My creative daughter and I had a great conversation this week about how important it is to live current—to create an environment that reflects the BEST of who we are, even in our home-décor. So, I’m going to share a few things that will help you to achieve this goal:
First:
Walk through your home with pen and paper in hand.Access how long you’ve had the same style.Yes, admit how many years you’ve had the same piles.
And, while you do that, also include a bullet-pointed-list that reads something like the one below:
Window treatments: 20 years Wallpaper: 200 years Paint color: 5 years Furniture: 3 years Accessories: Have owned these too many years to count! The piles, boxes, and bags? How long have they been here?
This exercise is not intended to create a spirit of discontentment. (How easy it would be for that to happen). This is intended to help us live current. But, I want to encourage you to do this exercise only if you are dissatisfied with your home appearance. If you are perfectly content with the environment in which you live, I surely don’t wish to cause misery. There is beauty in contentment.
Nor do I wish for you to go into debt. The kind of current living I am speaking of is to help guide you in looking forward, to freshen-up or rearrange, and then purchase new things only as a last resort and only as you can afford to do so. Even one newly purchased inexpensive piece can help.
In the picture, notice how a simple, inexpensive fur-throw transformed my sofa from tired to fresh and current.
The younger generation can teach us if we are willing to listen to their opinions and blend them with our own personal tastes. I’m thankful for my creative daughter who gave me this idea—I love how it warmed up the room, how it makes me want to snuggle in, relax, read, and rest. That was a small price to pay for a new happy place.
Friend, be intentional about creating your happy place—a place where the best version of beautiful you springs forth. You deserve it!
For example, if I’m not fully settled on my office décor, how can I be the best version of me? This might sound silly to some of you. But I’m the kind of person who needs a sense of flow in my surroundings. Because I am bi-vocational—spending lots of time in my home-office—I need a space that feels fresh and current. A place that opens the way to productivity in writing articles, books, and following up with decorating clients. My office needs to be a place that invites creativity instead of blocking it. I need to cultivate peacefulness and clear-mindedness.
What about you?
Perhaps, none of this is important to you. If not, YAY! I’m thrilled for you! But, if you deeply desire to cultivate beautiful, external surroundings so your best internal self can soar, then please keep reading.
Sometimes, we need help in finding direction, in devising a plan. Sometimes, we need to call in the calvary, lower our pride, and ask for help.
I asked for help. The calvary came—my youngest son. He helped me remove the looming tower of Christmas décor blocking my current living. (After all, how in the world will we ever be able to create the look we desire if we continue to live in junked-up, undone spaces?)
Below, you will find a list of steps to reinvent each room, while honoring our sentimental, “got to keep every, little, thing” selves.
Ask Yourself:
Do I feel drained by this environment or do I feel energized?
What are my favorite items in this particular room? (Move aside anything that falls short of favorite.)
What colors make me feel most alive? (Paint is an inexpensive, powerful change to make toward current living.)
How does my current room arrangement make me feel? (It costs nothing to rearrange what you have. Exciting, huh?)
What can I move to make a bigger difference?
What room in my house drives me crazy? Kitchen? Family room? Dining room?
Think about creating an environment in each room, that ushers in:
Rest
Peace
Calm
Serenity
In my experience, most people use their bedroom as their catch-all zone where every random box, magazine, and piece of misplaced furniture gets dumped. The door gets closed, no one ever sees, right? But, it is seen—by you! Friend, how can we find true rest when we have to kick our way through the bedroom to get to the bed?
It’s time to:
Re-assess.
Re-evaluate.
Re-do.
And keep our lives and our homes current. We are the most important house guests. Aren’t we worth it?
My decorating instructor years ago echoed the words of my daughter, “Stay current, decorate your home by re-evaluating what’s happening now, and live in the here and now while remembering and honoring the past.”
I’m still working on that today. My sentimental self struggles to let go. Everything has a memory, but I’m learning to take a picture of the sentimental things that are a challenge when it comes to turning loose. And, I’m finding new freedom in how these pictures allow me to treasure the sweetest of memories—without collecting outdated clutter.
So let’s go! Clear the clutter, clear the mind, and start fresh, today.
If you need help, call a creative friend or family member. Scroll through Pinterest for new ideas. Or you can even contact me for a Facetime decorating consultation.
Whatever you do, live current, live thankful, live content—with all you’ve been given by our good, good, Father.
By: LaTan Roland Murphy is a writer, speaker, and teacher who also has a decorating business – Interior Elegance by LaTan. LaTan loves encouraging families to be thankful for what they have and helping them use what they have to create beautiful things. Visit LaTan at http://latanmurphy.com.
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