Room Redo

There are a few mistakes I see my clients make over and over. A quick review and a few tips will help you avoid these issues in your rooms. Here are the first three most common mistakes:

Over furnishing a room – This is by far the most common mistake. People buy furniture too large or use way too many things. This makes even a large space seem crowded and small. Purchase the right size furniture and don’t over crowd it. Multi-functional furnishings will reduce the number of pieces needed.

Buried in Clutter and disorganization - If you organize your day-to-day clutter and eliminate stuff you seldom or never use, you will have more free space. Purge unwanted items. Make room to display your collections and provide storage for things you want to keep.

Not Paying Attention to Quantity versus Quality - Buy only what you love and avoid cheap knickknacks and art. Buy the best art, furniture and accessories you can afford. The quality of good items will last and may hold resale value if you choose to eliminate them later. Cheap stuff is always cheap and will become throw away items. I always prefer my clients to buy less but buy better.

The New Year is a time for making resolutions to transform your life. A self-reflection analysis can help you see how to enhance each of the nine areas of your life. This can improve your emotional, mental and spiritual status for living in harmony and balance. This week we will finish this evaluation by concentrating on the final five areas: unity, helpful friends, creativity, wisdom and illumination.

Unity: Good health is your real wealth. Examine your input in terms of what you eat, drink and breathe. Make a resolution to incorporate healthy eating, moderate drinking, no smoking and regular exercise into your life style.

Helpful Friends: Resolve to be a helpful friend. This is another area of your life in which you will gain more than you give if you try to be a good friend.

Creativity: Be more creative in everything you do, no matter what you enjoy doing. Love your children. They are your creations. ‘Every artist was once an amateur.’

Wisdom: Contemplation improves the understanding of yourself and provides you with stillness of mind. Introduce a practice of brief meditation in your daily routine. “He who looks outside dreams, who looks inside awakes.”

Illumination: Be illuminated to become a beacon for others and enhance your feeling of being rewarded in life. Learn to be a light and warmth for everyone around you. Knowledge does not pay. It is what you do with the knowledge that counts.

If you are ready to start the New Year off with home improvement ideas in mind, join the club! The winter months are a great time to plan and even start some of the projects on your list. With colder weather, you can stay in and do your planning. Many contractors are slow at this time of year so you can easily get bids and start work.

Use these tips to help with your planning:

Assess your home: Determine the current state of your home and what ideas you want to implement. Walk through your home and determine what are must-haves and what are wish items.

Seek out inspiration: From magazines to color swatches from your favorite paint store, gather sources of inspiration ideas.

Know your budget: After the holidays, if money is tight, plan your project and budget in advance of doing the work so you will experience less stress regarding the financial side.

Seek out the proper permits: If you are doing a home improvement project which requires electricity, plumbing, structural or other trades that may involve permits, research these out in advance. Using the right professional will help take care of these issues.

Be flexible: Even though you may be super excited to get it all done right away, most things take longer than you think. Try to be flexible with your planning and factor in extra buffer time and money for your own sanity.

Use safety precautions: Every home improvement project involves a level of safety. Follow instructions on power tools, and seek out tutorials or advice from tool rental store associates for help, before you start your project.

Have a good time: Even though there is a serious side to home improvement, it should also be fun and rewarding. If you aren’t going to enjoy your hard work and effort, hire a professional and leave the hard work to them.

The New Year is a time for making resolutions to transform your life. A self-reflection analysis can help you see how to enhance each of the nine areas of your life. This can improve your emotional, mental and spiritual status for living in harmony and balance. This week we will concentrate on the first four areas: journey, relationships, elders and blessings.

1. Journey: Set goals. Visualize your next step. Constantly look forward to something better in life. Choose to do what you can do well and do well with whatever you do. “Every job is a self portrait of the person who did it. Autograph your work with excellence.”

2. Relationships: Make a resolution to be compassionate and loving towards everyone. This helps you gain love, respect and admiration from others. “Give the best you have and the best will come back to you.”

3. Elders: Always respect your elders. Their blessings and experience play a significant role in clearing the obstacles from your future. Your children normally grow up to mirror the love and affection you have given to your parents. “As you sow, so you reap.”

4. Fortunate Blessings: Think big. Aim high and remove limiting barriers to your capacity of getting what you want in life. Life responds to your outlook and showers fortunate blessings accordingly. “Future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.”