David Wheatman is an interior designer who has written two books I highly recommend for your library: A Good House is Never Done and Meditations on Design. I have read both of these inspirational books several times and often refer to them when starting a new project for a friend or client.
When you enter someone’s home you should immediately learn something about the occupants…are they neat and organized or do they surround themselves with a lot of things they love? Do they use all of their spaces exactly as they were designed or do they multi-purpose spaces? Does the home make you feel welcomed and invited to stay or is it a museum-like space?
Even the most well-designed homes need refreshing from time-to-time and here are a few ideas you might consider to refresh the look of your home and make you fall in love with it again:
- Just because a piece of furniture has always been in one place doesn’t mean it has to be there…consider all of your pieces and which ones can be moved to other rooms. Maybe that chair in your bedroom can be switched with one in the sunroom and maybe the china cabinet you inherited can be repurposed as a bookcase for your study.
- Replace some of your lampshades with new ones…have you ever considered black shades with a gold lining? A black lined shade can really add drama to a foyer or cozy corner of the living room.
- Take all of your decorative accessories off the tables, bookcases and mantle and place them on the kitchen or dining room table and then edit your collection and consider alternative places for your favorite pieces and put the rest away…I always say that a beautiful woman doesn’t wear all of her jewelry at once.
- Consider adding color to a room or two…while white and off-white can be nice, adding a color, weather saturated or subtle, can change the whole feeling of a room…and remember, it is only paint, if you don’t like it, you can simply paint it over…but I caution you not to stop until all of the walls are painted and your draperies and artwork are hung or you will not get the whole effect. Remember, there are a few rooms which may not be used every day and which can be painted more dramatic colors…the dining room and the powder or guest bath are two such areas…but don’t chicken-out and paint just one wall a dramatic color…paint the whole room and surround yourself with color.
- Consider your artwork, too…whenever you paint a room, remove all of the hangers and patch the holes, you might just find that you have too much art in the room or that you enjoy different art in different places. If you have looked at the same six pictures in the living room for ten years maybe it is time to consider a change.
- Rearrange the furniture and consider removing pieces from your collection or at least storing them for use at a later time. The most common problem I see in homes is that they are filled with too much furniture…remember, when you have a party, you’re going to fill the room with people, too.