We've had one of those mornings where someone had cookies for breakfast before school, someone threw up on the couch and a box of Cheerios got dumped out all over the table. Oh, and someone discovered she left lil' smokies in the microwave all night--it's still blinking "end." That Tess D'Ubervilles on Masterpiece Theatre was so riveting last night.
Oh well, the slipcovers needed to be washed and we need to clean out the cupboards and fridge anyway.
Speaking of, I need to declutter. Any suggestions? I pretty much want to pick your brains and know your mindset about getting rid of things. Like, the endless flow of juvenile artwork. And schoolwork. And artwork. I simply cannot treasure it all.
And I did finish working on this.
Before:
After:
I was going to paint diamonds and copy Jennifer P., but started to get overwhelmed and realized I wouldn't know how to hang pictures over them, so I'll paint some elsewhere.The colors are Tobacco Road and Swiss Coffee. So, come get your faux caffeine and nicotine fixes here. Sorry, no real stuff. However if you really do need a fix, I do have an obliging neighbor who lately is into taking her smoking on the road--as in walking all over the neighborhood doing it as opposed to confining it to her backyard like she used to do. I'm not at all peeved.
One wall down, 31 to go. Yes, the whole house needs redoing, thank you children. Thank you Self for picking poor shades of paint the first time.
Now I need some second opinions on this wall.
Do I paint stripes or do it solid Tobacco Road? Is it too weird to have two stripe accent walls and two solid walls (one if which is broken up with three windows and the front door)?
I'm leaning toward stripes, but am not sure I want to go through all the effort again. However, it wasn't that bad and it was worth it the first time, so what do you think?
So, how should I declutter the most efficiently, like say, that DESK that the lamp is strategically covering, and to stripe or not to stripe?
16 comments:
Very cute...I think you should do the rest of the room TR.
Aubrey,
I agree- I think the striped wall is the perfect accent wall. Wow, that was quite a project!
You are asking the WRONG person about the juvenile artwork...my youngest is 16 and I still have boxes of their widdle pictures. Once they got to the worksheet stage, eh, throw it all out, but those little scribbles were worth keeping, just for me. BUT I read a great idea to take digital photos of kid's art before you toss it out. That shows the child you value their work, but you are then free to keep a few special pieces. I started a separate memento box for each child- silver cups, first shoes, special outfits, baby book, preschool projects, etc.
Congrats, you are doing a GREAT job!
I LOVE it! How about you do the rest of the room TR and in a few weeks/months if you hate it, tape it off and do a couple coats of the white to stripe it. But, if you are only gonna have one wall striped, you did the right one!
GREAT job!
Now I'm gonna stay here and listen to my lover David Cook.
Ok I love the stripes! Honestly I love it as an accent wall. I think it might be too much all the way around. It looks really good though! I want to do stripes again in Lukes room but it is a lot of work! I need to come to you for paint ideas, you are the painting queen!
Aub- You are blowing me out of the water here! I can't believe you did that by yourself! I am so impressed. It looks amazing to say the least. I agree with the others, you should let that wall stand alone! It deserves the attention! Nice work Lady! You going to come help me soon?
TAWANDA!
I say, just leave the one wall stripes. It gives it the attention that is deserved of it! (did that make sense? LOL!) I think more than one wall with stripes would be to over whelming. It looks amazing though! Way to go :o)
OK -- not that my opinion matters after the Nester...... BUT --- I think you should stripe the other wall too!!! I really like your paint choices - it lightened up your living room!
I love stripes as much as diamonds! And yes---it would be weird to have two. Paint the rest solid tobacco road. Put all your kids artwork on the fridge, take a picture, and toss it. Kids will only want one large rubbermaid tote full of childhood stuff to have to take on as they grow up (and not 56 boxes of books, toys, clothes, and everything else I got passed on to me by my MIL!). Desks cannot be decluttered very efficiently. Just use as many baskets as you can, and rotate decorative items in and out.
Now that will be $150 for my professional advice :)
You did awesome girl! I love it!
My sister told me once that the big artwork pieces her three kids bring home from school, that she doesn't or can't possibly keep, she takes a picture of them to put in their scrapbooks. Since I don't scrapbook "the right way", I take a picture and add it to the box of many to be put in a photo album..."the wrong way".
I love the stripes!!! I wish I were daring enough to do something bold like that.
It looks great!!!
Aubrey, it looks so great. I agree with the Nester. Wait, live with it, then decide. Mimi
Love the Stripes. I'd go with TR on the rest.
Where did you find your slipcovers for your couches at? Husband informed me no new couches until we move. So I guess I need to transform them.
Great job! I agree with most here. Do TR on the other walls. The best decluttering advice I have? Throw stuff away. If you haven't used it in 6 months, if it doesn't make you happy, get rid of it. Since I married a pack rat, I've had to learn to be the declutter (not a natural part of my nature) but I'm learning. Throw stuff away every day.
I'm also a big fan of flylady.com. I like her decluttering tips.
Nice stripes- do the darker color on the rest. It will be easier and beautiful.
Hey Aubrey :)
Leave just the one wall with stripes- it works well as an accent but would be too busy on any more then one wall.
I saw a nice idea for kid's artwork similar to LadybugLady's suggestion. Scan or take digital photos of their best work and then publish into a photo book. You can get them printed easily and cheaply through iPhoto, Flickr, Shutterfly, Lulu.com, and thrones of other sites. You can do it by year- just make a folder of art and at the end of the year send it to the printer.
erika
Ok, so you asked how to declutter most efficiently. I think one thing you can do to declutter that wall is to cut down on the number of frames you have up. Since there is a lot of furniture on that wall, and the picture frames are partially covered up by said furniture, I think it would give the whole wall a cleaner look if you cut down the number of frames by say half. It's like writing a statement of intent or a resume, the blank space (between lines, paragraphs, at the ends of sentences) is just as important as the written word in creating the overall feel of the project. Does that make sense?
~Keish
PS- love the stripes and the paint choice colors. I think I might be bold and go with stripes on that second wall as well.
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