Tips for Downsizing or Clearing a Home

Don't Surprise Your Heirs With This!

Recently an elderly lady in our neighborhood passed away. She had lived in her home for over 30 years and the task of clearing our her possessions has been a huge and daunting task for family and friends left behind. Today I found this article in our local newspaper.

"Whether you are downsizing your own house or clearing the family home, these tips from Julie Hall, author of "Boomer Burden:Dealing with your Parents' Lifetime Accumulation of Stuff, " may help.

• Don't Panic: Anxiety will subside as you take stock, call on others to help, and bring in an appraiser or estate sales agent to evaluate what should be sold.
• Divide Heirlooms: Encourage your parents to divide beloved heirlooms and sentimental keepsakes now. At the very least parents should write down who should get what. Then hold a sibling only meeting to discuss the division of property ahead.
• Clear the House: If you are doing this yourself, designate one room for donations, another for things to keep and a third for sale. The average job requires 30 to 50 cardboard boxes, six rolls of packing tape, and at least 100 large plastic bags and markers for labeling. If possible, work in pairs so one can pull objects and the other can run them to the appropriate room. Take time to share important memories.
• Check for Treasures: As you go, search nooks and crannies for jewelry and cash that may have been hidden beneath floorboards, in rafters, the icebox, sugar canister and inside rolled up socks. Some people hide money in books, or inside picture frames, between the picture and the paper backing. (If you do not hide money and other valuables around your house, tell your heirs in advance of your departure.) This will save them endless hours of searching in vain.
  
• Recycle: If it is plastic or paper recycle it, but shred old checks and financial papers first. Some commercial shredding companies make house calls. Books can be donated to libraries. Send clothes to homeless shelters or other charities.
  
• Spare Your Heirs: Get your affairs in order, organize your paperwork, and declutter your own house. In 1974 the average house measured 1695 square feet, today it is 2500 sqare feet and apparently that is still not big enough. Self-storage facilities have become a $22 billion business."

Thinking about these things as we proceed in our lives is a good idea. I have helped prepare several homes of people in their 80's for sale. It is an horrendous job if they wait until it is time to move to declutter and get organized. One of the nicest things you can leave your children is an organized decluttered home! When they have their grief to deal with they don't need this added burden of weeks of clearing out the house as well.

This Old House

By My Calculations Our House is About 90 Years Old!

That is OLD by anybody's standards!

Living in an old house has definite advantages. The character and charm cannot be duplicated in a new home very easily. You cannot pay for the mature landscaping and the memories of raising our family here are priceless. There are also disadvantages; smaller, less functional rooms and closets, the repairing, replacing, remodeling can be costly and a big hassle too. But I guess you have that in most houses to some degree.

One of the things we have done is tired to keep the house as true to the era as we could without sacrificing comfort and conveniences. What that translates to is getting what you can for cheap, fixing it up and taking care of it in case it needs to last a life time!

Even though my tastes have changed a lot over the years and if I could just go out and buy all new furniture it would be totally different~ for this time and place in our lives the furniture is just fine. What I do try to do is keep it updated with fun accessories, art, etc. What that translates to is sometimes what you have determines your style more that what you love best. I am OK with that, are you?

Happiness is wanting what you have, not having what you want.

Sometimes I trade when I work on someone's house for either services or like last week, I traded my friend, Barbara, for some furniture. I got the fun of helping her pick out all her new furniture (vicarious thrills for free) and at the same time was able to enhance our home with something from hers. We are so happy to have this table because it holds lots of wonderful memories of our family and theirs getting together for dinners through the years.

I got to receive and arrange the new furniture for Barb and decorate her home while she was busy working this past week. It was so much fun and, ladies, this is the only way to fly. By coordinating all the things she loves in her living room, dining room and family room we were able to make one great room out of her L- shaped open floor plan. I will have pictures after we finish everything probably after the first of the year as we need to do window treatments and she is getting her flat screen mounted above her fireplace, etc.

Barb purchased a new gorgeous dining table and hutch. Very Pottery Barn looking and, to die for, I must add. Her old one needed a new home and so it has come to live with us. We are quite happy with it and it looks like it belongs with all our other outdated, but beloved oak furniture. Although the mighty oak has lost face in the market place, our saving grace has always been that our house is a cottage. Something very contemporary and modern would not fit in our setting. Our next house is going to be bigger, newer and a total turn key but, for now we are very cozy here.

So here is our new table and chairs.

It is pretty amazing how it matches our china cabinet,
hutch and small, lighted curio cabinet. With a leaf it can seat 10.

Looking into the library and office

And then we have the beautiful original random
plank oak floors with the wooden pegs.

As you can see this room is very "Oaky" which is one of the reasons we decided to custom paint it with three shades of green and lots of glossy white trim. With all the wood a traditional neutral would not work here. What I want to buy next is a really nice area rug for this dining room. Unless of course you want to make a trade. I am always open to that if you have one that is just right for this room? I am looking for one that will add color, pattern and softness to all the hard surfaces in this room. Fabric usually does the trick. I love that the table is round as that really helps to soften it out quite a bit already. Next big job I get..hopefully you'll be seeing the new area rug! That is unless something else needs to be repaired, replaced or remodeled first in this old house we call home. Fingers crossed~ it is all good.... for the moment.

My Favoirite Sport? Shopping!

I posted this on my personal blog today but wanted to put it on this blog too. (If any of you want to know how to get to that blog just let me know. It is mostly about family and my random thoughts on just about everything.) Most of you that are into home design also love a good shopping spree. I hope you enjoy it vicariously! It was such a beautiful day in California!

Today a few friends and I got away for a wonderful girl's day out. Few things are as rejuvenating to me as just getting together with girl friends and laughing and talking and shopping and dining out for lunch. My friend, Lanette, ran into a blog she enjoys written by this woman who participated in this fantastic Vintage Boutique. So we decided to check it out. So it was truly a Bloggers' Serendipity! It was a gorgeous fall day over there and the temperature got near 70 degrees mid-day but it was still crispy, especially in the early morning. We drove about an hour or so to Petaluma, a quaint little down north of San Francisco.

The View From the Car Window Going Over~
Such a Big Beautiful Sky & The Greenest Green Pastures!

Street in Petaluma

Beautiful Red Trees

The Church Where the Vintage Boutique Was Held

I hadn't been to a boutique in years and let me tell you they have changed. It was lovely and the artisans were very good. Not a single knitted anything in the place. No toilet paper covers or little dresses for your dishwashing soap like in the old days. Everything was beautiful and fresh and creative. I really enjoyed that!

We Stayed in this Boutique Forever and
Came Out with Some Serious Loot!
Check Out Norma's Crown!
(which she wore all day causing quite a stir!)

Bon, Lanette, Norma, Kelly!

While My Friends Checked Out The Quilted Angel
I took Photos Since I Am Not A Quilter.
I Love This Photo Sans The Car!
It Was Such a Pretty Building
The Red Leaves Clinging Like A Vine!

My Serious Loot~Great Victoria Vintage Ornaments

And This Great Necklace That I Couldn't Take a Decent
Photo of but is So Awesome. It is Black and Silver and Full of Gems.
The Lady that Made it Took a Bunch of Old Jewelry
and Piled it on to Make this very 3-D Interesting and Pretty Piece.
I Love the Watch Works and the Dragonfly.

These Ornaments Were Also Made with Vintage Jewels ~Just Love It.

It Was Such A Glittery, Special Day!

Selecting Your Focal Point in Design

We often hear that every room should have at least one focal point. Exactly what is a focal point you may be asking? A focal point in a room is a place that naturally draws your eye to it. It is the place in the room that creates the most interest and where you can make your talents shine.

Sometimes the focal point is an architectural feature like a beautiful bay window overlooking your garden or a lovely or commanding fireplace. The true nemesis for most decorators and designers is that it is often the TV. Ugh! Some rooms have more than one focal point. The first room below is an example of that.

You have a fireplace, a big window and a TV. In this room the sofa is facing the TV but there are also views of the fireplace from the sofa and other chairs are placed to also enjoy the outside. The more focal points the more fun you can have making it all come alive. 3 is probably the limit though as more than that and your eyes are just confused.

In this room it is the TV area that ranks first, fireplace and then the outside. Form needs to follow function. What that means is what you do in the room is just as important or more so that the aesthetics. The trick is mastering both.

This was one of the most challenging rooms I have ever done. It is a long and narrow room and the fireplace is placed in an odd place. Not centered but at the end of the room. Logistically the TV had to be the focal point because if I used the fireplace all the furniture would have been at the end of the room and very unbalanced. Why do builders do things like that? Arrgh! I remember my frustration and that Laura did about five other rooms while I struggled with this puzzle.

This room is in one of my most favorite houses of all times. Staging this house for sale was amazing. This house was eye candy at every turn and sold the first day on the market. One of the many things that I love about this room is no TV and thoughtful architecture. That made placement of the furnishing so easy and created a very welcoming home.

If you are decorating a room with none of these possibilities then you need to create a focal point. As an example you can choose a beautiful piece of art, a beautiful mirror with a table or buffet beneath it and a pretty floral arrangement. A focal point is eye candy. It should automatically pull the eye there.

Entryway Focal Point

This kitchen area has the most beautiful garden outside the window which is the focal point but you also have to make it look great on the inside. I could have moved right into this house.

Other things that can serve as focal points are what are called "case goods" in the industry. They would include large pieces of furniture like a grand piano, an armoire, buffet, etc. In a bedroom the focal point is almost always the bed.



The thing that cannot be a focal point is an upholstered piece like a sofa or chair. Why? Because they disappear when you sit on them. Makes sense, right? This room's most outstanding feature was the pair of antique overstuffed tiny sofas. This small room had no focal point other than the window looking out to the street. That wasn't too interesting so the room is designed with the two little sofas facing each other with exceptional art above each as the focal points of the room. It is so cozy and comforting.

This was a fun room to decorate. Here the window and armoire are the focal points because the TV is in the armoire. It was fun to come up with something that made this room a little different by placing the drop leaf table behind the sofa.



When arranging your furniture in the room~follow this simple rule for best results. Choose or create a focal point and then address your focal point with your largest piece of upholstered furniture. You can be creative and do your own thing of course, but if you neglect these two things your room will always feel a little off. Have fun creating your own little world at home! It is a great place to be and the stage upon which you live your life! Enjoy it!

Writing this post renewed my excitement all over again in having the profession of my dreams. I am excited to leave my keyboard now and go to work on another beautiful home today! See ya later

HGTV Remodeling Your Kitchen

In case you are about the do a kitchen remodel and missed this great article on HGTV.com I wanted to share it here. Lisa has some fantastic ideas for organizing your project.

As host of our online-exclusive guide Getting Started: 10 Steps to a New Kitchen, interior designer Lise Simms knows kitchens are all about the people who use them. "Our homes are our jumping off point for everything we do in life, and when you walk in the door you should be inspired, comforted and renewed!" she says. Simms' recent design clients include the Los Angeles offices of ACME Talent and Literary, a 1937 Spanish estate also in Los Angeles and a three-story mountain retreat in Vail, Colo. Her home has been featured in Woman's Day magazine as well.

Find Inspiration for
Your New Kitchen
Watch Video
Read Article

Plan Your Total
Remodel Budget
Watch Video
Read Article

Locate, Hire and
Manage a Contractor
Watch Video
Read Article

Determine Your
Kitchen Layout
Watch Video
Read Article

Choose the Right
Flooring Material
Watch Video
Read Article

Decide Whether to
Replace or Reface
Your Cabinets
Watch Video
Read Article

Buy Appliances That
Match Your Needs
Watch Video
Read Article

Pick a Countertop
Surface That Fits
Your Lifestyle
Watch Video
Read Article

Select Faucets and
Sinks With Style
and Utility
Watch Video
Read Article

Complete Your New
Kitchen With Proper
Lighting

Watch Video
Read Article