area rugs

I have a friend who, once a year or so, paints a room.  She doesn’t necessarily paint the whole room: sometimes it’s just a wall, coloring it turquoise one year, canary yellow the next.  She’s lived 25 years in the same small apartment, but every time she does this, it creates an entirely new mood for the space.  (And often the physical and creative energies involved in doing the work can create an entirely new, wonderful mood for her, as well!)  It’s a small thing, just one wall. But it can have a tremendous impact.

Another friend had an antique washstand in her bathroom, and had spent years searching for the right basin to use for a sink.  One night, while making dinner, an old wooden fruit bowl on her kitchen table suddenly caught her attention.   Inspired, she dumped out the fruit, drilled a hole in the bottom, placed the fittings, and with a bit of help from a plumber, the perfect sink was born.

Decorating doesn’t have to be a full-time project. It doesn’t have to be a sprint – or a marathon. And it certainly doesn’t have to involve a lot of expensive shopping, mixing, matching, comparing, and angst. Let it be fun. Be creative. Use things in a way that they were never intended to be used. When I was growing up, a friend’s parents owned an heirloom Turkish carpet way too large to fit any of the rooms of their apartment – so they hung it from the top of one wall and let it flow down to  cover the entire floor of their dining room.   The effect was breathtaking.

Let your imagination move you. Make it a part of your life.