Is it the Mayan Calendar or the ending of one year and start of another? All I know is that change is all around.

Lately, almost all of my clients are rethinking their interiors to make way for a new phase of life.  It could be that most of my clients are of that ‘ahem’ certain age when the kids are grown up and gone and they are left with a quieter house.  It seems like they have a common thread of change: kid’s bedrooms are rethought to accommodate the occasional guest or two, living rooms are reconfigured to be a bit more glamorous for cocktail party entertaining, and rooms are repurposed to suit more lone pursuits such as reading or working in a home office.

Many of my clients in this phase seem to no longer have patience for clutter and disorganization that they may not have even noticed when the kids were around.  There is also a yearning for a simpler interior design plan. I knew I was making progress with one couple when the husband started to declutter his own bookshelves in a room we were turning into his home office/library without his wife and I asking him to.  Once you start the process of removing excess and putting thought into the way spaces are used, the house and everyone in it seems to breath easier.  It really is quite magical. 

The best way to get started is to walk around your house with the eye of a visitor.  Don’t think of the spaces in the way they are used now but try to see their hidden potential.  Next is to really see your belongings for what they are and try to briefly remove the sentimental attachment.  Ask yourself, “If that end table from Aunt so and so was in a consignment shop, would I have bought it?”  This is a very enlightening exercise.

Don’t be afraid to simplify by getting rid of things that you don’t use.  Picture yourself walking around your organized, tidy house where each object or furnishing makes you smile. A well thought out house is a tonic from a complicated world.

My husband and I have recently rethought and simplified our world. I have relocated my Design Studio to our Barn/Workshop on Route 30 in Dorset after much soul searching about ways to simplify our lives.  We will be amicably sharing the upper floor our our workshop to provide our clients with even more decorating options.  I am hoping to have more time now for gardening and day dreaming, which are both important things to do when you design for a living.  Inspiration is always needed.

I wish you luck with rethinking and simplifying your world!