My understanding of staging a house is to remove all the clutter until nothing but the basics is left. ALL the kitchen counters are clear (except for maybe a fruit bowl and a heavy kitchenaid mixer). ALL the photos and kid's artwork come off the refrigerator. ALL toys are put away and out of sight. MANY personal photos are put away. etc....
The idea is people will walk through your home and potentially see themselves living in this space. If too much of your personal junk is in sight, they will more likely feel like they are invading a space that is already lived in.
I know this de-personalizes our homes and it's rather impractical to live like this on a regular basis (I don't want to pull the coffee maker out of the cupboard every single morning to make my coffee). But I wonder what steps I could make toward having and living in a more staged house. It's the clutter-free environment that really appeals to me.
I do want some photos around - especially of family and friends who live so far away from us - or our Compassion children so we are reminded to pray for them - but why do we put up photos of ourselves in our own home? I don't really need an 8x10 of myself, my husband and my children in my living room. We are often, in the flesh, together in the living room (or kitchen or dining room). Isn't it a little strange that we put ourselves on display in our own homes?
What are your thoughts?
I struggle on your photo comment. My house is absolutely cluttered with photos and you are right, I probably don't need to look at photos of the people who I see every day. On the other hand, I feel like my family is such a blessing, I want to surround myself with them, given that my family is my priority after God. It does sometimes start to look like a shrine, though. I don't think the photos are inherently a bad thing but I wish that I could have the photos and not have all of the other junk that I associate with favourite people, as well.
ReplyDeletePhotos are not a bad thing...I didn't mean to imply that. And I think it can boost self-esteem for kids to see their photo displayed proudly in a home. I just had this moment where I questioned why I needed photos of myself and the others who live with me up all over our house. We don't live near family - grandparents and cousins - so my limited space for photos should probably be devoted to them, not us. I guess that's all I was getting at...
ReplyDeleteI also wonder if photos lose their appeal or memories if we see them too often. I was going through my wall hangings and came across the girls' baby pics...ones we had taken professionally. I just sat there looking at them for 10 minutes. When they hang on my wall, I just walk past them. I think I get used to them and they become invisible.
One of my favorite Christmas decorations is to put out framed pics of the girls from previous years. I think I enjoy it so much because it is temporary.
I know what you are saying, sometimes photos can become part of the wallpaper and you just don't see them anymore. On the other hand, when you have a baby and spend evenings walking the halls trying to get him to settle, the photos can be something to keep yourself from losing your mind :-).
ReplyDeleteI love your Christmas idea. I have started something a bit similar. I scrapbook and I have started a Christmas scrapbook and a fall one. When I decorate for each season, that scrapbook is something that I put out in a prominent place. In each, I do a two page layout for each year. We can scan through the pics and revisit memories from previous years and get into the spirit of that time or celebration. I love it! It doesn't take up as much space as a wall of photos but it lets me revisit the happy memories.
One thing that I got from my friend is that in our living room, we have devoted one wall to our "loved ones" wall. It's filled with photos of family and friends - the wall is almost completely photos. If you are scaling back, it would be much too cluttered but I like it because it is a bit like a treasure chest - each time I look at the wall, I notice something else, whether it be my great-grandmother who was a very devout Christian and an example of Biblical womanhood who really inspires me, to my best friends to my father at age 3 in his cowboy outfit. It's a reminder to me that I am truly blessed and it's a lesson to my children of the wonderful heritage that they share as children of God.
I love this blog, you always stimulate great thinking and I ponder things I wouldn't otherwise consider.