First Shoot – Then Aim

First Shoot – Then Aim

Common sense tells us that before we do something, we should have a plan.  That applies for our careers, for businesses and even for your whole life. A plan structures what we are doing and adds a timeline. So having a plan is helpful.

But what if the goal of the plan is not crystal clear? What happens if the goal of the plan depends on out-of-control factors? What to do if we are not sure if we like the goal of the plan (“Be careful what you wish for”). A lot of times it makes sense to just do something and then see what happens. After that there is still time for reflection.  This also reduces the fear of commitment.

A lot of people think about their home in the same way. For them the home is a piece of art in progress, that continually gets changed and adopted. We are living in times of Bohemian Style where mixing different elements and colors became fun.

When you first decorated a room you probably did not know what it looks like in the end, but you knew exactly how you would use this room and you expected the room to radiate a certain feeling. So you picked everything in this room in a way to achieve the desired look. The layout; the furniture; the lighting;  the accessoirs;  the art;  the colors and the fabrics.

You were probably quiet happy with your design, but soon you found other pieces that you liked to have in this room. Maybe the expectation of how the room should feel changed. Maybe suddenly the purpose  of the room shifted and you had to adapt.

The design of your home is not set in stone. Except for rooms with a public character, you should feel free to try out whatever you feel like in your home. Don’t worry – just do it. If you don’t like it, you can change it again. In doubt you can always consult an interior designer.

The important thing is that your home should provide you and your family with the right kind of energy to make you feel good, successful and HAPPY!

Art at Home

Art at Home

There are few things in your home that are less functional and practical than art. And still, it’s one of the most important elements of a home. It’s an easy way to express yourself in your home.

Art in a home is the personal bridge to the owner. Especially if your home is filled with artwork you love. It relates to memories and experiences as well as ambitions and feelings. Not many things reveal so much of somebody’s personality than the art in their home.

Art is often unhitched from the design of a room since it must not follow the style, colors and structures of a room. Art is just a very personal thing. The important thing is that it moves the owner of the home, independent from monetary value or the opinion of others.

Art is not only for art collectors. Think outside the box. Art for your home can include paintings, drawing, prints but also sculptures and the artwork of your kids. You don’t find it only in a gallery. It’s more about how it feels than what it looks like.

Here are a few unconventional ideas to make your home more artful:

Textiles

Find a favorite fabric and hang it on a wall. You can either hang it in square form like a picture or form the size to an artful sculpture.

Mirrors

Little mirrors of different sizes and shapes arranged on a wall lighten up the room and make it appear bigger.

This is especially effective for the entrance area of a home. A number of hooks and maybe little shelfs clean up hats, mittens, shawls and umbrellas.

Baskets

Baskets make nice little sculptures that can be placed anywhere in your home. Besides the artful effect, they are very functional since baskets can be used to collect all kinds of things.

Maps/ Menus/ Sheet Music

Depending on hobbies you can put a map of your favorite place on the wall, the menu of your favorite restaurant or sheet music of your classical piece.

Always remember that it is your home and it must serve you. The art in your home is there to make YOU feel better.

You Are How You Live

You Are How You Live

Your home is your castle. Everybody knows the feeling to come home after a long day or trip and fall in your favorite chair and leave everything behind. Your home provides this shelter and feeling of security.

Our homes play an important part when it comes to determinate who we are and our goals in life. The old saying “Fine feathers make fine birds” is broadly accepted and someone looks like a million dollars in a exquisite suit.

Unfortunately this perception is not so much accepted when it comes to our homes. Because a home is also a hiding place where you crawl into when you need a break, the influence of the interior design is underestimated. We think nobody sees the wobbling chair or the chipped table. But unconsciously you see it yourself and it influences your attitude.

You are a mirror of yourself!

 

In her successful book “The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up” the author Marie Kondo describes the meaning of uncluttering and organizing.  I think this book has changed the minds of numerous people.

But its not only the tiptop looking home she is talking about, she is also talking about valuing and respecting your belongings. The things you own should be meaningful to you and you should take good care of them. I think this starts when you purchase a product:

  1. Before you buy something new, make sure you really need it. A lot of times products are only used for one time occasions and can be easily borrowed from friends or neighbors.

  2. Do your homework before buying something new. Look online and visit different stores to get a good idea how your product is offered. What are the different designs and what are the different price points. Be sure to check the whole product range from the cheapest to the most expensive offer.

  1. Check out why there are different price points. Is it because a vendor can offer cheaper? Is it because the difference in quality? Be careful with “Sales”: Be sure a product is significantly marked down and not just reduced.
  1. Regarding the quality, check carefully if a lower price justifies the lower quality. Is the price low because the product was produced overseas under unbearable conditions? In Germany we have the saying “Who buys cheap buys twice”
  1. Before the final purchase, picture the product in your home. Measure carefully and if in doubt visit the store again with your questions. Make sure the color fits in the room. Be sure you understand all features of the product and how they are useful.
  1. Last but not least enjoy your new product!

5 essentials of decorating

It is interesting to find out what makes interior design stand out.  You would think in a world where everything is possible and strict decorating rules seem not to be as important, decorating would be easy. There are thousands of different ways to get design inspiration just thinking of all the magazines, interior design shows on TV and design blogs.  Decorating is becoming easier and everyone can do it.  Every style has its own name, mixing and matching is in fashion and clear rules are disappearing.

But there are still differences in professional interior design and just decorating for fun.  It is interesting to see that the same principles of decorating that were important in the past are still essential today.  I highly appreciate the skills of professional decorators.  They understand what it takes to bring out emotions and feelings in a room.

Talking about all principles and elements of great decorating becomes overwhelming, especially for someone who is not a designer. Therefore, I am pointing out five decorating principles that I consider outstanding:

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Inspired and Artful Living

The way we live is part of the key to our happiness.  By surrounding us with the people, color, and treasures that are meaningful to us we invent our own world.  We create happiness if we can see what we love.

A good start to this process is trying to look at things more closely than other people do. Make connections between different things and ideas. How can these connections help you solve the problems and challenges in your life?  Looking at things from different angles can transform old ideas to something totally new.

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