Recently my husband and I were planning to adjust our lives back to being a full house again. Yes, both the kids are graduating from college and moving back home. The "boomerang kids". We hope it doesn't last long - not because we don't love them mind you, but because it means they'll have their own jobs and live self-sufficiently. And because we've enjoyed being empty nesters for several years now.
So how does one adjust to this major life change? Organizing. The kids are moving the lives they've lived the last several years back into our home and how do we find room for all that? Purging our own unnecessary things.
We went thru every room in the house, every closet, cupboard, storage room, desk drawer, you name it - we went thru it. What I realized when going thru some of those drawers, etc. is how a house that has been your home for several years (20+ in my case) isn't what you may actually need now, or it doesn't function like it once did for your family's needs. Yes, when the kids move out for the last time, I think we will too.
I came across a file that was my "inspiration" file where I had pulled photos from magazines, fliers, images from projects we had worked on at Gunkelmans and a few things hit me as I was doing this task. One is that the ideas of a variety images I had pulled from magazines, I should have done many of those things - they would have made my life less complicated. Such as drawer organizers. Hello! I now want one in every drawer. Especially that kitchen utensil "junk drawer" needs one, or that cabinet shelf that houses everything from batteries to a pencil sharpener - which you can never seem to find either one when you need it.
The second thing that made me have an "aha" moment (in the words of Oprah) in my week of organizing and purging, is that classic, tasteful design lasts forever. Some of the images of rooms or items that weren't classic in nature made me wonder "why did I ever think this looked nice?!" and yet, the classic, tasteful designs - some of which were over 10 years old still looked fresh and new.
I could tell which images of rooms were by designers like Tom Gunkelman and Karen McKay, Barbara Barry, Vicente Wolf to name a few, who understand that design is more than just buying things to fill a space. Design has a purpose, good design can last a very long time without being dated, good design functions well.
I'm happy to know that I've made smart investments with my home furnishings and that in my next home many of these furnishings will travel well with me.
Images: Organized Living, Gunkelmans, Barbara Barry, Vicente Wolf
