more about this later, but I must mention that the best part about keeping your basic walls & furnishings neutral is that you can move colors in & out via your accent pieces for dramatic updates without an enormous overhaul.)
I’m so glad you’ve found yourself here on the Marmot Home Design blog. Please come back & visit often. We’ll be sharing lots (OMG, TONS!) of simple ways for you to take on projects that create an environment you really love for you & your family to enjoy every day.
Next Time on MHD.com: Editing your decor for more serene surroundings. Total cost: $0.00