Adding A Little Life

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adding life.jpg

It is always an exciting time at Revealing Redesign when we are preparing to have our finished rooms professionally photographed--as we just did a short time ago...

As I do the last minute preparations for the Big Day, I am reminded of how important life is in a room. By life, I mean plants, fruit, flowers...things alive and green and leafy. Almost everything on my 'to do' list the week before is something along the lines of "buy flowers for blue vase," or "get branches for urn," since a room never feels finished to me without a little bit of Mother Nature's help. 

Many clients over the years have given me pushback when I suggest buying plants for a space. Real plants and cut flowers--not fake ones.  :) Thankfully, I have used my persuasive ways to convince them to try rounding out their rooms with some indoor gardening (why not? less than $20 for a plant is not a huge investment), and I have experienced time and again their delight and surprise at what it has added to their spaces. 

SO, whether or not you have a green thumb, take a small risk and incorporate a living thing or two into your spaces.  I know it will help your rooms come alive and nurture your soul with natural beauty. :)

It can take a little while...and that's ok.

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Yep. That was the wall above the little sofa in my sitting room here in my house. 

The blank wall. 

What was sometimes known as the blankety-blank wall.

The room had been finished for months. Well, mostly finished, except for whatever was meant to be hanging over that damn loveseat. 

For the holidays there was a lovely fresh wreath there that made my heart sing.  Everything I tried hanging on that lonely, empty nail after that beautiful evergreen thing faded and browned...well, not so much. 

You know, sometimes when putting a room together things can take a little while and this. is. okay. Rooms are built over time, after all, and I have learned that when an element in a space (or in my life, for that matter) isn't falling into place the way I would like it to, I just have to have faith and wait.

As frustrating and boring as sitting around may seem, most often I find in these situations something really great--a creative idea, an ingenious solution, an "oh WOW" element-- is waiting to be born...and it just isn't time yet. 

Rooms and houses that really say something about their inhabitants, and the ones that truly nurture the people that live there, rarely happen all at once or on a strictly imposed schedule. Spaces that are forced into being finished can look more like contrived furniture store vignettes, and nothing at all like a home that is alive with soul and personality. 

So, if something doesn't feel right in your house--you aren't sure how to proceed & nothing seems to be clicking into place right now--just wait a tick. Something amazing is sure to be around the next corner, a complete "YES!" that was totally worth waiting for.