We had some company chez HappySimple last week. And one of my young guests complimented me lavishly on the way our house is decorated.
Which is always a bit of a surprise to me. I guess because making a comfy home comes so easily to me, and because comfort and function are more important to me than appearance, I don’t really expect people to be impressed by the place. And yet, it gets a lot of compliments.
I’m not saying this to brag, but to maybe help you get your living space to a state where it works for you, supporting your daily life and feeling comfortable for you.
And the way to do this is to please yourself first.
I don’t really follow trends in my decorating. Don’t worry about lists of ‘must-haves’ for my home to be complete. Instead, I think about my lifestyle, my average day and set things up to foster that.
Alan and I entertain a lot. We have friends round to dinner several times a week and once a month we host a potluck for thirty or more people. To make that easy, we own a surprising number of plates. They don’t match and most of them were bought at thrift stores, but we sure can feed a crowd.
On the other hand, we don’t have a home-entertainment system. No television, no sound system, no games or CDs. Music is streamed through Alan’s laptop. It works for us and I don’t have to worry about the extra clutter.
Music may be more important to you than it is to us. You may not care that much about food. I hope you will set up your home accordingly. The only ‘right way’ to decorate is the way that pleases you.
It’s taken awhile, but everything that we own has a place it belongs. A place we can put it when we’re done with it. I’ll continue to tweak this system, but the whole place looks tidy and restful, which is hugely important to me.
I don’t think my home will ever be featured in an interiors magazine. It’s not impressive, or stylish. And it’s certainly not trendy. But it’s homey. And it works really well for the two of us. Two other people would have different needs and desires. And a totally different set-up.
Maybe next time you get that itchy feeling, that ‘my home needs a change’ urge, instead of looking through decorating magazines and shopping for furniture, you could try thinking about what you want your home to do, rather than how you want it to look. Spend your time and energy thinking about how it can best support you and less worrying that the Taste Police will show up to tell you you’re doing it wrong.
Because, just like the Stuff Police? They don’t actually exist.
I agree–figuring out how you live in your house and facilitating that is a useful skill. My life got much easier when I realized that the best place for household medicines was next to my sweetheart’s computer desk, along with a basket for his juggling balls.
Excellent timing. okay – it’s almost a year later..but I just realized this month that I’m on “information overload” from too many blogs, magazines, etc.
I need to step back, think about my life and interests, and set up my apartment accordingly. Precisely what you’re recommending here.
I found your photos on decomyplace as one of your photos is the august 2010 desktop calendar – which I love.
I’d also like to blog some of your photos if I may, and link readers back to this blog.
And what a beautiful blog you have! Thanks so much for including me in it!
You’re welcome
I also think it’s interesting but kind of…unusual..that I’ll be staring at your BEDROOM on my computer’s desktop for the month of August.
did decomyplace contact you about using your photo for their august calendar?
If it makes it less weird, I don’t actually live there anymore.
And, yes, they found my photos on Flickr and asked me if they could use them. I said Yes!
it does make it less weird!
How’s your new place?
We like it. I post pictures occasionally.