Stark Raving Mad
While the majority of America seems to love hoarding and clutter, John and I are lone mice. Or whatever the opposite of a pack rat would be. But there’s a fine line between clean, uncluttered spaces and cold, stark rooms. It’s not an easy assessment to make on your own. But I was able to make an honest evaluation by photographing each of our rooms and then comparing each room in our house to rooms in decorating magazines and favorite furniture catalogs like Pottery Barn, Crate & Barrel and Ballard Designs.
I quickly realized that while our rooms were clean and simple, they were severely lacking in the design department. So of course I was spurred to action. I feverishly began to move furniture around. And when the dust cleared, I had a good idea of what was working, and what I needed to add to my wish list. The main shift occurred in the den, a room that’s always been tricky due to its long narrow layout. Another chair, an end table and a slew of rotated accessories really did make a big difference. Here’s the ho-hum before:
And the warmer and more welcoming after:
Seems less bare and boring, right? Plus there’s one more place to sit (and rest a drink). Total bonus. The crazy part is that the side table was salvaged from our basement’s garage sale pile. So nice to have a little “store” in our basement to raid for extra pieces.
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The room does look much better! It’s amazing what a little furniture moving will do! Good job.
Where were the ottomans on sale???
Thanks Jennifer! We’re still beaming.
And Jenni, the ottomans were on sale at Target, I believe through this Saturday. They’re actually not in the normal ottoman section though, we ended up finding them in the basket aisle near the big tupperware storage containers and the leather magazine holders. Happy hunting!
Sherry
Sherry, I just love the interior of your home! You have a good eye, I think, for just what’s needed.
On the pack-rat thing – my husband and I are sort of a “hybrid” – we don’t like a lot of clutter around us, but we don’t throw anything away either – it just goes into the basement or garage. I can’t tell you how many times something that I’ve had no use for suddenly becomes “just the thing” after doing a year or two stint in storage.
Hey Gimbler,
Muchos muchos gracias. I’m inspired and flattered by your kind words. I also love the idea of storing pieces for a rainy day. Our garage sale pile just got a whole lot smaller. I figure if I have the space I might as well hold on to a few things so that they’re on hand when the redecorating bug sneaks up and bites me. Which happens rather often these days…
Sherry
Love the painted brick! Hubs and I have an all brick den and we painted it (much to the shrieks of an audience), but we love it!
This is EXACTLY where I am right now. I’m evaluating our rooms and trying to decide why things feel so incomplete. I even spent this weekend “shopping” around our house for accessories. I just posted about it on my blog. It comforts me to see where you guys started.
WOW, it looks much better. Well done moving some furniture around and making the room look spectacular.