I am sure you know the welcoming feeling you get when walking into your home after being out and about all day or coming home from a vacation. Your carefully edited and chosen “stuff” aka… decor/furnishings greets you with a warm embrace.
I have lived in and decorated 5 homes over 40 years. Each house was completely different.
What I found out over this time was that the most important thing when decorating these homes was to make sure they served the needs and individuality of all who were living in the house. As we all know kids grow and move out, we get older, our needs change, and often our tastes and what we like does also.
To keep our homes just right for the way we live in the present and to make sure we are always greeted with a warm hug when we enter a room, we should take the time to access what is working in your home as well as what isn’t and not be afraid to edit or remove what isn’t working anymore.
“Most of us add things to our house, but rarely do we take the time to purposely remove stuff from a room when it no longer serves us.” – Myquillen Smith
A few years ago I decided to remove the coffee table in my living room. I should have done it sooner as it wasn’t serving us anymore, it just got in the way.
I know the reason I kept it was that a coffee table is considered a staple in the decor world and a living room should have one. Silly I know, but that was what went through my mind at the time.
Not only that, but I also found that I no longer liked the “overly styled table look” that is so popular in decor magazines and blogs.
To my eye, the table started to look cluttered with needless stuff… the stacks of coffee table books and small accessories that didn’t vibe with the white, natural, airy and more casual decor I wanted in the room so it would blend more seamlessly with the view and colors out the sliding glass doors in the room.
Every item in our homes should be an asset, it should feel good and serve you and your family’s needs. If you no longer like an item, it no longer has a purpose, or you are just plain tired of it, then don’t hesitate removing it from the room. You may be surprised to find with it gone that the room takes on a whole new energy.
Tip:
If you are hesitant to remove an item from a room, then consider using the item in another room or come up with a new use for it until you are confident it is no longer needed.
Removing the coffee table made the room look so much larger, opened up the area in front of the sofa and left plenty of room to keep one of my square slipcovered ottomans.
I wrote a post all about how ottomans are the most versatile piece of furniture. you can have in a living or family room since they can function in 3 different ways:
- You can put your feet up on it – cushioned comfort that a coffee table never gave us.
- When needed, an ottoman can be used for extra and low movable seating that doesn’t visually block other furnishings in the room.
- A surface for a decorative tray to hold beverages.
Adding Texture & Balance
Since removing the coffee table and keeping an ottoman, I had placed a wood tray that I had on it. The style of the tray looked fine and I have been happy with it until I came upon this round rattan tray at HomeGoods a few weeks ago.
I wasn’t looking for a new tray as I have quite a few trays and use them in many different ways, but when I saw this one on the store shelf I knew immediately I found just the right style and shape tray to go on the ottoman in my living room.
I like that the tray has an airy, casual feel, but what makes it look perfect in the room is the color and texture.
The mix of a round and textured item on a smooth and square surface not only creates interest in the room.
It also brings the color and texture that acts as a visual balance for the two basket tables I have in the room. This large round basket table in a corner of the room.
The color also goes with the wood side table on the other side of the sofa that creates an eye-pleasing color balance.
Removing something that no longer fills your needs can make a room come alive for you again and at little to no expense in the process.
So the moral of this decorating story is if you find an item(s) in your home that are no longer serving a purpose or feels off in some way to you, then remove it for a few days and see how it makes the room look and feel. You may just love it.
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Source: Decorating - inmyownstyle.com
