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It's a New Year, and time to refresh your home: 3 easy steps that cost you $0Sometimes when we take down the holiday decorations, the house feels a little sad. We loved the festive decorations and there’s a little feeling of loss, when we take it all down. It’s not a letdown – but it’s a set UP for you to make some positive changes in your home. Let’s give your home some new life. You need a box, a towel, and a hammer. Step 1: Let's go boxingLook around your room right now. Is there anything that does not spark joy in your heart? For instance, if you’re in your home office – are there any books that really are not you anymore? If so, grab that box and gather the books you are going to donate. Move to the next room and repeat this process. Someone will appreciate these books – whether it’s the library, or the local thrift shop that benefits your favorite charity. "HEY CLOTHES, COME OUT OF THE CLOSET". If your clothes are so jam packed into the closet that you always have wrinkled clothes, chances are you can let go of a few items of clothing. If this is you – get the grocery sack and pull out all the clothes you haven’t worn in the past 12 months. Pull out all the clothes that still have the tags on them that you never got around to wearing this past year. Eliminate all the clothes that don’t fit. Ladies, if you have a dress that’s a few sizes smaller than you are, clothes do not exist to shame you. Put all these items in the donation box. Guys, if you're in your 30's and still have high school tees, time to let them go. It’s a win win - Every time you walk in your closet, only have clothes that fit you and make you smile when you wear them, and the clothes reflect who/ what you are today. And you’ll donate to organizations that will benefit others with your old clothing. That is the first step - fill up a box (or two or three! ) and donate them. STEP 2: Grab a towel. We're going to move some furniture.Think about the room you had your Christmas tree, or your holiday decorations. Could that room use a bit of a refresh? You can easily do this by rearranging your furniture in a more conversational set up. If your furniture is pushed up against the walls, pull it out a little – ‘no wallflowers’. The towel under the furniture make moving furniture easy. (Or you can use Super Sliders, available at most stores. During January I'll have these on the Links page.) If you always have the recliner in that one corner, switch it up a little – and see how the room feels. If you have always had your room arranged straight on, with sofa parallel to the wall, consider changing it up by putting the sofa on an angle. We were celebrating our anniversary at the Inn of the Anasazi in Santa Fe, and I noticed the little living area adjacent to the concierge was arranged on an angle. Something as simple as shifting the arrangement to be on an angle can dramatically change the look and feel of a room. Or if you have a kitchen table that’s square to the wall, try turning it 45 degrees. I encourage you to rethink your rooms, and rearrange – change it up. This step costs nothing, but can make the room feel brand new. That was fun. What's next? Step 3: It's hammer time.When refreshing a room, I like to take down every piece of art and reconsider where they are placed. Could you regroup your pictures / artwork in a new way so it’s more pleasing to the eye? Go ahead – take down all the artwork in a room, and look at your walls – it’s a blank canvas! Rearranging your artwork can completely revitalize a tired room, and again – it costs you nothing to do that. So many times we just throw artwork up to fill empty spaces. But if you’re more thoughtful about it – you will love the results. The key is to group like with like – such as landscapes all together, or a certain colorway together. Perhaps you have different pieces all framed in a similar fashion – that’s your common denominator. Group like with like items together and you will be pleased with the new arrangement. (The example above shows how brightly colored art from different artists and genres can effectively coexist.) Play with the artwork arrangement over your bed – try something different behind your sofa – and change it up. All you need is a hammer, and an adventurous spirit. If you have lots of family photos, instead of having pictures here there and everywhere scattered throughout the house. Gather all the family photos and create a hall of memories. I was at someone’s home recently who did exactly that and it looks fantastic. It’s a nice reminder of our loved ones every time you pass through that hallway. There’s a medical bonus to this work. If you’re over 50, studies show that rearranging your artwork and furniture can help stave off Alzheimer’s – giving your eye a new arrangement to look at is good for you. Let's recap:REFRESH YOUR HOME this New Year. All you need is a box, a towel and a hammer to refresh your space. Fill up the box with donations of that which you don’t need any more and know that you’ll be blessing someone else with your donations. Use the towel to slip under heavy furniture when rearranging for better functionality. And the hammer is for rehanging your artwork in a new way. Here's to your New Y.E.A.R., Your Easy Affordable Refresh. It's not a let down, it’s a SET UP for you to give your rooms new life, at no cost. We love to hear from you. Give us a thumbs up and leave your comments below.
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The holidays are a great time to find out what is working in your home, and what’s not working so well. When you had Uncle Fred and Aunt Linda and their kids in your home for Thanksgiving, did you notice anything? After dinner, and everyone is sipping a cup of chocolate or noshing on another piece of pie, were there enough table surfaces for everyone? Most of us have the furniture too far away from the coffee table, as the photo above. The human form only needs 18” between the sofa and the coffee table. If you’re not one to carry a tape measure around all the time, here’s an even easier way to figure out if you have the placement right. I call it the drink test. Sit in each seat in your living room and determine if you can place your drink on the coffee table. Move the sofa or table nearer – again, about 18” between the sofa and the table will do it. You'll love being able to set down your hot chocolate without getting up. Now that your coffee table is in the right place, let’s make sure all your guests can place their drink easily within reach no matter where they sit. To figure this out - sit in every place of your sofa, your chairs, and wherever people sit in your room. Make sure everyone’s seat has a place for their drink. You may have to move the side tables a little closer, but this is easy, right? If you find you’re lacking appropriate tables, let’s be creative and think outside the box for table options. I love to use something out of the ordinary. Once I used an antique steamer trunk with a piece of beveled glass on top as my coffee table. Use those clear plastic buttons you put on the back of your paintings and it keeps the glass up off the trunk. Another time I used a child’s red flyer wagon, again with a piece of glass on top. It was a real conversation starter. You can sometimes pick up the glass at your local Habitat for Humanity ReStore. It's economical, and you are supporting a good cause. Or you can take a fabric ottoman and place a mirror on top for your coffee table. That’s what’s in my Living Room right now. What about side tables? You could also use one of those Chinese garden stools as a side table with a pop of color. I like the garden stools at Wayfair or Overstock.com. There are some beautiful ones for less than $100. Another idea for a side table would be a smaller tree stump that has the bark removed. It makes a nice statement and brings in the organic element. I spotted some at the Modern General store in Santa Fe, NM. Check them out. Be creative and look at items in a new way. I was in a home recently where the homeowner took an artist’s palette, the curved pallet that you mix the paints on. She added legs to the bottom of the palette, and it became a beautiful side table. When you're considering out-of-the box options, if it’s within 3-4” of the sofa or chair's arm height, it’ll work. I know you’re creative and I’d love to see what you come up with – email me your pictures santa.fe.alana@gmail.com. If you really would prefer a table, and you are on a budget, www.Target.com has some attractive side tables for less than $80. I love getting the high end look for less, don’t you? TABLE TIPS: make sure every person has some place to put their drink. That’s how you know if you have a) adequate tables, and b) placed appropriately so you can put your hot chocolate within reach. Pass the marshmallows, please. ~Alana Light Decorating your home is as easy as A-B-C A = Always allow your authentic self to be expressed in the home. What do I mean by authentic self? It’s your true self. What is most important to you? Spending time together as a family? If so, ensure there is ample space for the family to gather & play games together. What if your authentic self loves to socialize and to have friends over? Arrange your furniture to allow meaningful conversations. Avoid the temptation to arrange furniture to only face the television – “worship the box” arrangement. In fact, if you do not have a television in your living space, you’re on trend! Elle Décor reports that tech-less living spaces are trending. Wouldn’t it be nice if we went back to a time when families actually talked to each other after dinner? What a concept! Arrange your furniture so you actually face one another. Placing another sofa opposite, or two chairs opposite the sofa will do the trick, allowing you to have a conversation with friends & family. Allow the space to support how YOU live, to support your Authentic Self. A also stands for allow only artwork and accessories that speak to YOUR spirit. If rustic farm chic does nothing for you, but antique glassware reminds you of your beloved grandmother, then display antique glassware. Or display grandmother's favorite candlesticks (pictured). If the design magazines encourage us to display some trend, only do so *if* it brings you joy. Your home is YOUR home and it must reflect what is important to YOU. B = Ban Builders Beige. Last week I met with a great family that loves outdoor activities. Their family photos were filled with gorgeous greens and glories of nature. Yet, their walls were a sea of beige. That's where paint comes in! Painting your walls is the least expensive way to completely transform your home. A soft green – like Dunn Edwards’ Glisten Green - can warm up a room for less than $100. Or if you’re looking for a tranquil feeling in your bedroom try Behr’s Crystalline Falls or Sky Light View. You’ll feel like you’re living in a high end spa. Ban Builders Beige. If you need help choosing the right color for your space, I’m happy to help you. Contact me here. B also stands for bringing in nature's beauty. I believe every room should have a touch of nature's beauty. A gorgeous crystal geode. Cuttings from your garden. A rustic side table made out of a log. God has made such beauty. Bring a touch of nature's beauty indoors. C= Creativity. Create spaces to encourage your own creativity. Whether you’re a bookkeeper or a CEO, creativity is essential to succeed in what you do. Allocate space for the hobbies and activities that bring you joy. You know the joke – when you’re only in your left brain there’s nothing right and in your right brain there’s nothing left. Set up a space to do that woodworking you so loved when you were in school. Set aside a crafting corner for creating beautiful crafts. Last year the popularity of adult coloring books soared! Why is that, do you think? When you’re being creative, you lose track of time, and you open up to the Creator of the Universe. There is something so healing when you allow your creativity to flourish. Creativity. C also stands for create cozy spaces in your home that are conducive to conversation. (Okay, I'm getting carried away with the "c" words.) Instead of ignoring your fireplace, pull up two chairs on either side of your fireplace. What a delightful place to sit and de-stress after a long day of work. Cultivate cozy spaces in all the rooms. I have a pair of chairs at the foot of my bed so we can read, or sit and chat. Very cozy spaces make your house a HOME. A – Always allow your Authentic self to be reflected in your spaces, as well as keeping only artwork and accessories that feed your spirit.
B – Ban Builders’ Beige. Bring in color and nature's beauty to warm up your home. C – Create cozy and creative spaces to allow your house to truly be a home. Last week the Tibetan monks were in Santa Fe at the Int’l Folk Art Museum on Museum Hill. I went to see them creating this intricate, gorgeous mandala out of colored sand. They worked as a team, creating an intricate, colorful masterpiece after just a few days. How does this apply to decorating your home? I learned three important lessons watching the monks. And all three lessons apply to decorating your home. LESSON #1: Patience with the process. The first lesson I learned was the extreme patience required to create something beautiful. Day after day the monks would bend over their emerging masterpiece with the patience of Job. A few grains of sand here, a few grains there. Carefully and methodically, patiently they worked. Step by step, the monks trust the process it takes to create. Beautiful things take patience. Ask any woodworker who makes fine furniture with his/her hands. Something beautiful takes time. Something as simple as repainting a door properly …. It takes a few hours to do it right. There is the necessary prep work. The primer coat. Then the layers of paint, carefully and patiently applied. Trust the process. Maybe you are remodeling or you’re getting frustrated that your project is taking forever. If you have a home improvement project that is taking a long time, King Solomon’s own house took 13 years! (See 1 Kings 7:1) If your place is taking awhile, then remember Solomon. And remember the monks. P-a-t-i-e-n-c-e. LESSON #2: Take only what you need. When the monks filled their long funnels with the colored sand, I noticed they only took as much sand as they needed at that moment. Erma Bombeck said, “The odds of going to the store for a loaf of bread and coming out with ONLY a loaf of bread are three billion to one.” The same thing goes for our trips to the home improvement store. We go for one thing and come out with a cart full. Next time you go to the home improvement store, get only what you need. This is a good reminder - don’t buy a 5 gallon bucket of paint if you’re painting a tiny bathroom. Or if you’re staining a small table, maybe a just quart of stain will do the job. Heaven knows we DIYers tend to have too much leftover paint and stain in our garages. Let’s learn from the monks…. take only what we need. LESSON #3: Some jobs are best left to the experts. Around the corner from where the monks were working, there was a very simplified sand mandala for the visitors to try their hand at making one. Cheerful volunteers coached us as to how to gently fill in the sections with colored sand. I had watched the monks many times and thought, "Pshh, I can do this!" But no matter how carefully I tried to achieve the same result, the little grains of sand would go outside the lines and tumble everywhere except where I intended. There was no denying – the Tibetan monks were clearly the masters of this art. Here too is another lesson – no matter how easy something may appear, there are some jobs best left to the experts! How does this apply to you? Know when your home improvement projects are best done by an expert. No matter how many times you’ve watched This Old House House, or watched hours of tutorials on YouTube – there is a time to call in the experts. Decorating lessons learned from the Drepung Loseling Monastery monks: 1) Have patience with the process. 2) Take only what you need. 3) Know some jobs are best left to the experts. If there is one thing you can do to completely transform any room, it is paint. It doesn’t cost very much, and it’s probably my #1 go-to tip when a client wants to refresh a space economically. We go off to the paint store and grab a paint card and say, "Yeah – that’s pretty good. I’ll take a gallon of that." We get home and start painting and (cue record scratch). "Oh my gosh…. What have I done?!?" Sound familiar? Dejectedly we trudge back to the paint store and reluctantly grab a gallon of boring, blah beige. We might as well stick with Arizona White. Sigh. I say, "Heck no… don’t settle for Arizona White!" Or abalone, alabaster, biscuit, china, cotton, dewdrop, early snow, fog, frosting, gauzy, hush, igloo, juniper, linen, marshmallow, mist, nuance, oyster, pearl, sand, snow, shell, wheat….etc. Yes, those are real names of blah, boring beige. Your rooms should lift your spirits, and make you happy to be there. God made so many gorgeous colors – don’t settle! A drab beige, taupe or greige, might suck the light right out of your room. But there is a trick to choosing paint colors. Here are 3 simple steps to choosing the right paint color. It’s really as easy as 1-2-3. STEP 1 LOOK FOR CLUES: Look around the room and look for color clues. Be a detective! The right color is probably already in front of your nose. Maybe the perfect color is in a painting that you have on the wall. Maybe it’s in a throw pillow on the sofa or chair. Maybe it’s the background of that great family portrait. Wherever you find that perfect color – remember this – it’s your inspiration piece. The happiest color is already in your home – you just have to find it. Be a detective and find that inspiration piece. Look for clues in what you have already. STEP 2 CHOICES: Now that you’ve identified the color, go to the paint store and grab several paint cards that are close to the color you have in mind. Let’s say you’re looking for a soft green. Grab all the paint cards that are clear green. Then grab paint cards that are yellow-green. Go the other way and get some paint cards that are blue-green. Now you have a beautiful palette from which to choose your perfect color. Take the cards home and hold each one up to the inspiration piece you found in step #1. Some of the cards will look dirty or grungy compared to your inspiration piece. Then you know that’s not the right color. Try the next card…. If the paint card looks fabulous and looks like it came right out of your inspiration piece, then you have the right color! Most paint cards have 3 or so versions of the same color – don’t use the lightest – it’s a case of why bother. It is so pale it'll look like beige. The deepest color can be a bold choice so when in doubt go with the middle tone. STEP 3 TESTING, TESTING, 1-2-3. Go back to the paint store and get a little test pot of the chosen color. I suggest you paint a 3’x3’ sample onto the wall. Maybe paint it into the corner of two adjacent walls – light changes the color on different walls…. Look around your room right now, and you’ll see what I’m talking about. The exact same color can look like 4 different shades, all due to how much natural light there is, and what is in shadow. Do you see it? After you’ve painted your 3x3 sample on the wall, live with it for a few days. I know, this requires our least favorite word – patience. Why? I want you to live with the color and see how it looks in the clear light of the beautiful morning sun. How does the color change when it’s high noon? What does the color look like at night, with your room’s artificial lighting? Something that looks great in the daytime might turn muddy depending on your lighting. A little patience in this process ensures you will love the final paint color. Following this simple 3 step process will help you choose the right color for your space. You can do it! If you need a little help, then of course I’m happy to help you. I love color consultations – I have paint libraries of larger samples we can play with to help you get just the right color. But I think you can do it. And now you know how. Send me your before & after photos. I love to hear from you. ~Alana Light Let’s talk about getting your place ready for sale. In addition to helping people decorate their homes, I prepare homes prior to listing utilizing what you already have. Recently I taught a workshop on how to stage your own home in order to appeal to the widest number of buyers in your market. A student took the principles I taught, and she staged and successfully sold not one but TWO homes! These principles really work. Before you go on the MLS, here are a few pointers:
Happy selling..... and best wishes to you in your next chapter of life. I always love hearing from you. Leave your comment below. ~Alana Light
I love hearing from you! Leave a comment here as to how you make your house a home. ~Loralana Light How would you like to feel you have a brand new home? |
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