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For years I kept dreaming about how clean and beautifully decorated house I will have one day. SO many pinterest I saved & ideas I had. Growing up at my parents house, I couldn't do much because it was my parents house plus it was small & I shared my room with my sister. So held on to the dream of one day. Then I got married and moved into an attic apartment on top of my husbands brothers house. I was not happy with the set up but figure it was temporary situation. I again held on to my dream of one day having that beautiful house. Its been almost 2 years and I am still at this attic apartment & it is becoming more and more obvious that my husband really wants to be close to his 4 nephews even at the expense of us having really tiny place. I tried pushing him to find a house of our own but it is obvious that is not what he wants.
So I step back and ask myself "what do I want & why do I want a house at the cost of hubby's comfort". well after several WHY's, I came to the conclusion that I finally want that dream house of picture perfect deco & super clean place that will leave guest in stage of WOW. Then I ask myself the question, WHY CAN'T I DO THIS NOW IN THIS TINY PLACE? People have beautiful apartment. lack of space and bunch of other mumbo jumbo comes to my head but I finally realize I am just a dreamer when it comes to neat, clean house. In reality, doesn't matter where I am placed in (huge house or tiny apartment) I will always find excuse not to step it up. I just don't have that imagination or I am just lazy. I don't know
How do I get myself to stop waiting for the dream house and make my current place nicely decorated place. I like the minimalist/ zen style with some color. I am tired of waiting and dreaming. Where do I start, how do I start?
Apartment Therapy is a good website for ideas for decorating small homes. You can do minimalist even in a small space... it's just a matter of carefully choosing what you want to have. Eliminate the clutter. Take a look around, figure out what you use all the time, and what's just taking up room in a closet or collecting dust somewhere else. Get rid of the stuff you don't use.
I wish I had the natural decorating flair that some people are just born with, but over time, I figured out some things that I really love, and started trying to stick with a style. Heck, even picking a main colour that you want to decorate around, that's a good first step.
You will probably get your dream house some day, but sometimes that takes a while. I was in my 60's before I got mine last year. Waiting wasn't so bad, because it gave me many years to think about what I really want (and don't want) in a house.
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Originally Posted by keraT
lack of space and bunch of other mumbo jumbo comes to my head but I finally realize I am just a dreamer when it comes to neat, clean house.
You know what? I would start with decluttering. I'd bet that just doing some major decluttering would make a HUGE difference in how you feel about your apartment. In my last house, I didn't think I had much storage space at all until I did that and then I was so surprised to find that my closets and cabinets were almost empty. Also having a neat, clean house is a lot easier with fewer things. From your post it sounds like you have too much stuff for a small apartment.
I had given up on the "dream house" dream. I moved in with my husband who already had a house. It was a place he bought with his ex. There was a lot about the house that I liked and a lot that I didn't like. For one thing, it was never really MY house-I did not chose it, but I did try to make mine. I worked on one room at a time. I changed this out, that out, moved this, moved that, etc. etc. Some rooms required a lot more work than others. Like the kitchen-we did do a makeover. Other rooms it was just a matter of painting, & refinishing the floors, & changing furniture. However, I just felt like we were drowning in clutter. I hated having guests overnight because our spare bedroom had a small bed-for one person it was fine but a couple... They could sleep on one of the futons in the living room but that wasn't too comfortable either. My biggest complaint was the fact that the bedroom was so far from the bathroom. That walk in the middle of the night was LONG! I was trying to figure out every which way to put in just a water closet but it really couldn't be done. But, I thought that we would be living there for the rest of our lives.
Then I found it. I wasn't looking for it. I love looking at houses. When I'm bored, I will look at houses online. I found an old Victorian that was in foreclosure. And this house was just around the corner-LITERATELY!!! If it wasn't for the town offices, I would be able to see each house from the other.
Yeah, the house needed a lot of work. We finally moved in a year after buying it. We have been here for about 2 years now. Yeah, there is still work to be done. (What house is EVER complete?) I am no longer embarrassed to have guests. In fact, I LOVE having guests now. I LOVE to show off the house.
My point is, your "dream house" will present itself when the time is right. It may not be for a long time and you may not even be looking for it (like it happened with me). In the meanwhile, think about all the things you LIKE about your present home. And then try to work on the things you don't like (if you can). Take one room at a time. If you think of the entire place at once, you can get overwhelmed and prevent you from doing anything. So, (I repeat) one room at a time and see how it goes.
You know what? I would start with decluttering. I'd bet that just doing some major decluttering would make a HUGE difference in how you feel about your apartment. In my last house, I didn't think I had much storage space at all until I did that and then I was so surprised to find that my closets and cabinets were almost empty. Also having a neat, clean house is a lot easier with fewer things. From your post it sounds like you have too much stuff for a small apartment.
I agree wholeheartedly with this! It's actually easier to keep a smaller space tidy and decluttered, because there's simply no place to store junk, and being small it's faster to clean (which makes it easier to motivate yourself to actually do the cleaning in the first place). I'd start by going through all your stuff, and discarding anything you haven't actually used during the past year - then invest in some storage bins/closet organizer systems to organize what's left. A lot of times clutter builds up because there's no dedicated spot to put each item, so it winds up on the kitchen table/floor/etc. by default.
I'd also look at inexpensive ways to freshen up the place. A new coat of paint can do wonders for a room, and so can the right window and rug treatments, and those don't have to be expensive.
And if you truly hate to clean, treat yourself and hire a cleaning service to come in once or twice a month. Your mental health is worth it! You'll feel so much better in a clean, tidy home!
Sit down with your DH and insist that you and he come up with an annual budget for apartment improvements. How we did this was DH set aside some money beginning in Jan, and by March I had something to work with. If the money is set aside, then you can take advantage of good deals and sales.
I agree about tackling each room, one at a time. Think of this as step by step. The decorating you do now will train you how to do this when you get your better house. So, make your home, your home, step by step.
Plan what you need for each room. Decide how you use the room, and how you'd like to use the room. Then purchase accordingly.
Learn stuff! Click on some of those Pinterest links and find out how people did things. Learn how to paint, even if you paint just old furniture. Painting is a skill that will serve you well for decades.
When we started out, we didn't know anything. We learned step by step.
Even if you can't move on to a new house now, perhaps you can move to a better apartment?
you are all right, I do need to declutter. The place looks better after decluttering but I often find it doesn't have a character. It just looks plain/empty. So I add things and then it looks cluttered again. I don't know how to get that balance
I always have hard time letting go but I don't have much problem putting things in box (out of site, out of mind). Luckily I have few storage space where I can tuck things away for half year. As the weather is getting warmer, I took on a mission last weekend to put away heavy winter clothes & take out spring/summer clothes while keeping few in between items. I filled up a luggage with my out of season clothes while my husband simply discarded 80% of his winter clothes. I need to get in that mindset of discarding and buying new instead of saving 3 different size outfits for when I lose weight.
To be honest finance is not the main issue. Realistically I can afford a house now but my husband can't afford one on his salary. He is waiting for better job & there are other family reason why he wants to be close to his brother to help raise his nephews. Some of the reasons don't make sense to me & I tried pushing him to move. But in the end of the day, he is not comfortable with moving yet. Its much easier for me to adjust (re-evaluate) my dream than to push someone else. So I will hang in this tiny apartment for bit longer & stop treating it as temporary abode, which I have been for last 2 years.
my main problem after this realization of me being a dreamer is:
1) even if I get my perfect house someday will I be a slob and make mess of that house. I have friends who are messy and regardless of how big there house is, it is still messy. Then there are people with simple place but beautifully organized.
2) When I de-clutter the place is bla, when I add things on its cluttered. how do I find that balance?
even if I get my perfect house someday will I be a slob and make mess of that house.
Only you can fix this.
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