My husband and I are newlyweds. Very newlyweds. We just got married June 3, and I magically transformed from being a college student living in a one-room furnished apartment, to being a wife, who also happens to work full time.
Let me define the word wife for those of you who may not fully grasp what I said:
Coordinator of Household Cleanliness (yes, I am blessed with a husband who will scrub toilets, but need I say that he doesn't have an inborn instinct to know when it needs to be done?)
Head Chef, who can make a meal out of whatever is left in the pantry. As before, my dear husband will help with shopping and cooking, but if he were in charge we would eat baked beans and tortilla chips again!
Financial Advisor, who watches the calendar and the bills like a hawk.
Life Administrator, without whom we would have something scheduled every minute of everyday of every week, and possibly three things at the same time.
And....
The Interior Decorator, from buying to placing the perfect furniture.
Now, it is important for you to know that I am not complaining. I appreciate everything my husband, Ron, does, and I understand that he does more than many other husbands. The point is, I have never kept up a 3 bedroom, 2 bath house before, and have to learn. I did not go to culinary school (though something in me tells me it wouldn't help...). I did not graduate with a B.S. in Finance, nor in Business Administration. In fact, I think my Linguistics degree is about as far away from that as you can get! I am on a learning curve. I know it takes time, and time I will give it, but in the meantime, I shall share the small amount I have learned so far...Interior Decorating.
First, I must give you a little background on this. Basically, we rented a U-Haul and my husband's family let go of some family heirlooms, mixed it with some precious items from my family, and voila! We had a home. Well, as much as a home as if you cut pictures out of home magazines, put them in a plastic bag, shook it, and then pasted the pictures on paper as they came out. The colors didn't match and the styles didn't match, but there were seats to sit on and bookshelves to put books on.
Lesson 1: (From the Living Room) Find a "must have" piece and work around it.
In our case, my grandmother gave me her best coffee table and end tables. She got them in the 50's, and they set in her formal living room (at the house on the farm) for 50 years. The pieces are beautiful, just not the contemporary feel that we thought we were going to have. In my mind, they were a must have. For grandma to keep them impeccable through the years, it meant enough to me to keep them in the family, and I was the only one that had a place to use them. In this case, it caused me to set aside my dream of a sleek contemporary home for a more "comfy" appearance. Once I cleared my mental image of my dream livingroom (which probably would not have matched my husband's anyway), it was much easier arrange furniture. Granted, we had to make a few aesthetic compromises in order to fit the recliner in, but Ron wanted it in front of the T.V. for some reason or another. (I can’t imagine why!)
Lesson 2: (From the Dining Room) Beautiful furniture should draw the eye.
Ron's parents gave us their old dining room table, which they used while he was growing up. It is beautiful and sturdy, we were not going to say no. Our "dining area" seems to be designed for a 4 foot table, and this is quite a bit larger (closer to 6.5 feet long without the leaves). Needless to say, it is big for the space. So how do you balance such a large (and dark) piece? Let it draw the eye. We've placed some candles on it with a bright accent. A nice flower arrangement is also a nice way. For us, the table is the focal, but you don't want to neglect the rest of the room. The challenge for us is finding space. We have no floor space to put in a china hutch or the like. One idea is to find a small bookcase, but even that takes up square feet. A simple solution is a couple of shelves that match the table. You don't want anything long, just big enough to accent, and provide a place to add color. The other problem we have is what to do with the three 2 foot wide leaves from the table, which brings us to the next room…
Lesson 3: (from the bedroom) Sometimes you need a new eye for common pieces.
We have a beautiful dresser from Ron’s parents, and a mattress that we were given from linen store that closed. We bought a cheap metal bed frame. Now, remember that beautiful, wood dining room table, and the huge leaves that are hard to store. I could place them under the bed, but it would take away that valuable storage from anything else as well. So what did I decide to do with them? We needed a headboard. I threw a table cloth over them to protect them and place them behind the bed. And the best part? I could leave a section open so we can easily get to the electric socket!
With the expensive things covered, we could take our hard earned money to the furniture store and pick up some accent pieces that fit the style of each room of our home. Just because a piece isn't what you've dreamed doesn't mean it is useless, and just because everybody else stores an item away doesn't mean you have to. Take a step back from your furniture and stop looking at what the accepted function is, and look at the dimensions and see if it matches something you need!
Dawn works for a website design company and is currently working on a project for a Waco furniture store.
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