Don’t hang all your art on day one. . .

Take a little time and breathe in the empty space….

It’s very easy to want to ‘just get it done’ when you move into a new home. You want to put your mark on it. Fill each and every corner. Paint throughout. Rip out the old in with the new. I know how tempting it is to just rush it.

Many of the clients I work with ask me to fix mistakes they made early on, when they were in a hurry to finish. The thing is, and I can’t stress it enough, when you first move into a home you don’t really know the space, take some time. A lot of time if you can bear it. The majority of good design isn’t just how a space looks, it’s how you live in it, move through it, use it.

Be prepared that there might be many an empty corner or slightly off wall colour for the first few months. And be ok with that, if you can.

I don’t think there is anything less productive or useful for our bank accounts or the planet than buying an ‘interim’ piece of furniture. “Oh we’ll just buy an Ikea one, until we find the right piece”. (Mental breakdown from me..) I have nothing against Ikea, nothing at all.. and I love a good Ikea hack. But I think it’s clever to be selective from Ikea, pick a piece because it’s a really great design and it fits perfectly into your room, not just because it’s cheap and will do for the time being. If you can’t find the perfect book case or entryway table early on…. stack the books in piles against the wall and enjoy their freedom, make sure you place your keys and mail in another spot until you do find the right piece. If you can’t find the right bed frame, sleep on a super comfy mattress on the floor, until you do.

There is reason I’m saying all this, it is possibly the most important reason of all that I discovered when creating this website. During your journey to find the one perfect item for that empty corner.. you and your home might have decided that this corner has a completely different use… and you would never have discovered this; had you not taken your time. It happens naturally, organically and it’s magical. The best ideas come to those who wait.  Sleep on the floor and ponder the bare walls.. just for a little.  That’s what we just did.. for a few months…. and then some..

Photo credits Will Horner and Dane Tashima