You Might Already Own What Your Room Needs

Have you ever looked around your home and thought, I don’t hate it, but something just isn’t working?

That’s usually when we start thinking about what we could buy. A new sofa, different artwork, another lamp. Maybe a trip to HomeSense will magically solve it.

But after more than 25 years of working in people’s homes, buying something new is rarely where I start. I start by looking at what you already have.

You Stop Seeing Your Own Home

When you live with the same furniture and décor every day, you stop really seeing it. The chair has always been in that corner. The artwork has always hung over the sofa. The console is on that wall because that’s where you put it when you moved in.

So when a room doesn’t feel right, it’s easy to assume you need different things.

Often, you don’t.

Sometimes the sofa is perfectly fine, but the furniture arrangement isn’t working. Sometimes there are too many small things competing for attention. Sometimes a lamp, chair or piece of art from another room is exactly what the space needs. And sometimes the thing you’re convinced you need to replace is actually one of the best pieces in the room.

Look Around Before You Shop

This is what I mean when I talk about shopping your home. It’s not about turning old scarves into cushions or finding a crafty new purpose for everything you own.

It’s about looking at your home differently.

Walk through the other rooms. Is there a lamp nobody really notices? A chair that has never quite worked where it is? Artwork tucked away because you don’t know where to hang it?

Try moving things around before buying anything new. Even taking everything off a bookshelf and putting back only what you really want there can completely change how a room feels.

Sometimes You Need Another Set of Eyes

This is one of my favourite parts of what I do. A homeowner might tell me, “I think I need a new sofa.” Meanwhile, I’m looking at the room thinking, The sofa isn't the problem.

It might be the rug, the lighting, the scale of the furniture or simply how everything is arranged. When you’ve lived with a room for years, it can be almost impossible to see those things anymore.

I haven’t lived with your room, so I see it differently. And very often, the answer isn’t replacing everything. It’s figuring out how to make what you already own work better.

Before You Buy Something New, Look Again

Your home doesn’t have to look like everyone else’s. The things you’ve collected, inherited, saved for and kept because you love them are what make it yours.

So the next time you feel like a room needs something new, take another look first.

You might already own exactly what it needs.

Still can't see what's not working? 

My Shop Your Home Session gives you another set of experienced eyes on your space. We'll figure out what's working, what isn't and what you can change using what you already have.

Learn more about my Shop Your Home Session.