As I mentioned earlier this week, we’re going to focus on fun for a while. Specifically, how to incorporate more fun into your home decor and remodeling projects without shooting yourself in the foot where resale value is concerned.
What’s the first step to having more fun with your house? Acceptance.
I know. I sound all New Age-y all of a sudden. But hear me out, because this is a barrier to enjoyment in my own dang house and I know I’m not the only one out there struggling with it.
We have to accept what we cannot change about our homes right this second due to lack of time and/or financial resources.
Clients tell me all the time, “we have to do this in stages. We can’t afford to do the whole room at once.” They say this with an apologetic tone, like I’ll be disappointed in them for not going on some wild shopping spree. The truth is, very few people can afford to redecorate whole rooms or whole houses at one fell swoop. In the ten years I’ve been in business, I’ve only encountered two situations where a client was furnishing their entire place from scratch and getting it all done at once. TWO.
We will get to the subject of ideas for budget-friendly decorating options later in this series, but for now, when it comes to projects we can’t afford to tackle at the moment, we just have to accept that reality and let ourselves off the hook about it. Not accepting that is bringing us down. To put myself in a better frame of mind when my list of home improvement and decorating projects starts wearing on me, I am going to celebrate what is working in my house.
10 Things That Make Me Happy
1-3. The Callans. My kiddo, my mate and my kittyboy make this a happy place for me.
4. My mid-century pink power chair. This executive perch is guaranteed to make me smile every time I see it.
Photo by Suzi Q. Varin / Q Weddings.
5. Larger than life Super Amigos make me happy. How could they not?
Photo by Suzi Q. Varin / Q Weddings.
6. I adore this borderline absurd painting over our bed, which you can see reflected in the mirrors over our dresser.
Photo by Suzi Q. Varin / Q Weddings.
7. I heart the crazy color in our bathroom.
Photo by Suzi Q. Varin / Q Weddings.
8. My daughter’s bathroom also makes me very happy. So girly, so punchy, so fun!
Photo by Suzi Q. Varin / Q Weddings.
9. My landscaping optimism/denial makes me happy. Every year I start with the likes of this…
…and blatantly disregard the fact that they will soon look like this:
10. This family picture, taken four years ago. It speaks volumes about our family. We’re goofball book nerds and we have a lot of fun together.
Photo by The Smile House (San Marcos).
Putting together this list made me look at my home differently. I started noticing there were so many things I liked about it instead of seeing all of the projects yet to be tackled. Every house is flawed–trust me, I’ve worked in thousands at this point and not a single one was perfect. There’s always going to be something we want to tweak. As long as the list of tweaks doesn’t overshadow the fun stuff, it’s all good. Personally, I was letting the flaws really get to me and that’s not a very productive emotion.
What are you celebrating about your home? What will you let yourself off the hook about?
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