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Using What You Already Own

Well, let's talk about how do I move from what I already have, which is really what we were talking about right now to a home full of personal style. So give you I love to give you these common sense tools or what I call a litmus test. So we're gonna give you a few things that you can ask yourself. And this is right along this conversation, which is perfect. So for each furnishing or accessory, that thing question in your home, ask yourself these few things. First of all, does it function exceptionally well for you? Because the the hidden What was it? A chamber pot in the table? I mean, does that peace have any function for you in your life? Things that I wanted to see if I would find them? That's it. Okay, so So that would probably know this question. Right? And then does it make me feel inspired when I look at it? So are you inspired by the chamber? But so? So she's got to knows so far. So we're Louis. We know where this is leaning towards gently, um and then finally, does it carry s...

ignificant sentimental value to me? personally. No, I it meant so much to the person who gave it to me. So in a sense, it has some sentimental value, actually, said finally. But there's another question. So so there is. So we've gotten kind of a yes here because you care about that person, you would never want to hurt their feelings. So there is some what of a sentimental attachment, which is what's been keeping you from getting rid of it already and then doesn't fit with my personal aesthetic. So we have so far on this this side. We have four questions, and she's gotten three no's and one year. So you know, sometimes it takes something like this to help us start detaching from something emotionally. So we're really leading towards probably the fact that this is not a perfect peace free, particularly for those of you who have space issues because some of you just don't have room. And I find people living in a very small percentage of their home a lot of times because they don't have comfortable upholstery or they have a room full. As someone said yesterday to rooms full of photography equipment, you really need to ask yourself, You know, would I be better off renting a storage unit for my photography equipment and actually being able to live in the space that I'm in because I feel cramped? I've had clients that I've completely talked out of major additions but to their home because they had other rooms just full of things that they were never going in. And I said, You know, why don't we save about 2/3 of the budget that we would spend adding on to your home and go into the rooms that you haven't been in in the last 10 years as other than maybe a passageway or ah hallway and say, How can we use these spaces it to better function free? If you get through these questions and you still haven't gotten rid of the PC, or you need to try to make it work here, some other questions you can ask yourself. So if those were mostly knows, ask yourself this. Can it be repurposed? Is there any way for this to be reimagined repurposed, either for a functional use or something beautiful painted? The suggestion I've had is to open it up and plant something in the pot, but it's it's just too quirky. Thanki contrived, like just forced. So that so the answer is still sort of know could be haunted paintings. A good idea. Okay, so you maybe could paint couldn't use. This is kind of what you were saying to Could it be used an entirely different way? Could you put a table? Could you make it a table? Could you put a top on it? Could you piece a piece of tomorrow? I can't I don't really know what it looks like. It could you put a piece of marble on it and painted. And suddenly a side table. Maybe, Um, how did you get creative and make this something that you don't get rid of? But it actually is it weird and hokey, but actually becomes maybe something that you actually love because it becomes useful and cool. And maybe could it just be donated or loved by someone else? So again, we have to remember that there are other people in our lives or other people that are going to shop in a consignment store, an antique store that might really enjoy and get pleasure out of this piece so we're actually doing them a disservice, but having it in our house and hating it. But keeping the rest of the world from falling in love with this piece so honestly, really can convince yourself it's true. It's not just an excuse that, actually, there's probably someone else who would have a purpose for this if you can't so you can save yourself tons of grief but not trying toe work around something in it. I've had many, many clients who have forced us to work around pieces, and we spend two or three times the money trying to make a piece work, as opposed to just biting the bullet, getting through the emotional pain and pressure of telling someone else that this isn't gonna work and eventually they end up getting rid of the peace. Anyway, I think of one example for sure that was a ah blended household and newly would. So she was really afraid to get rid of a lot of his things or to even approach the subject with him that they weren't working. So we spend a fortune trying to make things work, and it was a little force turned out pretty well And then we get almost through the end of the design project and she goes, you know, what? I finally had a talk with him was he's liking the way things were going and he said, We don't have to work around that stuff So let's get rid of it now. Well, the interesting thing is, if we had had a clean slate, we wouldn't have made any of the other selections that we made toe work around this item. So we had spent twice as much money twice as much time. And although we like the interior, it wasn't something that we loved. And we would have really had a better result if we had just said, You know what? This piece is not the peace to build a whole house around. So how many of you have things in your home that you're designing your entire house around that you don't even love? I bet there's people out on the Web, that air certainly doing that absolutely Lincoln way in and tell us eso what does it take to achieve this eclectic mix and balance in my island home? Just a little bit of a recap living your own style certainly embrace your originality. Some We saw some original spaces, for sure, people who could have huge gold hand and foot chairs in their living room there, certainly embracing and pink sand in the coffee table. That's certainly embracing originality, and maybe we don't think of ourselves as being that creative. But they're certainly things about you that you love, even just the fact, like my mom saying she loves her dining table, whether I think it's dated or small or anything or not, which I haven't happened to like it now, too. She's brought me over to the other side, but she was able to say, I love this. This reflects me, Um, designed with confidence. So just be confident that if no one else likes that, it doesn't matter. It's not their home. It's your home. And if you're gonna walk in and see it every single day and love it and even fill a little bit more confident because you were able to embrace that, then I say go with it for sure. So that's to that answer of Yes, I said 60%. But you know what? Sometimes if you feel really excited about bringing something in that breaks the rules. And I think you should break the rules. Make your home comfortable for you, though, so she may be sacrificing some of her comfort. And some of you may be, too, to keep things in your home that take up space that just aren't working for your Sometimes this even goes to the point of Yes, I know I spent X amount of dollars four years ago and bought stuff that doesn't work for me. But how many years of your life are you gonna waste being uncomfortable and uninspired by your home when you should possibly just buy new furniture and either sell that or give it to someone else? A lot of times, we we punish ourselves because we made a mistake as opposed to going. That was then that was the best decision. I could make it the time. But I have new information now, and I need to make a different decision. And I see lots of people punishing themselves for, you know, things that they did. And I always use the example like even in my own business. One time I bought about $10, worth of packaging, sacks, tissue paper and all sorts of things for my business in a certain color. And I think within two years we ditch that color, change the name of my business, and we still have these shopping bags that we carry all of our stuff in. But you know what? I had to make the decision made the decision that was right for me then and then new information came to the table and things changed about my life in my business. So it was time for me to make another decision. Well, that's true for a lot of you in your home. So not saying be wasteful with money. But if something's truly not working for you, not functional, not beautiful, doesn't fit the space, then give it a real hard looking go. Do I need to work towards purchasing new or saving money to invest in some pieces that work for me now? So don't punish yourself and then again, in future personality, for sure. So personality cues are you introverted or extroverted? Do you want spaces that you want to really cuddle up in your house and our do you want to entertain with a lot of people because those are gonna be different kinds of personality in your home and what we're gonna use to create that kind of a feeling nostalgic or forward thinking. Sometimes even nostalgic means hanging on to things that you love their some of us like me who are willing to, um, purge things all the time. I don't get attached to a lot of things. I love my artwork. I love a few sentimental pieces, but if it's not working for May, I want somebody else toe have it. I wanted to keep moving. So are you that kind of person? Are you nostalgic? Are you energetically Melo? Do you want things that the energy moves around in your space, whether it's the color of it or the finish of it, or you want something that you really sink into, um, and that maybe the difference in you and your spouse is our partners or roommates personality. Somebody who wants the big, overstuffed chair and you're not even interested in sitting around in front of the television for a long time. You're the kind of person that's gonna be up doing things or cooking or out, you know, in nature or traveling or doing other things so it doesn't make sense for you. So which of these air you and you might have to blend spaces for both. Do you keep things forever? Are Do you constantly change how many of you constantly change your interiors? Every few years you get rid of everything, so I see some yeses. Sometimes that's because you have never gotten the space right. But sometimes it's just your personality, like, you know, people in life who I think of people who every other you know, time they get their hair cut. They have a new hairdresser. They trust somebody different. You know, other people have gone to the same hairdresser for 45 years. That's a personality trait. So, knowing yourself, do you like a lot of change? Do you like things to constantly be moving? Are you always re, um, rearranging your house? Yes. And do you think that's because you get bored with it or because it doesn't work on board or board? Okay, says some people do that. I don't People think I would go that you're constantly changing your house for me if I get it the way it needs to be in the way it works and functions. Then I leave it alone. But you need to know this about your personality. Because if you're constantly changing things or you like to get rid of things often are you gonna want to invest in a very expensive sofa. Probably not, because you know you're gonna want about another one in two years, But some people are going to say I'm going to get a sofa and I'm gonna keep it for the rest of my life. And yes, I may recover it, but let's get the best serious. So you need to know these things about your own personality so you can make good investments. Do you place high value on beautiful, functional living spices? And how much of your budget do you spend on your home? Because there are people who just don't value home. I have clients who have car collections and, you know, second homes and boats and all sorts of things. But furniture is not something they value. They don't even care if it's expensive. I don't care what it looks like. So asking yourself, do you value the things that you actually put in your home and how much of your interior, how much of your budget goes towards those things or how, maybe, how much the other people making decisions about money. That's where you get. Sometimes you value home, but the other people in your life don't. They would rather travel, go on vacation, do other things with the money. Do you love a very tidy home, or do you enjoy one that feels lived in? So these are just a few things to keep asking yourself as you bring your personality in and use all using all of these to really create a home that's really you. And so use your answers. Determine whether you want to accentuate some of these characteristics about yourself or if you want to cool them down. So maybe it drives you crazy, actually, that you're constantly wanting change all the time. What could you do that would make you want to keep some of your key pieces, but just change the throw pillows or just change the rug? There's things that you convey day to sort of mitigate. Armand, you know, make your your personality traits a little cool down or a little more moderate piece of your personality. You can control things, so I think we're about to run out of time are we can't remember how many slides I have, but we've covered most of this. I think it's just a recap. Don't get into the 50 fix 50 split. You can always start with a neutral background again. We talked about this in the renting and other things. You and then wrap your home in neutral and layer the color in and the personality and in the furnishings came up. Both. Sally Again is exactly as you described. Is that color in the neutrality? Well, and what's fun about this is this is a home that was This is my work and this is a client's home. It was their grandmother's home, and they inherited tons of pieces. So the chairs and table with the far end the game table and chairs, or I made it a game table and chairs are inherited pieces. The blue wing chair is an inherited peace, and the bench of spray painted the legs bright orange to give it personality. Most of the upholstery in this setting is new because they're gonna be sitting on it all the time. But the little ottoman with the bamboo leg is an old piece, so it's a total mix of new and old, high and low, some of its expensive. Some of it's really inexpensive, but it has so much personality. So that's that really life example of bringing all that together heritage stuff that has absolutely no meaning at all. But it just functions for them, Um, and quickly let me just finish our slides, cause I know everybody is going to be getting ready for lunch. We've covered a lot here, but make sure that you reserve some a large part of your budget for pieces that aren't trendy, so you can have a really trendy look just in accessories and smaller pieces if you love trends or if you love glam or some of those other things. But make sure that you're not constantly spending your largest part of your budget on those things that you're getting rid of all the time. It's common sense, but actually, sometimes we end up doing that. We end up spending. I know some people that say, Oh, well, I could never spend you know, $10,000 on my interior, but they easily spend 15,000 buying this in that little knickknacks and things all the time that never end up making a cease, Um, some grins in the room of people going. I'm guilty of that. So when you think of as a whole, it's hard for you to stomach that investment. That would really make a difference. But you're wasting money buying things that don't work in little small parts and pieces. So certainly we talked about new upholstery, but vintage side tables or chairs is great for function. Um, there's that coffee table of my husband's grandfathers that I love. We've talked a lot about the unifying elements. If its shape is it, form is the color that ties the room together. And then opposites attract, too. So maybe what you want to do is particularly for that cool urban look. Maybe it's a combination of soft and hard surfaces, a rounded shapes and sharp corners squaring around. So these are just some style cues that you can help bring things together. This next one, This is a room of the client that we had to work around a lot of things. She was afraid to get rid of that. We ended up creating an interior that we really, really loved. But there were certain rooms in parts of the house that we were saying, Why did we not just get something different? But we did things. We did creative things to make him work. Like I took this retained bench and a spray painted it. Bright lacquer aren't so there are away used to make things work in your home by painting them or repurpose ing them and adding in vintage pieces or antiques with those new pieces, everything doesn't have to be knew. Everything doesn't have to be expensive, certainly. And then many of you like this room, but certainly thinking of offering that focal point a strong focal point in the space that What is it? Is that the mantle? Is it a piece of furniture? Is it those fabulous vintage green glass lamps? What is it? That's really the stunning piece that makes your room outside the box about that image with the drapes when they're pulled. Other drinks actually white with just the edge, or does that pattern repeat throughout? The pattern is just on the leading edge, and I love to do that a lot of times, and this is actually in Bordry. So have this amazing artisan that does beautiful its application embroidery. So I sent the silk to him and I sent a sample of the wall covering and we replicated the circle in the square motif. He cut it out of a contrast ing fabric and embroidered it onto the leading edge. That's really amazing work. It's handwork, and it's gorgeous. But thank you for asking that. Sorry, I'm rushing through some of these new trio. Um and then, um okay, let's see what else? So giving the eyes something unexpected? Look at this room. A lot of people have rooms that are like this, the whole all of the room, the the ceilings air angled because it's an upstairs and we have all these dormers. So as opposed to ignoring them, we actually embrace them and made them fund. The decals on the wall can come off later. That was just for a nursery, but I loved the technique. I saw this done in a hotel in New York City with the the accentuating the curves of the room. And that's where I'm saying you can be inspired by something This looks nothing like the room that had the the borders painted around it. But the concept of painting and accentuating giving a focal point with that border was something that I took away from a hotel that I loved. This is my table at a holiday, and there's all my vintage cake plates on the table. So thinking and remembering that you don't have tohave huge budgets to start introducing things that reflect to your personality. And I don't know about you all. But I love my collectibles more than I love most of the new things in my home. There's just something about them that have a place in my heart. I feel like they reflect me. It's kind of an indulgence. Their little treasures that are just, you know, speak to me only. And I mean, other people may like him, too. But there's something that I took the time to find, and some of them I bought on eBay, some of them about in flea markets. But I just love the hunt, and I love to create this collection so down. Forget it doesn't have to be big things that you do to bring in your personality. That could be small items, small vintage items really expressing yourself with accessories. Unique items. Try to avoid the filler. Ah, lot of people get to that point of accessorizing their house. They're like, OK, it's time to go down to the local store and fill the cart with all that stuff that needs to go on my tables and my shelves and everything. I hope youll really, really question yourself. The next time you're incurring, you think of doing that, that you have a an impulse to go out and buy things like that. And I want you to really start thinking, Are these things that I truly love? Or can I go to a flea market or cannot look in the attic and see what we have that weaken display? Because, you know, a few feel a few accessories like that, or find if you truly like them. But otherwise you're gonna have a lot of meaningless stuff that really doesn't make your home reflect your personality. It all people are going to come in and go. Oh, I have that same thing. I bought it at this store. I have that I bought it at this store. So if you're constantly hearing people come in and go, Oh, I have all of these things then you haven't really spent much time collecting things that are uniquely you. So again, that's just a guideline. It doesn't mean you can't buy things when you go in stores if you truly love them. But think about mixing and layering things in Don't necessarily go out and so canny to fill my entire bookcase this afternoon. So clean out the back of the car. We're gonna go load that baby up with a bunch of stuff and come home and put it all in the shells because that's really gonna be met more in line with that furniture showroom kind of idea and not a lot of your unique personality.