I don’t usually agree with Madonna, but I do believe it is important to express yourself. Life is for living, and creative expression in your home can be amazingly comforting and fulfilling. Here are some ideas to spark your creativity:
| In a modern home, use color sparingly but boldly – like a field of color on one wall to draw the eye to an unexpected space. If you do this kind of color block technique, make sure you want to be accenting whatever you are accenting. In this picture from coccozy, they are actually TRYING to draw the eye to the flat screen television, but that isn’t usually the case. |  |
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Hey, don’t be afraid to place furniture against bookcases. Use a large wall of bookcases as a headboard for your bed, or place a sofa or buffet table up against them. If Annie Brahler can do it you can, too! |
| Even in a small bedroom, a canopy or mosquito netting creates a “room within a room” and draws the eye up into the typically unoccupied space in the air. And draping your bed with fabric “walls” can spice up your lovelife, as well! |  |
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Do as the English do: stack pictures and artwork all the way up your walls – not only does this draw the eye up, but it gives even a small space lots of places for the eye to bounce around and enjoy. This office space from Domino magazine is fabulous on so many levels . . . I must do a blog article about feminine office spaces! |
| Have a few really nice furniture pieces? Then edit, edit, edit. That special chair or table takes center stage when clutter is abolished. |  |
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What if you don’t have a few really nice pieces? For less than perfect furniture, clutter offers convenient camouflage. Decorating for profusion instead of spareness is a different kind of editing. Filling a room with objects can be very provocative and cozy, especially if the objects are variations on a theme. For example, hang botanical prints in multiples. Quantity can be as captivating as quality. Here’s an example of colorful profusion. It’s fresh, young, a little crazy. If you like it, who cares! It’s your home, your expression. |
| When I started out housekeeping (wow, that sounds like something my mom would say), I didn’t have many nice things. So I bought lots of inexpensive things that I was drawn to from yard sales, flea markets, antique malls, and clearance racks. At that point in time, I decorated for profusion! When I slowly acquired a few nicer things, the process of artful editing began. I sold many of those “starter” items, which enabled me to save up for nicer ones. Now, I have much less clutter and fewer collections – but what I did keep I truly love and believe to be beautiful. |  |
A few final thoughts: Are you an artist? Then where better to showcase your art but in your own home? Have a crazy collection stored away? Bring it out into the light and celebrate whatever it is you love!
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