Simplify and The Art of Letting Go.

I've been on a declutter mission in all aspects of my life (& my clients) for the past few months. Almost obsessively! I have given away an insane amount of STUFF. Just stuff. It's made me wonder why I even buy anything in the first place. While I'm not disciplined enough to taking a purchasing break, I am very careful about what I'm willing to bring back into our house.

​We have a small 1920's bungalow that we're absolutely in love with. But being in my studio here all day has got me wanting to clear everything out. I've had this gorgeous Ikat fabric to make living room draperies for years. YEARS. {I mean what?! What designer does that??} I decided last weekend that I'm not doing the Ikat. I'm doing plain. Plain Jane linen with brass drapery hardware. & it's going to be perfect. Also built-ins on a huge wall. I have been trying to think of ways to extend our life in this house if we're going to consider having little people here. More storage it is. BUT only storage for items we LOVE or NEED. So I've been cleaning out, ruthlessly. 

In practicing the art of letting go remember that when you need it you will have it. But keeping items around "just in case" keeps new and better things from coming into your life.​

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Basically to clean out and to help clients sort through what to keep & what goes I go through these questions...​

• ​Do you use it daily, weekly, monthly or to entertain at least yearly? This determines where is goes if it's used and if it's no to all of the options then it heads for donation. {We tend to have things purchased for a specific party and never use again but keep them, you know "just in case". Let it go, someone else can use it. In five years when you finally use it again you'll forget about it and purchase new anyway.}
• Do you LOVE it? Would you miss it if you lost everything? Yes? Then keep it of course. No? Consider letting it go. If it doesn't provide a useful function and it doesn't bring you joy then it has to go.​
• Is it a keepsake? Do you love it? Do you really need to hold on to ALL of your now 19 year old's baby clothes? Pick a couple favorites and let the rest go. Same with "art" made by the kids. Kids make a ton of art, at least I did. It's not all good. You don't love all of it. Keep the best, keep the ones they're proud of. Let the rest go. {But remember if it's all bad you may need to pretend some of it's good to keep feelings from getting hurt!}​
• Remember this is going to go in phases. It usually takes me 3 phases to clean out my closet. By the third phase I'm down to just my favs and the items I really where. ​

Letting go of stuff is hard. Give yourself time and space to work through it. Then once you do ​you have to remain present and stop buying things you don't love. No more binge shopping because you're upset your boss yelled at you in a meeting. 

I can't wait to go over my living room plans with you...& I'm also terrified. Sharing an in progress space is nerve racking. I'll work through it with you though. Thanks loves!!​

Gallery Walled.

This is what I'm starting with, a large empty wall. We've been in our little bungalow for almost 2 years & I'm finally getting to decorating. So often my head is filled with designs & ideas for all of my clients, leaving little room for my own home. I miss decorating for me though, so I'll be posting my house more often as I get to my mile long list of projects.

I measured the wall, the space that I want the pictures to fill. I wanted the pictures to go to the ceiling to raise your eye making the ceiling seem taller. I chose a random mix of my favorite images. I laid them out together adding & pulling pictures till I had it just right, to me. It'd be great to do a gallery wall of a collection as well, say all portraits or black & whites. I've seen groups of paint-by-numbers all hung together that turned out cute.

On the floor I measured out the size of the space from the wall. I blue taped the corners so I knew when I was laying out pictures seeing what I liked just how big I could make it. I wasn't super precise, trust your eye, you know what looks good.

Here is the approximate layout that I like. I plan on updating & replacing so some of these are placeholders for now. Laying them out on the floor before you begin hanging is very important. I've seen "how tos" that use kraft paper cut to the size of the art hung to the wall. That's a great idea, but still lay the art out on the floor first. You need to see how colors & frame finishes work with each other. I did not use kraft paper, I'm much to lazy & not type A to do such a thing, but if it'll help you then by all means do it.

Once I got the layout how I wanted it I did the same blue tape placeholders on the wall. This kept me from going to low or too high with the art. It also gave me a frame of reference for how far apart the pieces were from each other since I didn't use kraft paper cut outs. When I hang a frame I also use hooks or two nails. I use the level when marking with pencil where the nails will go.

I always double check that the piece is level when I'm done hanging it. I do this for every piece of art no matter how small.

I got the first row hung! I started from the bottom & worked my way up the wall. This kept my proportions close to my original plan. {The green thing will be replaced with a piece of art I'm going to make. I know it looks tacky, it's temporary.}

Done! Some of the pieces were adjusted a bit to cover previous holes in the wall. Also be sure to use picture hangers that tell you how much they'll hold if you're hanging heavy pieces. When hanging a gallery wall chances are you won't be hitting many studs. Our walls are incredibly strong, they have lath & plaster behind the sheetrock so it's not a problem for me. The sailboat piece is really heavy though & I don't want it falling on someone so I used 2 30lb hooks.

Do you have a gallery wall in your house? I find that it's the perfect solution when there is a large wall & the budget doesn't allow for a large piece of art.