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3 simple tips to revamp a room and make money
We cannot get over how chic this looks!
Two days ago, we received these beautiful, black and white, buffalo checkered sofas that we had anxiously been waiting for over the past few weeks. When they arrived, we unpacked them, fell in love, and then looked around the store wondering "where in the world are we going to put them?" Sound familiar?
Do you ever feel like this? You see something in a store and say "I need this," but then get overwhelmed because your house already has too much stuff in it? Don't worry, it happens to the best of us.
Luckily, we have Sharon Coleman. There is a reason why Tinker's has stayed in business for 30 years. Voted best home decor and gift shop in Virginia 2018, she knows a thing or two about interior design. She has a creative mind that can get inspired by the smallest detail and when things get cluttered, she has a way of looking through it and visualizing the potential.
For those of you that have never been in, we have a 20,000 square foot location with two showrooms and 8 small themed rooms. The pink room in the photo is one of the first rooms that you see. Sharon said "I almost split the sofas up and put them in different sides of the building. The pink room is one of my favorites and to put two sofas in there would change the whole aesthetic of the room."
TIP 1#: TAKE TIME TO THINK ABOUT IT
Sometimes you need to take a step back in order to move forward.
Everyone processes information at different speeds. If you are a creative person, sometimes you imagine a hundred different possibilities and can't seem to pick one. Our advice? If possible, sleep on it. Let your mind casually absorb the information. Write down a few ideas, look through some magazines, books, or Pinterest boards, and the inspiration will come to you. If you can't sleep on it, take a step back, get out of the house, take a walk, or do something else to reset your mind. In general, I try to tackle big projects or heavy conversations in the morning because if you wait until the end of the day, you are setting yourself up for a tough time because you are including all of the stress and drama that happened for the majority of your day. As we say in our restoration business, measure twice, cut once.
For those of you that don't know, my mother owns the business and I live in Los Angeles. From 3,000 miles away, I am still inspired by her store and love doing as much as I can to support her small business. As a professional set costumer and fashion designer, trust me, I do not know everything about fashion, but I love learning new things. I have worked on Pirates of the Caribbean, Lincoln, Grey's Anatomy, 10 Marvel movies, tons of award shows and over a hundred other major projects. In order to feel comfortable, we do research. We find out how to tie certain knots and ascots and we do things to expand our knowledge. If we don't know anything about that time period, we create mood boards with images that inspire us. Sometimes, just for fun, I go to the library or Barnes and Noble and just read random books for hours. On movie and TV sets, when we do pre-fittings, we do research, make mood boards, shop for clothes, and then do our fittings. We then take photographs of the fittings, analyze them, create more boards, and then pitch those outfits to the directors and producers to narrow down what a character will wear.
In your home, you are the director, producer, designer, art director, and transportation department, so figure out your options, sleep on it, and when you wake up in the morning and pour some caffeine in your system, (or preferable, do something healthy like eat a healthy meal and go for a run), you will most likely have a fresh outlook. You don't have to make a mood board if you are just moving some stuff around, but if it helps, go for it. Usually, a pen, paper and some basic notes of "if I move this to there and that to there, it might work". I like to have three options in mind and sometimes I have to do all three to know for sure which one is best. Creative people usually need visual confirmation or we will keep wondering "what if I had put that piece over there."
TIP #2: REMEMBER THAT CHANGE IS GOOD
Check out these two photos. I took a crisp, white room (that I imagine is a beach in Maui or some tropical island) and all I did was change the colors to pink. Sometimes, a pop of color is all you need. Studies have shown that the best way to revamp a room while on a tight budget is to change something about the color. Painting an accent wall adds a world of difference. If you are on a REALLY tight budget and cannot afford paint right now, this is when you start moving stuff around. I'm not saying that you need to live in a pink room or that the pink room is better than the crisp white, I'm just saying that change has the ability to wake your senses up.
When you move things around, you create a new perspective and life is all about having a new perspective on things. You are breaking the cycles and in a small way, waking your mind up. Even if you only move one item, you are teaching your brain to be flexible and challenging yourself to be creative. I love moving stuff around, but pace yourself and try to take some snack breaks, because once your brain gets exhausted, you are traveling to the unproductive crazy town for the rest of the day. Fresh mind equals good results.
Move some stuff around. If it doesn't make you happy or feel right, trust your gut and move it around again or....say goodbye to it.
TIP #3: SAY GOODBYE
There is always a point in the process when you say "I have too much stuff." If it serves no purpose, makes you feel negative or sad, or you have outgrown it in some way, let it go. Sometimes you have to get rid of some stuff in order to make room for something amazing.
I try to have a rule of thumb where if I bring something into the house, I have to take something out. Keep in mind, there is someone out there that would love those drapes you can't stand or that dresser that is all scratched up. There are creative people in the world that would pay money for that scratched up dresser because they can imagine painting it and adding new accessories on it.
There are tons of awesome apps and sites to make an extra buck on that junk. When getting rid of stuff, regardless of whether it is clothes, furniture, or home decor, I make piles for 1) trash, 2) donate, and 3) sell. If I am selling clothes, I like the app, POSHMARK. I use a variety of apps and specific stores around town. Here is list, courtesy of MoneyPantry.com that gives you 15 apps and sites that might help you earn some extra cash.
Making change means taking chances. Our pink room would never look this cool unless Sharon hadn't decided to shake things up. For us, someone will come in and buy something (hopefully) and we have to shake things up again, so remember, change is good. Change makes the world go round. You only live once, so take some chances!
Speaking of taking some chances, have you seen our new VIDEO section? We revamped the website and added some of our favorite videos that we have created. CHECK THEM OUT HERE.
Here is one featuring new luggage tags by R. Nichols that I created this week. Time to pack for my trip to Portland! Good thing my mom sent me a cute luggage tag!
