Do you know who you're decorating for..

...or are you decorating for some imaginary family who might live in your house someday?

Have you ever not bought that beautiful apple green, or turquoise, or pink, or fill in the blank color of paint, because some future buyer might not like the color of your bathroom? What about that quirky ceiling fixture? What about that large piece of art that caught your eye?  Are you afraid to paint your kitchen cabinets, because the next people who live there might be upset that you painted their oak?

You need to decorate for the people who are living in your house NOW.
  

Eclectic Porch design by Media And Blogs Dear Daisy Cottage

Think about it...do professionals create beautiful rooms for people who will live there after their clients move, or do they create beautiful rooms for their clients who are living there right now?  They design for the people who are living there now.  And that's what we should do too.

So why are we decorating our houses for the next people who will live there, instead of making our homes a place that is comfortable for us and that reflects who we are? I don't know either, except that we've been programmed to think about adding to the resale value. In the back of our minds, we make every decorating decision based on what's going to help our homes sell. 

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That's why so many homes in neighborhoods all look alike...we've been programmed to think about pleasing the future potential buyers, and we decorate with that in mind instead of letting our creativity flow.

We see an idea we like in a blog or a magazine or on television, and we get all excited. "That's gorgeous! That would be perfect for my bedroom. I want to do that!" We study it, we plan it, we even go out and look at paint chips and pillows. Then our shoulders slump. "I can't do that in my bedroom, because the next people might not like it." 

Here's what I have to say about the next people who are going to live here: "I don't like their style. It doesn't fit the way my family lives. And if the next people don't like my style, too bad. They don't live here. I do. And I'm going to decorate it the way that makes me happy."

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This is the attitude we need to have about decorating and making our homes our own. We can decorate, paint, wallpaper, etc. any way we want. We have to make our homes reflect who we are. We have to decorate in a way that makes us smile when we enter our own homes. 

Down the road, IF we decide to sell, then we can modify our decor and repaint the rooms in a color that appeal to potential buyers. But until that time, potential buyers are not living in our homes, and we have to decorate for who's living there now. Us!