What does a decluttered home look like? - Page 2

[Blucactus]

Originally Posted by Knittin' in the Shade

My pics are from last December, but it pretty much looks the same now (minus the Christmas tree, LOL!) I've got 4 boys in a 3 bedroom home, so we definitely have the decluttered-in-a-small-space thing goin' on, LOL!

http://flickr.com/photos/littleturtl...7603565625650/

Wow, impressive!! What is your square footage?? I was going to ask you about your routines and how you got so obviously organized, but then I saw your binder at the end of the set.

[Blucactus]

Originally Posted by slsurface

Hmmm...Well, I think my home is "decluttered" but it definitely not sparse. We have to many "artifacts" to make it sparse - I think its pretty "homey". You can take a look and tell me what you think. http://www.flickr.com/photos/archymo...7607150273471/

Most of these photos were taken prior to a party or some event where I picked up everything. On a typical day there is a toy train table in my living room, a stack of bills and mail on the kitchen counter, cups on the dining table, shoes by the front door, a stack of articles to read on my desk (I am working on my dissertation), a drying rack in the master bedroom and my husband often leaves his clean clothes piled on his dresser rather than in the drawers. All in all I feel like these aren't clutter, but rather part of living in the house.

Lovely! Very homey. and you are my fairy lights hero

[slsurface]

Originally Posted by Blucactus

Lovely! Very homey. and you are my fairy lights hero

Thank you. It's a nice sunny day, so I just took some more pictures of my house, "as is". I recently hung some more fairy lights in the living room. I'll try to get the pics up in the next day or two. Winter is very gloomy here...my town is actually just behind Seattle for the most number of cloudy days . So I try to make things cheerful with lots of light!

[annettemarie]

I can see how much you all love your homes. I think my problem is that I don't like this house.

[slsurface]

Originally Posted by annettemarie

I can see how much you all love your homes. I think my problem is that I don't like this house.

What is it like? Old? New? What style? What don't you like about it? What do you like about it?

[Hazelnut]

A place for everything, everything in its place... easier said than done I know. I have to do a lot of picking up. Also, I think you can organize in bins til the cows (or kids) come home, but if you still have a ton of stuff, then it's going to be easier to mess up the house and still look cluttered. I go through toys and clothing and basically everything all.the.time. and purge. I'm not wealthy, but if I'm not using it I don't need it, won't spend to replace it, etc. I have a little more space now, but our last house was really little. We had a basement for toys, but closets were tiny. It's def. harder and no fair in a smaller house. Big houses can look sparse so easily!


I'm loving all the big, airy windows in these houses! Pretty.

[SAHDS]

Originally Posted by annettemarie

I can see how much you all love your homes. I think my problem is that I don't like this house.

Our first home, we rented, and I HATED it! It was old and small and boring. So, I kept it clean but put no extra effort into it. With our new house, it's my dream house so I put ALL of my effort into making it beautiful.

For a house, I'm not into the "zen" look at ll, I think it feels cold. My house is completely uncluttered (seriously, completely, we even have an empty spare room and tons of empty drawers and cabinets), but I use texture and natural items (plants especially) to give it life. Candles, pillows and blankets add warmth. I think handmade things give it your stamp too (check Etsy!).

Also, for pics, go to Flickr or check out Rate My Space on HGTV.com.

[SAHDS]

Originally Posted by Hazelnut

A place for everything, everything in its place.

:

[slsurface]

Ok, it didn't take too long to get the new pics up on flicker. There are no notes or comments on them yet, but you can take a look.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/archymo...7608688239541/

Like everything in life, my house is a work in progress. I am constantly finding better ways to do things and rearranging. We've only been in it for 13 months now.

[llamalluv]

Originally Posted by annettemarie

I picture a sparse, zenlike home and don't know how I would do that with children. Are there pictures anywhere of lived in, decluttered homes?

This is my bedroom when it's clean and decluttered. (We'll pretend that the clutter from the dresser and tables isn't shoved in the top drawer of each, um-kay?)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/llamalluv/2250900049/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/llamall...n/photostream/

Painted:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/llamalluv/3005818585/


And this is how it gets (and this is mild, because we just cleaned it up last weekend):

http://www.flickr.com/photos/llamall...n/photostream/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/llamall...n/photostream/


So, yeah. Big difference between cluttered and uncluttered, but uncluttered is not "unlived in".

[Krisis]

Originally Posted by annettemarie

I can see how much you all love your homes. I think my problem is that I don't like this house.

To be honest with you, I hated my house with a mighty passion. Every day I woke up and hated something new. But that all changed after I made it mine, so to speak. I finally hung up the pictures, decluttered a little, found space for things, unpacked boxes, and slowly I began to love the place.

It may not have been my absolute dream house, but I grew to love it!

[SAHDS]

Originally Posted by slsurface

Ok, it didn't take too long to get the new pics up on flicker. There are no notes or comments on them yet, but you can take a look.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/archymo...7608688239541/

Like everything in life, my house is a work in progress. I am constantly finding better ways to do things and rearranging. We've only been in it for 13 months now.

All of that wood and the built-ins are gorgeous!

[nathansmum]

I posted this way back at the beginning of the other photo showing thread, but here they are again. The house is still pretty much the same. Have just moved our bed onto a different wall and the kids area has been rearranged since then.

ETA: Oops, can't get my link to work...oh, here's a blog link that I did on it instead.

[slsurface]

nathansmum, what a lovely house! I really like the orange wall in the dining room. I am not brave enough to try such a bold color. I stick with a muted pallet of green, yellow, and blue.

[slsurface]

Originally Posted by SAHDS

All of that wood and the built-ins are gorgeous!

Yeah, it was one of the features that attracted us to the house. A friend of mine has a house in the same neighborhood. Her house is fancier and has even more built-ins in the master bedroom, dining, kitchen, and den.

[MomAndOliver]

Thanks for the table tips! I have been scouting craigslist, but only ugly tables seem to get craigslisted in my area. Still, this gives me hope that I will be able to find a nice dining room table and chairs without breaking the bank!

[nathansmum]

Originally Posted by slsurface

nathansmum, what a lovely house! I really like the orange wall in the dining room. I am not brave enough to try such a bold color. I stick with a muted pallet of green, yellow, and blue.

Thanks! Yeah, I love that wall. It's not bright, but a lovely eathy orange. I really want to paint kitchen an earthy/herbal green, but think it's too close in proximity to the orange wall and those aren't really a combo i'm comfortable with. I contemplated getting rid of the orange and going with the green in the kitchen but couldn't do it lol!

[jtbuko]

Theresa, Thanks for posting your home! I am going to add mine in a few days... just need to get it a little more caught up!

[OakBerry]

Originally Posted by slsurface

Hmmm...Well, I think my home is "decluttered" but it definitely not sparse. We have to many "artifacts" to make it sparse - I think its pretty "homey". You can take a look and tell me what you think. http://www.flickr.com/photos/archymo...7607150273471/

Most of these photos were taken prior to a party or some event where I picked up everything. On a typical day there is a toy train table in my living room, a stack of bills and mail on the kitchen counter, cups on the dining table, shoes by the front door, a stack of articles to read on my desk (I am working on my dissertation), a drying rack in the master bedroom and my husband often leaves his clean clothes piled on his dresser rather than in the drawers. All in all I feel like these aren't clutter, but rather part of living in the house.

Your house is lovely! I love the style of it.

[flowmom]

Originally Posted by annettemarie

I can see how much you all love your homes. I think my problem is that I don't like this house.

I don't *love* our apartment, but I've worked really hard to make it more homey. You can always work with what you have, especially if you let the style of your home drive your decorating. If your home is modern, you'll never get that patina of age and quality of a vintage home. If your home is vintage, you'll never get the "clean slate" feeling of a modern home...you'll always be working around the home's quirks. People even manage to make RVs look great. Look around in the library and on flickr to see how people have made homes similar to yours look great. It can be so inspiring! I live in a complex, so all the homes were initially similar, but now it's amazing how different each home looks since people have individualized them in the last 7 years with their paint, furnishings, built-ins, renos, etc. Even homes with the exact same floorplan as mine look sooo different.

Also, something that may sound flakey if you're not familiar with it is feng shui. I now have a lot of respect for feng shui wisdom, which is based on facilitating positive energy flow throughout the home. It has helped me to identify what it is about some rooms/homes that makes me uneasy. The cool thing is that there are always "cures" to feng shui problems, and they are generally do-able and not super costly. This is a great book.