Many of us who have an abiding interest in this wonderful world of interior design began by "playing house." We either played by holding imaginary roles as Mama & Dad with siblings, or friends, or we may've taken our imagination to our dollhouse. This was the case for me. I loved the dollhouse my Papal built for me. My Aunt and Grandmother helped decorate and furnish it. It is two and a half stories tall with shag carpet, crocheted rugs, floral curtains, a claw foot tub, and a cast iron stove. Many, many hours were spent arranging and rearranging furniture.
As a young child, I might've placed the tub in the kitchen, and the stove in the bathroom. The beds were continually shuffled between the one bedroom and the roomy attic with the cozy slanted ceilings. I remember thinking it would be magical to sleep in an attic with slanted ceilings!
Over time, the arrangements made more sense with the kitchen items staying in the kitchen, etc, but the rearranging continued... Did the table work better in the middle of the kitchen, or against the wall? While this kind of freedom to try things out in unexpected ways made for some "interesting" room arrangements at first, I'm sure there was a setup or two that were creative solutions for the doll family!
Here is the same wingback in two different rooms and styled with different pillows and throw blankets. It's fun to see how the chair can fit two different vibes! One look is more masculine and English "snug" looking while the second look is more feminine with country Victorian leanings.
Somehow, as we enter adulthood and have our first house that freedom to shuffle things around can be somewhat lost. This can be the voices of others in our head or our own voice saying: "That's not a dining room", or "I've never seen an arrangement like this..." "The sofa has to face the fireplace..."
The first four years in our current home we were renting. If you've been a renter you know the limitations to what you can do to make a place "yours". Once we bought the house this mentality took a bit to wear off. After all, we'd been renting for 6 years at that point! As this mentality wore off and we took ownership of our home we began trying things. Looking back now I laugh at how timid we could be to try something.
Have you ever felt that hesitation? "I'm not sure where/how to hang the art, so I'll just hold off". Then you end up with stacks of art leaning on the wall behind the sofa. But, friend if the nailhole is in the wrong place, spackling dries in three minutes. Just try again! Then there's paint color. And wallpaper. Don't be afraid of these things, they are terrific fun!
Now that we've owned our home for six years and have tried many DIY projects (both small and large) here's what I've come away with: swap your rooms, play with your furniture, shuffle your decor.
Swap Your Rooms. Whether you are renting, or a homeowner those rooms are where you live every day, use them however suits you and your family best! Think of your home as a laboratory and experiment with its uses. Just because the floor plan has labeled a room as the dining room, doesn't mean you have to use it that way! It could be a home office, school/craft room, or a fabulous second living area with a library. Also, just because a room has always been one thing doesn't mean it has to stay that way. Use your home in the way that best functions for your family. Those needs will change over time and the best houses change with you.
Play With Your Furniture. This is such fun to me! Versatility is value. The more places/ways you can use your furniture the more valuable they will become. In the time we've owned this house one of the bedrooms has been an office, a guest bedroom, an office again, and now back to a bedroom. The buffet Matt's Mom gave us has been in the entryway serving as a hall tree, the living room serving as board game storage, and the dining room serving as dish storage.
A few months ago I had the idea of trying out our loveseat as a banquet behind the table in the dining room. This sounded so very English country and so cozy. The scale was wrong so it didn't work out, but it might've and was worth trying! Sometimes in trying things out you stumble upon a new use for a piece of furniture, and a ripple effect can happen... This is where the fun begins.
Swapping out a larger dresser for a smaller one from another room may mean you now have room for a small chair to sit in and put your shoes on. You may also need to adjust the lamps or art to fit this new furniture arrangement. You'll get a "new" room with little effort and no cost! This leads to my next point which is:
Shuffle Your Decor. I do this often. Nothing is easier than moving lamps around to get the best fit and scale in certain spots and to adjust the level of ambiance in a space. The size, shape, and color of the lamp base can look completely different in various spots around the house. Then there's the lampshade. With the terrific fun of making my own patterned, pleated lampshades the options for mixing things up have multiplied!
Then there's art... I could go on about art for a long time. It's the cherry on top of the icing for me. The art sets the tone and defines the room like nothing else. When you rearrange the furniture, and move the lamps around, inevitably you'll need to adjust the artwork.
The simplest art tip I could give is about scale. Match the size and shape of your art to the wall where it will hang, and don't let a little nail hole stop you!
I hope this post has inspired you, and even given you permission to play with your home! Let me know what areas of your home you would like to rethink in the comments below! Until next time,
Play with your house!
Rachel
