new rules for home decorating

Enough! I have been living under the most ridiculous home decorating rules, rather self-imposed I admit, and I say enough.

this is a terrible selfie, but I wanted a visual

Maybe you can relate. You gander at what everyone else is doing. Perhaps you even pin it to boards you call create in space or inspiration for reality except that these brilliant and beautiful pins never become reality.

Because you have these rules. This silly rules that make no sense.

So I've made a list of my previous rules and whether one is self- or other-imposed, the new corresponding rule, and a few that just need to be there.

Old Rule #1: That won't help the resale of your house, also known as, live expecting to leave and refrain from making it yours or enjoying it now.
Goodness, then why buy it? Unless you're a professional flipper, and we at thishawksnest are far from pro flippers, then this is the sort of worrying, silly mindset that makes renting a better route. Isn't this what we envision when we walk through open house after open house? We spend every single minute thinking this is what I would do with this space. So why not do that then?

I've spent 2.5 years listening to this sort of reasoning. Twopointfiveyears people. That's just silly. We've said from the start we hope to make it in this home through the birth of our fourth child (if we're lucky enough to have four) or ten years, whichever is first or most pressing. A decade of one's life is a long time to live with a spirit of transition and borrowed space. But we have. We've refrained from hanging pictures, shelves. We've refrained from repainting things we don't like anymore. We've refrained in an entirely uncreative, unexciting, and un-home-like way.

New Rule #1: 

Unless it involves demolition or the creation of a new structure, it can always be changed if/when you want to sell the house.

Old Rule #2: Paint is a big deal.
Even though we know that we can always repaint, we've waited far too long to do so. When we first painted, we came to an agreement on the paint throughout the main floor (living room, dining room, stairs and upstairs hallway). And we were happy with it. It was a good thing to do, to come together on something. But I think in that new-marriage desire to please each other, coupled with the fact that we didn't yet know what our style was, we chose something that is no longer us.


So I've decided to repaint the living room, hopefully before Obie's arrival. Hawk is thankfully on board (or I wouldn't do something that drastic in such a main area). And in discussing the living room, a few other rooms came up. The bathroom, for example. Right now it is a deep chocolate brown. But we're thinking of repainting it with Restoration Hardware's Slate, mixed into the zero-voc Sherwin Williams Eg-Shel (which was a total I'm a pushover moment mistake that we may be able to turn into good news).

New Rule #2: 

Paint can ALWAYS be "undone" unless you're painting unpainted wood.

This also applies to our staircase. 

very old shot from our original painting experiences

The 13 steps leading from first to second floor are both unpainted and painted. The risers are white, and the steps themselves are stained and glazed wood. I really really really want to do something fun and crazy on the staircase--in part because it can have some great daily impact without overwhelming a very visible part of the house, and in part because I want to experiment! 

And if it is ugly, then guess what -- I can just repaint it. Crazy, right?

Old Rule #3: We have to live with the result regardless of whether or not we like it.

This one is a doozy. Here's why: in part, this old rule is true, especially for families such as ours who depend on a very fixed expense budget. Whatever we do, we have to live with it for at least a little while depending on the project. But that's where this rule ends. Let's throw a couple of punches at it:

1. If it is easy and inexpensive to undo, then we don't have to live with it at all.
2. If it is difficult and expensive to undo, then we should have thought through it more and our problem is less one of results and much more a problem of planning. I'm thinking wall demolition or breaking down upper cabinets and replacing them with open shelving (oh please please please can we do that this summer, Hawk?).
3. There is no invisible (or visible) House Fairy holding us to our actions; only three things limit what can be transformed or undone in a house: 1) housing codes, 2) our budget, 3) fear. And maybe, a distant #4 might be time. We will have 2 kids under 16 months come March, but I think it is still very much dependent upon 1-3. 
4. We have to live in it. So we better like it. And when people come over, they instinctively and subconsciously assess our personalities based on what is presented through our home. Why keep something we don't like just because we did it once?

New Rule #3: 

We can change things and develop them until we are satisfied.

Which leads us to...

Old Rule #4: Our decoration and home improvements dictate our permanent personal style.

I bet how we want our home to look in 10 years is going to be different from what we like today. I used to like leather seating. Now, I think it's unattractive without those puckered button thingies (what are those called and why can't I remember the term?) Ah! Tufted.

Source: cococozy.com via Jennifer on Pinterest

That's silly, isn't it? But let me tell you, Hawk and I have felt so much pressure to figure that out now. And we're in a starter home, we aren't dolling out moola on fancy house dressings, so now's the time to experiment.

New Rule #4: 

Our personal style determine our home decore and thus should develop and alter as time passes.

Alright, four new rules are a good start. What do you think? Check out the poll in the sidebar. We'd love to hear from you!


happy Monday, folks.


icj,
~j

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