Winter Blahs

Winter Blahs. All the Christmas decorations are gone. Thank goodness, it does start to look a little cluttered to me. Now what?  I asked Interior Designer and owner of Room By Room Interiors Naomi Turner for a few tips, things to get us through until we can all SpRiNg it up again. Naomi has lived in Susanville since she was 11, served as Chamber President and is super active in Elks, Monticola and our community.

Here are some of the simple inexpensive things Naomi suggests doing to change the look of a room~ Add pillows. Naomi has a great guide for whether to use small or large, if your couch/chair is deep and your always grabbing something to tuck behind you anyway get large, it’s a more casual look. Smaller if it’s for a more formal setting.
Add throws. So here’s my question, whether to toss or fold? She says the same applies here, formal setting fold, casual toss. If you have pets you don’t want on the throws (mine like to wad them up for their comfort) she says you can keep them in a basket or trunk.
Add a rug. Naomi likes to keep at least 2 feet of each piece of furniture in a conversation area on the rug. Her number one choice for updating or sprucing up a room inexpensively is paint. I have made many a paint mistake in my life, when I asked her how to choose she suggests getting a sample size and either painting a section of wall or paint a plain white piece of paper and be sure to let the paint cure, it will dry lighter. Great ideas from a woman that has won awards for her designs!

I have a couple tricks of my own, one is to paint a piece of furniture. I have this desk I bought at a yard sale about 20 years ago for $30. Originally maple, this desk has been yellow, blue and finally black. I don’t think there’s any coming back from that. But. I adore this desk. I keep my Mom’s encyclopedias on it, which are red,  they were purchased the year I was born. My daughter says the dinosaur photos are real and that the world was flat when they were written or something like that. I couldn’t remember exactly what she says so I sent a text to ask her, her reply “They’re so old the sun still revolved around the earth. Jesus is noted as a contributor. The earth was definitely still flat. They are pretty great though, TERRIBLE factual reference but still entertaining.” All true, I’m entertained right now.  But I digress. I hung a photo Rick took over the desk that compliments the colors nicely. Not only do I like how it all looks but it all means something to me. Every time I paint it I buy a new pull. Changing out the pulls on cupboards and dressers is another super easy way to get a new look.

Take heart. SpRinG is just around the corner~