Living Richly Recommendation No.1: Consider an Interior Designer

Have you met my motto?

When I re-branded my site in 2010, I thought long and hard about the common theme that would tie my endeavors all together.  Providing inspiration and producing events to encourage others to live richly is what I love doing and so it made perfect sense.  Yes, I’m all about celebrating life (after all, it IS the party), but people need and want the resources and tools to do so. And since I really enjoy helping others “up” their lifestyle quotient – voila! I found my focus.

And it’s so lovely to be reminded from time to time that I’m truly living on purpose.

For example, tonight I got a text message from a dear friend:

Today I did something u told me to do 2 years ago and it was awesome…Had an interior designer come and consult on almost the entire house! Best $150 spent ever! We have already started rearranging and we can already see and feel the difference!! Should have followed your advice long ago.

Well, who knew I was so clever? Not only had I completely forgotten that I’d shared that advice, but Lord knows I should be practicing what I preach! Because, friends, my house is about as far away from Feng Shui as you can get.  Nevertheless, apparently, I haven’t always been a lost cause in the home design department because I remember inviting an interior design friend over to consult on our basement space when I was in the process of converting the spare bedroom into a home office.

Here’s what I learned from that experience:

An Interior Designer Can Give You…

A Fresh Perspective. You walk the halls of your house day in and day out – do you even notice color of the paint in your foyer or the accents over the mantle anymore? A new pair of eyes, a trained pair of eyes, can offer a fresh perspective on what has faded into the background for you.

Expertise. Interior Designers are trained professionals. They’ve learned all about focal points and balance and function and all of those important things that turn a room into a work of living art that makes you smile every time you walk in.  It’s more than just buying a snazzy new set of throw pillows (trust me, I’ve tried).

Solutions. Got a weirdly shaped space? Need the room to serve two functions? Have champagne taste and a beer budget? These pros are problem solvers to the umpth-degree. The best ones have an eye for taking a “problem spot” and transforming it to just what you’ve imagined…or more.

An Improved Lifestyle. Clutter can cause stress.  Lack of color (or the wrong colors) can negatively impact your mood.  Wasted space can frustrate.  A dearth of light can depress.  It’s not just decorating – it’s changing your lifestyle for the better.

So, if you’re like me and get pangs on envy each time you take a peek inside a celeb’s home while reading InStyle, know that you, too, can have a fabulously fabulous home with a little help from an interior designer.

It just might not be until your 4-year-old learns that popsicles actually melt when you set them down on the pretty microsuede couch while you play with your rocket ship.  Hypothetically speaking.