Brandon's 11 steps to creating a fabulous space

It's Feb 21st 2009. We're still officially in the middle of winter, and as we pull ourselves out of the dark days and our spiritual and energetic hibernation, we begin to look around our living space and say "what happened? How did this place get so small and why do I not love it anymore"

How many of you have fallen out of love with your space? Has it become too cramped, cluttered, boring, uninspired, out-of-date? All of the above?

In my years as an Interior Designer and as a home owner, I've developed 11 essential steps that you can use to get your space back up to the standard you deserve for yourself.


Step 1: Declutter

I know you've heard it a thousand times, from design shows, and the weekend section in the paper. But it's so true. And so many of us just ignore it.

In this "consumer" society in which we live these days, it's so easy to just accumulate stuff. It's everywhere! Take a look at all of the surfaces in your space; the bookshelves, your desk, the kitchen counter, the mantle, the tv stand. If you're like most of us, you're probably cringing at the amount of crap you've managed to accumulate. But yet a moment later, we move on with our lives and once again forget to see all the detritis floating around us.

How many of those items truly have meaning in your life currently?

Having all this stuff around all the time begins to really wear you down. It brings down your spirit and creates a constant noise that prevents you from being able to pursue the non-material endeavors that move you.

So get rid of it!

Easier said than done, right? Ok, lets do it in a few steps.

1. If you have things that you haven't truly looked at, or even dusted in the last year, it needs to go away. Even if it's that cute little shell sculpture your in-laws brought back from their Tahiti vacation. It's one thing to have sentimental items, and memories, but do they still need to be on display in your everyday life? If you need to, take a picture of it and file it away to look at later.

2. If it's broken, or if it's lost its luster, get rid of it. If you haven't fixed it or repainted it by now, you're not going to.

3. Do you have a thousand beautiful/valuable items that all have equal value that you just can't bear to part with? Here's a tip (not mine). Choose just your favorites for right now, and box the rest up and put them away. Then you can periodically rotate your stock of fabulous chotchkies, allowing each of them their time in the spot light.

4. Play a game. If you suddenly found out you landed an amazing job as a famous super model and had to leave in two days and you had to get everything you owned in to storage but quick, what would you choose to keep, and what stuff would find itself out on the lawn with a For Sale sign? Once you've answered, go ahead and get yourself some labels and have a yard sale this Saturday.

There's a dozen other ways to decide what needs to go. But the bottom line is that you need to pair it down. If it's not something you truly use on a weekly basis, or something you don't truly love NOW, it needs to go.

Trust me, it's bringing you down.