Kathy Passarette of Creative Home Expressions offers some tips on making your rooms feel fresh in the New Year by redesigning your spaces. Interior redesign is taking items you already own and reusing them. The best part is that it doesn't cost you anything if you do it yourself. If you have a room that you feel could use a facelift, but you still like your "things" give an interior redesign a try.
Start by emptying the room of all but the heaviest pieces. This includes most furniture, accessories, plants, pictures, lamps, wall décor and any other items you may have in this room. If the heavier pieces are staying in place, you don't have to move them around at all.
Put everything into another room and group them together (i.e. pillows, candles, pictures). Clear your mind of how the room used to be and look at the room with fresh eyes. Do you have a focal point in this room, a fireplace or large picture window? Start to bring in your seating pieces and place them so that they are taking in the focal point. Once you have these pieces set in a pleasing arrangement, start to bring your other furniture pieces in - tables, occasional chairs, plant stands. If you could use another side table "shop" through other rooms in your home and see if there is something you can use.
Once the furniture is done look over your current accessories from this room. If you want to change something out, "shop" from your other rooms, the basement and even the attic. You may have something that you had forgotten about that might refresh this room.
Starting with pictures or wall décor, re-hang these items to take into account your new furniture arrangement. Try not to fill every wall with something as the eye needs some place to rest and when it can't rooms tend to look cluttered.
Now it's time for the rest of your accessories. Place the lamps you will be using (you may decide to trade out your bedroom end table lamps for your living room lamps) so that each seating area has some lighting. Bring in any throw pillows and place them on your furniture, and so on.
You don't have to bring everything you took out back into the room. You can pack it up for the time being and bring it out again in six months. Or you may find that you like it better in another room. You will find that you have a new appreciation for these pieces.
Kathy Passarette, and Creative Home Expressions, is located on Long Island, New York, and offers interior decorating, home staging, interior redesign and color consultations. Please visit our website at www.creativehomeexpressions.com for further information.
Carole ~ Thank you! I remember as a young, stay-at-home mother redesigning my own home because we really couldn't afford for me to go out shopping, so it was a "use what you got" time for us. I would also do it when I was a kid and teen to freshen up my bedroom every so often.
Gary ~ You always have something nice to say! Thank you - you made my morning!