The Half-Assed Decorator: The Half-Assed Decorator's Tools, Number One: COURAGE

Thursday, January 19, 2012

The Half-Assed Decorator's Tools, Number One: COURAGE

This truly is the most important part of decorating. Making that leap without thought of the possibility of failure. Making the commitment to try something new, wild, unusual, or just out of your comfort zone. And it's not hard. Even if you're a commitment-phobe, the beauty of being a Half-Assed Decorator is that you're not investing much money or time. Keep these rules in mind to boost your courage when necessary:

1. If you can't see the back of it, it doesn't really matter how the back looks.
2. If at first you hate it, give it a couple of days (or weeks), you may get used to it. Or grow to love it.
3. If you don't spend a lot of money, a failed project is really no big deal. If you spent $5 on a vase and it no longer works with your decor, spray paint it. It might look great. If it doesn't, you're out $5 and five minutes' spray-painting time.
4. Your friends and family will still love to be in your home with you, even if that beige you picked out turned out to be way too pink. In fact, they'll admire your pioneer spirit.
5. The more Half-Assed Decorating you do, the better you'll get at it.
6. No one is looking at your decor up close. Really.

Seriously, I have an eye for decorating, and I'd so much rather see someone's house done up in a style I hate than see white walls and ceiling fan lighting. (You'll eventually catch on to my hatred for overhead lighting.) I'm not a fan of country decor, but we recently stayed with family members that had their house covered in quilts, and they had committed to it so well I was impressed and felt extremely comfortable there. Not my taste, but I loved it. Express yourself, and the people that love you will love your home.

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What's This About?

I am a professional decorator. Really. A suburban, low-budget one with no formal training, but nonetheless, people do pay me for my work. Some of it can be seen here: http://www.newperspectiveinteriors.net/. When doing a job for a paying client, I try my best not to be Half Assed. After
all, they could be Half Assed themselves for free. But I am always cheap, and can help people over the hurdle of “I just don’t know what to do!” by showing them the big picture. So why would I share my ideas and tricks of the trade with you for free? Well, because I am Half Assed, I don’t do a wonderful job of marketing our business, so we don’t get a ton of work. And
because I like to share. Sharing’s my favorite.

If you hate decorating, this is not the blog for you. If you’re the kind of person who wants fine, quality items, lovingly chosen with care by someone with impeccable taste, and you want a timeless style that will last until you have grandchildren, there probably won’t be much for you here. If you’re a perfectionist, you will be utterly horrified. And if you’re in the market for expensive, rare fabrics and $10,000 window treatments, you may even find my projects awful. But if you love to change things around, mix up your style every few years, try new things constantly, I can help you. If you have almost no decorating budget, I can help you. If you think you have no
creativity or style, you’re not crafty or handy, and you’re sick to death of white walls and overhead lighting, I can help you. These are the tricks I’ve learned by trial and error over the
years, decorating and redecorating my own house, the houses of friends and clients, and office spaces.

I can’t promise to blog with any predictability, but I can promise that if you check in from time to time, you’ll find pictures, projects, ideas and guidance.

I’m not a photographer, and I’m far too Half-Assed to hire one for this blog. So the photos come from my $100 digital camera and may be grainy and poorly lit. My videos will be the same, and also filled with me stumbling over my words, while the phone rings or the dog barks in the background. Sometimes I will be too Half-Assed to get out of my PJs or put on lipstick to film them. But that’s what Half-Assed is all about…doing just that bare minimum to get the job done.