I recently had the opportunity to meet with a very sweet older woman at her home. She contacted me after hearing me talk about redesign on a local radio show that I was a guest on.
She said she liked what she heard because, after all, she LOVED her home, but wanted to make a few changes and redesign sounded like the way to go! I arrived at her home on a beautiful, sunny morning and she greeted me with a warm hello and a great big smile. She welcomed me into her home, I set my things down, and I asked her if she would kindly show me around. She proudly led me through each room of her home, and as she did so, told me that she had been living there for almost 30 years and hadn’t changed a thing during that entire time! Her home was neat, it was clean and it wasn’t burdened by too much stuff.
There wasn’t a moisture lot to work with, but she wanted a change. She wanted to freshen up what she had. Fast forward one hour! . . . A new furniture layout created a better conversation area, removing draperies allowed more light to come in the room, changing out accessories, arrangements and pillows provided just the “freshening up” she was looking for. As I left my new client that morning I couldn’t help but wonder . . .
Do we LOVE our homes because we still love every item in them? Can that be possible even after 30 years when things are often worn or out of style? . . . Or do we LOVE our homes, unloved items and all, because of the way our homes make us feel, even 30 years later? . . .