Decorating Decisions Killing You Slowly? Here’s The One Thing You Need To Do…
You’re completely paralyzed. Like one of those wax figures in the museums. Motionless in your bedroom. Or maybe your dining room. Frozen in fear.
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Your internal dialog goes something like this, “Maybe I should choose the curtains first.” “But what about the floors?” “Those need to get refinished. UGH, that means I have to do the rest of the floors on this level of the house. Well, really the WHOLE house, because of the stairs.”
“And what about the paint color?” “Maybe I shouldn’t choose the paint until I get new artwork. I hate the artwork in here.” “Maybe I should go with coastal art? Something beachy?” “But if I do that, then I need all new furniture because this bedroom set doesn’t say “beachy,” to me.”
And so it goes, on and on.
The stress sets in. And with the stress comes the indecision. With the indecision comes dissatisfaction with your home. Then unhappiness. You end up feeling unhappy in the place that is supposed to be your refuge. You feel anxious in the place where you are supposed to feel most at peace.
Decorating seems like it should be easy, right? So you feel frustrated with yourself because it feels ANYTHING but easy. Give yourself a break. Or a Xanax. Or both.
Sources: dining table | chandelier | napkins | china | bar cart | curtain fabric | rug
It’s OK to feel overwhelmed by these decisions. Every one of us has been there, whether we want to admit it or not. But you CAN get unstuck.
“How?” you ask. How do you move forward when there are SO many decisions to be made, and they all seem to affect one another? This is the answer. Are you ready for it?
Pick ONE thing. Seriously, JUST ONE.
I mean it. None of the “but I can’t pick this without that,” excuses.
Sources: bar cart | curtain fabric | rug | napkins
You have to focus on SOMETHING. If you don’t, you’re focused on NOTHING. And that is getting you nowhere fast.
Your next question is probably this…”What ONE thing do I pick to start with when I have so many decisions to make?”
The real answer is honestly ANYTHING. But let me give you a bit more of a black and white answer to help steer this decorating ship a bit.
Great Starting Points For Decorating:
- rug
- curtains
- pillow(s)
- a key piece of furniture
- one work of art
The items above are great options for a starting point because a lot of other decisions depend on these items.
Any soft good for a room like a curtain or rug will introduce color, texture, pattern or all three. And when you know these things, it’s much easier to know what to buy or make next for your space.
I’ll use an example from my own home to illustrate.
In our dining room, we did a mini-makeover. We completed it in about 20 minutes. Know what the makeover consisted of? ONE THING. We changed the rug.
The rug that I’ve had in there for years had gotten pretty shabby. It looked dingy and was so worn it had a hole in one end and a couple of threadbare patches⤵️.
To see more of the original dining room makeover, click here
I loved that rug, for sure. It was spunky and colorful and brought a lot of life to the dining room.
But I was craving something different. And something that I felt could transition better from season to season.
And that’s exactly what this beautiful macrame rug from Serena & Lily does for the space.
Pssst…by the way, all Serena & Lily rugs are currently up to 30% OFF😃!
This new rug is neutral, but the pattern and texture make it gorgeous and anything but boring.
It’s wool, and really thick and plush. The quality is amazing.
Sources: macrame rug | dining table | alpaca throw | sideboard | mirror | chandelier | kitchen counter stool (can just see part of it in this shot)
To see more of the kitchen just out of sight in the picture above –> head to our $1000 budget kitchen makeover post here
With our old rug, I struggled to decorate in here in the fall and winter. It just wouldn’t tone down, if you know what I mean. It was always really sunny and peppy and summery.
Sources: dining table | alpaca throw blanket | rug | driftwood mirror |bar cart | sideboard | chandelier
But this rug will allow me to play with different color palettes throughout the year, which I’m really excited about.
And all of this from just ONE change. A rug.
Nothing else changed. And it still made a huge impact on the space.
So choose your ONE thing. That will jumpstart your momentum.
Here are all of the sources for our dining room look.
Simply click on a product to shop or learn more.
And then, before we wrap this mini-decorating talk up, let me try and encourage you in one more way about your decorating journey.
I think that many people really struggle with wanting EVERYTHING. DONE. NOW.
It’s hard to look around your home and see nothing but projects, blank walls or things you’d like to change. Believe me, I understand as we’ve always bought fixer-uppers.
Case in point, when we bought our house, the dining room looked like this⤵️:
The complete transformation of the image above ⤴️ to the image below ⤵️ took YEARS.
Yes, YEARS. Because in the real world, rooms don’t get put together overnight. It’s a process. A process that almost always takes a LOT longer than we’d like it to take.
And that’s what we have to be OK with. The process. You CANNOT pick all the things at the same time. You just can’t.
Sources: bar cart | yellow napkins | cow creamer | china pattern
So please, please do not try doing a makeover in your kitchen at the same time you’re trying to fix up your master bedroom. You will drive yourself to drink. So…
Take a deep breath, and accept that change in your home will take TIME.
Probably a lot more time than you’d like.
This is why the HGTV network is killing us all slowly. They make it look like someone goes away for a weekend and comes back and their house is totally transformed.
And you know what? Those shows are a complete lie. MONTHS of planning goes into a “one-weekend” makeover. For real. But don’t get me started on how obnoxious those shows are. We’ll save that chat for another day.
So just find your ONE thing. And start there. Don’t get bogged down by the path that lies ahead. Just pick a rug. Or a piece of art…
And then rejoice in your decision, and enjoy it for a while before you make another decision. If you tackle projects like this, you’ll LOVE how they turn out…and save yourself a lot of useless stress and turmoil during the process. Pinky swear.
Pin this post for later! And if you make one, leave a comment (or better yet, a photo) on the pin! That helps others know whether they want to try this project, too!
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Kim says
I couldn’t agree more on that tip and while that houndstooth rug was a personal favorite, this one looks amazing!!!! Love it
Heather says
I loved it, too! It was very bright and cheery! But it was looking a bit more sad and glum the past year or so. All good things must come to an end I suppose 😉 Thanks Kim!
Christiane says
Lovely home. Thanks for sharing !