The first time I decorated something was when I was 10. I stapled the “posters” that came out of the middle of my Sports Illustrated for Kids Magazine in giant rows across one wall in my room. Every poster went up regardless of if I liked the athlete or not. They stayed up until an errantly tossed ball or a careless thrown dirty sock would rip a corner starting its slow demise.
As Bo Jackson, Mario Lemieuz, Alexi Lalas and all of the other early 90s sports figures embarrassingly flapped around, I can honestly say that I never once considered what anyone else would think if they walked into my room and saw this wall. I can’t remember what I thought looking at the backs of posters as they dangled from two staples. What that wall looked like just did not matter.
So why did I hang up all those posters in the first place?
I hung them up because they were posters and I thought that is what one does when they are handed a poster. I didn’t idolize the athletes, if I did, I probably would have taken care of them or ranked them, or even looked at them from time to time.
So much of decorating in middle class America is exactly what I did as a kid. We are handed a decoration and we put it out because that is what decorations are for. That picture of an anonymous dock on an unknown lake above my fireplace was given to us by someone cleaning out their basement. It didn’t have any meaning to them and it has even less meaning for us.
Our endless seasonal towels that refuse to absorb moisture were given as housewarming gifts. They suck as towels but we put them out because we have them. We have 3 dozen glass wine cups that we keep hidden in the basement. We don’t use them because I don’t drink alcohol. But, we will keep them forever because they were wedding presents.
This book pushed hard against this notion and I appreciate it so much. I wish I had what it takes to implement the ideas I learned here. Below are my notes from Appendix 1. It represents the order you should take when decorating a clean room.
- Appendix 1
- 1. Start with super comfy primary seating. Ideally in a style that has a name.
- 2. Add secondary seating that is comfy enough.
- 3. Sprinkle around surfaces and storage
- 4. Layer with a large rug
- 5. Combine floor to ceiling drapes
- 6. Incorporate lighting and lamps with presence
- 7. Surround with just enough large wall art
- 8. Add a pinch of accessorized vignettes
- 9. Fill with people and love