Rearrange that room and revive that space!featured
Ah, the art of the Rearrange
When it comes time to rearrange a room, people generally fall into two camps: The folks who eagerly shove couches and end tables willy nilly, and the ones who’d rather pretend the last two rearrangings never happened. (I’m the former! My husband is the latter! It’s adorable, really.)
But sometimes a rearrangement has to be done, whether to shake up the space or in order to fit an ill-measured buffet *cough*. Now, I realize that not everyone shares my downright adoration of finding new ways to Jenga a room, so here are some of my tried n’ true steps for a successful Room Rearrange.
Lookie loo: a ready-made pin, just perfect for Pinterest pinnin’!
Declutter the space
No, I’m serious. Declutter now, before you lose all your motivation or, like, pull a muscle. There are few things trickier than shoving a sofa diagonally across a room while traversing Art Supply Central or laundry leftovers. (I’m sure you don’t have this stuff on your floors, I’ve just…heard tell of such things.)
Figure out what the space is right now…
…And then determine what you’d like it to be. Do you need seating near direct sunlight? Are you using a coffee table as a home office when a well-placed desk would kinda suit your needs (a lot) better? Does everyone use that bookshelf as an entryway catch-all when there’s a PERFECTLY GOOD basket…all the way across the room? Rearrange, baby.
Do a walk-through test with each new placement
Walking from one of the room to the other, ask yourself these questions. “Am I bumping into furniture?” “Will I actually use the space in this manner?” “Does any aspect of this room make me angry/sad/tired?” (<—If so, hard reset.)
Feng Shui it up
Feng Shui is largely about energy and feelings. Even though this Irish/Armenian gal is no Asian Arts expert, I do excel at Feelings. And, lets be honest, you know when a room doesn’t “feel” right, don’t you? (And when a room doesn’t feel oh-so good and you kind of avoid being there or cleaning there, you know that as well…right? Right.)
This is a good article about the flow of chi in your home, starting with your front door. If water were to flow into your home via the front entrance, where would it lead? What would block its path?
And when in doubt, decorate liberally with mirrors and plants. At it’s hippy-dippiest, the addition of a mirror is expansive: reflecting light, energy, and space. And as for plants, they’ll add nature, softness, and a nice bit of air purification.
Remember: Nothing is permanent
Not even your sassy new room. Rearranging a room is one of the cheapest- and best- ways to revive a room and breathe new life into a space, but it’s a superbly low-risk project. Can’t stand the way that bookshelf looks over on that wall now? Move it again. No one is judging you. (Except maybe the cat.)
Today’s Speed Clean video stars my three children, who asked if I’d let them take the lead on a big ol’ rearrange of their playroom. I said sure, as long as they didn’t try to move the gigantic stuff themselves, and as long as they did a gigantic declutter in the process. (They said sure, and that’s why you’ll clearly notice times when they sit down to play/reorganize, and why certain corners get moved again and again and again.)
An added bonus!
Pulling everything out and away from where they’ve lived allows for a) a good cleaning for all of those formerly inaccessible surfaces, and b) physically touching and really looking at each item gives you the rare chance to ask yourself “Do I still need this?” “Do I still like this?” “Did I even know I still had this?” (There’s a sort of blindness which occurs after you’ve owned a thing or collection of things for awhile. If the answer is YES, I ADORE THIS/FIND THIS OVERWHELMINGLY USEFUL, then by all means hang that artwork in the place of honor/design a new color palette around those throw pillows/stack those books where you’ll see, love, and treasure them. But if your answer is an anemic “….Nahhh,” then free that item with nary a backwards glance (or late-night guilt session).
I’m a member of a neighborhood Facebook FreeBox group- which is incredible for many reasons- but one of the coolest aspects is the knowledge that I can post an item which I like (but never use) and, within seconds, folks will clamor to claim it as an item they’ll love (and will cheerfully use).
Isn’t that so cool?
Almost as cool as your new, breath-of-fresh-air digs.
Ahhh.
And now, a new #SpeedClean…
…Starring my extraordinarily energetic children. (Need a giggle? Check out the 35 second mark to see someone’s hilarious six year-old hijack the video entirely. Everyone’s a joker.)
Thoughts? Inspirations?
Comment below!
