Interiors and Exteriors

My approach to home improvement is the inverse of my approach to self improvement. When it comes to self improvement, I work from the inside out. I try first and foremost to be a good and pleasant person, following my own chosen path of integrity. 

It's a good day if I am patient with the kids and kind to other people, even if I haven't showered or put on "cute" clothes. (In truth, I don't think I own any "cute" clothes, but I'm workin' on it.) Conversely, it's a terrible day if I lose my temper with the wee ones or laze around getting nothing done, even if I look my best on the outside. It's all about looking from the inside out.

My approach to home improvement is the opposite. I work from the outside in. First, we built ourselves a nice house, which is a big, bare, beige-walled box of a place. We emphasized function, not style, when we designed it. We figured we could fill in the gaps a few years later. We've been lucky with several things, like the fact that my brother was constantly selling us used furniture on the cheap. (Stuff he'd used to stage the homes he sold.) Other than that, we've tried to be cautious in our purchases. We wanted to purchase things that were good quality and nice, even if it meant we waited years to save up for them.

And, keeping with our outside-in home decor philosophy, we started with the big stuff. A nice leather sofa for the front room. A bookshelf thingee to house the TV upstairs. A new bunk bed for the twins. A book and toy shelf for the play room. Uhh, that's pretty much it I think. 

Stuff we got free or cheap includes our entire master bedroom set, the desk my computer is sitting on right now, Joseph's bed and dresser, the twins' dresser, both of our two dining room tables (one of which holds a TV), the sofa and loveseat in our family room upstairs, two coffee tables, three other desks, folding tables, and several bookshelves. It's eclectic, to say the least, but it works and I feel great about the amount of money we haven't spent on all that stuff.

I look around my house now and it's a big, beige-walled, bland box ... with furniture. It still doesn't have that "homey" feel to it. It's sort of lacking in the personality department. So now it's (finally) time to accessorize with the small interior elements.

Two years ago, we set aside some of our tax return money for some home improvement projects. Then we never really followed through on it, so the money is still sitting in our money market account, waiting to be used.

I decided this week that the time has come. I can't do a whole lot with the amount of money we have, but hopefully I can do enough to make the house into more of a home. I'm going to work with my cousin (-in-law, technically) to come up with more of a consistent plan for the main gathering area, and I'm going to hang an original painting or two of hers in the main area. I have this idea that I'd love to have artwork that is meaningful to me--painted by people I know and love. (Check out Melody's awesome paintings here and you'll see why I'm so excited.)

I jumped in with both feet today and bought a funky mirror to go over my fireplace. I love it! I got it home and looked at it and it's PERFECT for my room! It feels so great to have a little personality at long last, but I would never do it any other way. I'm so grateful that we bought our home when prices were cheap and I'm so glad we've never gone into debt to decorate. It might take us a few more years to catch up with the Joneses, but I've never worried too much about the Joneses anyway. I'll let them worry about their own physical exteriors and home interiors, and I'll neglect ... errr, improve ... mine in peace. :)