That’s a direct quote, actually, from someone who called today about our interior design services.
Crazy, right? We’re living through a once-in-a-hundred-years pandemic, afraid to get within six feet of our best friends, hesitant to touch doorknobs, and doing mental math like nobody’s business to figure out if it’s been two weeks since you had lunch with that person whose son went to the house of a friend just back from Milan, and if it has been two weeks, are you still feeling normal?
And yet. The person who called is someone like you — like me, like most of us — who is working from home for the foreseeable future. Someone who currently is living a life free from the aggravation of commuting and high heels but is confined to a home that is…how shall I say?…bugging the crap out of her.
My awesome colleague Amy Oliver Beaupré called it. Looking for a bright side (which is not her usual way, which is why I love her) to the COVID-19 crisis, she raised the possibility that maybe, just maybe, all of this working from home would result in an global fit of decorating when it’s all over.
Amy wasn’t the only person to think that a wave of redecorating is imminent. Maura Judkis of The Washington Post had an article in the Style section on Monday that addresses this very issue.
Judkis writes:
“You start to think about the ways your home could be better,” says [Grace Queen, pictured above], who has taken to sending her husband, Kevin Wood — also working from home — “a lot of West Elm links” on breaks: “Maybe we need to paint the guest bedroom. Can we install sconces on this wall?” They decided to get new lamps for the bedroom.
“We might redo one of our guest bathrooms,” says Queen, pausing as something dawns on her: “Now that I’m saying all of this out loud, I’m realizing that in the last four days, we’ve decided to redecorate our entire house.”
To which I say, GREAT.
Now that COVID-19 has forced you to spend many, many hours at home, you may see why no one in your family ever wants to spend time in the living room. It doesn’t have a purpose. There’s no comfortable place to read by yourself, play a game with your family, or have cocktails with friends. It’s not even pretty. And you’ve always hated that table from your grandmother.
Or maybe you’re realizing that your family room needs to work better. The furniture has never been positioned ideally for TV watching. You meant to replace THAT CHAIR after grad school but never got around to it. The rug is a tad too small, and it has stains from incidents you don’t want to think about. And the lighting stinks.
HERE’S WHAT YOU CAN DO when you’re taking a break from work.
First, find pretty pictures. I bet you’re on Pinterest. (You’re reading my blog; of course you’re on Pinterest.) Set up a page for every room that’s bugging you and Pin photos that catch your eye. Don’t overthink.
Second, make lists. Make a list of every last thing you’d like to do in each room. And I mean everything. Really go for it. My own list for my bedroom (the current thorn in my side) goes something like this:
- Nail down palette — favorite colors with light green? [I painted the walls light green in a fit of pique with no further plan. I should know better.]
- Shape and color of headboard?
- Fabrics for pillows, window treatments
- Find rug — do I need a custom size? Flatweave? Wool
- Measure again — any other possible way to arrange furniture?
- Etagère — paint or replace? How much for new? Can I find narrow enough?
- Try and convince John to give up his childhood dresser; propose alternative
- Convert the hall closet into another clothes closet?
- Hang the damn full-length mirror before I break it
- Figure out art situation — move something from another room? May need to find new
Third, prioritize. Redecorating which room would bring you the greatest amount of satisfaction and joy?
Fourth, either go back to Pinterest and start looking for items for your chosen room, or, if you want to call in the big guns,
You call me. Annie Elliott Design is open for business. We don’t need the all-clear from the CDC to get your interior design project started.
We’ll have a 20-minute phone conversation: you’ll talk to me about your goals and priorities, and I’ll tell you how we work and how we can improve your life. We’ll talk about money (no one wants to; everyone needs to). I’ll send you references and a questionnaire. Then we’ll schedule an initial meeting for a month from now, when, hopefully, COVID-19 will be under control.
Remember, if we stop decorating, the virus wins.
Annie Elliott Design is based in Washington, DC, but we travel for fun projects. Annie’s design work and insights have appeared in numerous local and national publications, including The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, The Washington Post, and Washingtonian Magazine. Annie will be participating in the ASPIRE HOUSE, a designers’ showcase, this fall.