Before my swap meet I had a pretty blue container that I loved that I just threw some greenery in. It looked…ok. The photo is an after photo, not before by the way.
I also had some wooden balls that I always thought were interesting. I purchased them but didn’t quite know how to incorporate them. After a year, I gave up and put them on the swap table at my swap meet.
While there, Lysa came up to me and told me that there were a few items on the table that she thought would look good in my house. Lo and behold, I couldn’t wait to see these hidden castoffs brought from someone else’s home that would look so great in mine. Poor people, giving away all their great stuff. I’ll show them how it’s done.
She brought over three of my own items that I was trying to swap. Two wooden balls and a pillow. And she placed them in my house and I loved them. I loved my own stuff–in a place that somehow didn’t think to put them.
Today’s assignment, the next time you have a friend over, ask her advice. Hand her something that you are struggling with where to put it and say “put this somewhere where it looks good”. And wait and see what happens. Maybe you don’t love it there, if not, you don’t need to leave it. But I have a feeling if you ask the right person about the right thing, you might get excited about your own stuff.
If you are really adventurous, clear out all of your accessories in a room and let her go to town. Or trade houses with a neighbor for an hour and each of you play designer in the other person’s home.
When I had to sell my house, I invited a designer friend of mine over to help me. Remember, I am a home stager myself, I didn’t need help did I? Yes, I did. Betsy did things to my walls that never even occurred to me. It was a stroke of genius on my part {I have to give myself a little credit} to have her come help me stage my home.
Sometimes, just by living around our stuff we don’t see all the possibilities. Find some fresh eyes and see what happens.