I spent part of my weekend spending money that I don't have to buy things that I don't need in an attempt to decorate my house.
I learned these three things about myself.
a) I'm not a decorator.
b) I'm not a decorator.
c) I'm not a decorator.
I really want to fix up my office because right now it's blandsville with beige on beige on beige. I'm so NOT a beige person. I was hoping to breathe some life into it.
What better color to add some pop than red, right? So, I went with red. Only I'm not sure I'm really feeling it. It certainly stimulates thinking, but I'm not sure it's the kind of thinking that I want to stimulate. Horror thrillers aren't really my writing genre.
You see, I had in my mind that I needed a sophisticated office. I have no idea where I got that idea. I wrote an entire writing curriculum in an office with pastel green walls with sunflowers and butterflies stamped on them. I revised that same curriculum in a cramped corner of my bedroom. And look at what I write! Primarily writing curriculum for kids that involves a DVD with a goofy teacher (me) who does weird stuff just to teach kids to write. Sophisticated? Hardly!
So I'm back to square one, only with less money. I may keep the red. Doubtful. I love vibrant color and I love black and white. What to do?
Well, I'll share with you a few decorating trinkets of which I'm especially proud because they DO reflect me.
Take these magnets, for example, that are prominenty displayed on my refrigerator door.
And isn't this rock just the best? I think it could be talking about Martha Stewart or the frantic Martha in the Bible. 
Before I end this lesson on how not to decorate I do have to say that I did find a few things that worked well. None of them were for my office, but we won't mention that. I did get some things to redecorate my bedroom and I think they will actually work. If they do and when I get it decorated I'll share pictures, providing it happens in this millenium.
I'm also very excited about a mirror with a shelf underneath it that I bought at an upscale department store. It has that distressed look and I just love it especially since I got it for a third of the original price. I'd post a picture here, but then you'd see me in the mirror with my grungy clothes, unruly hair, and sweat band on my forehead. I fear that would ruin the effect of the lovely mirror.
My conclusion: I should stick to writing and make enough money to hire someone to help me decorate.
July 21, 2008
Decorating With the Domestically Challenged
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9 comments:
I think you are on your way to a beautiful office! I flashed back to your writing symbol framing project. Even though I can't picture your beige walls, to mix black, white, beige and red suggests a professional pallet with a hint of vibrancy. (Do you see green or blue out your window?)
I'm no decorator! I have folders full of clips of other people's design elements that I like. (Not to sound like VeggieTales' Madame Blueberry; they're not posted on my wall or anything.) I don't want to make a design mistake either.
You might want to experiment with patterns using your color scheme--much as you would try an exciting adjective or adverb you haven't used in a while. Checks, stripes. Bold atop subtle. ?
There's just something about preparing a special room for yourself. (Thank Heaven, God already has our rooms perfectly designed!)
When you're talking domestically challenged, you're talking to ME! Ilove the concept of Rooms-to-Go, where everything is coordinated for you. I don't know if I could ever bring myself to admit decorating defeat and go there, though!
Bonita... I bet there is a decorator in there....you just have to dig real deep... It's lots of fun! Susie h~
I LOVED reading this! Fortunately I have a friend who is a decorator and is willing to listen to me (another domestically challenged woman) complain about my lack of skills. Her advice... show what you love, so my house is full of books, books and more books!
Bonita,
Your little magnets and rock are cute! Decorating can be frustrating. I take things back more than I keep them.
The lamp you were asking about does have writing on it. I don't know too much about it though. I took the picture in a model home. I get tons of ideas in model homes. If you click on the picture it will enlarge. It could be scrap booking paper.
Brandee :-)
Decorating....crafting...I feel like I've accomplished something when my clothes and make up don't send people running and screaming.
Good Luck!! :)
I love your kitchen trinkets! They describe me to a "T". I'm not much on decorating or crafting (or cleaning!). But I do appreciate nice decor, as much as I am unable to create it.
I hired a decorating student (for way cheap) to come give me ideas. I think it was $35 an hour, instead of like $200 for a decorating. And her ideas were great. ;-)
I too hired an interior decorator who takes donations for her pay. How sweet that is/was! My own way is to try this-a-way, that-a-way, and keep shuffling things around till I hit on something pleasing. One thing I learned from 'her' was if the wall paper had sage green in it...pick that up and use sage green for sofa pillows and a throw. Our kitchen border has blue gingham bows in it and she 'made' me....giggle...sew a blue gingham pillow for the kitchen bench to tie in. Oh, those decorator gals are clever but can tend to overkill...well just a bit...perhaps. I love all mine did though...she went thru the house like one of those tv shows and pulled things together from different room. Who'd have ever thought of that? Charming....
i need the 2nd magnet! that's hysterical!
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