My Top 5 Tips For A Well Designed Life ...

Now that Spring is fast approaching, I’m sure everyone is itching to do some cleaning out and freshening up. You might be thinking of getting your place ready for sale or jazzing up your place to make it better reflect your awesomeness. If you’re planning the former, feel free to contact me for Home Staging. If the latter, I give you My Top 5 Tips for creating the well designed life I push here and in my business. Let’s just dive in.


1 Spend Money
If you think good Design is expensive, you should see what bad design costs. The cost of your home is ongoing and just like you coughed up for a decent lawnmower, snow shovel and deck stain, you can’t cheap out on your interior. This means you have to spend money, especially on things you use a lot like sofas, chairs, paint and appliances. A decent sofa should cost $2000-$4000 and be too heavy to pick up on one side with one hand. If you buy cheap, you’ll buy twice. Don’t let sticker shock get you. This brings me to #2:


2 Get A Line Of Credit
The interest rate on a credit card is about 20%. A line of credit is about 3%. Buy things you need with your credit card (especially if you get AirMiles or CashBack points), then use the line of credit to pay off the card balance as soon as the bill comes in. Your bank will take manageable payments out of your account each month until it’s paid off. It’s way more fiscally responsible, you’ll barely notice the monthly payments and you’ll be less inclined to buy cheap.


3 Close Your Blinds
When I was kid, part of my allowance earning chores was to pull the blinds down in our Living Room when I got home from school. An easy task I thought silly but my Mother was right to ensure it got done. Sunlight is as bad for your furniture as it is for vampires. The UVA/UVB rays that damage your skin will also fade the dyes of your upholstery fabrics and rugs and turn your silk drapes to dust. If you live on a tree lined street this isn’t a big one, but it’s a must for condo/apartment dwellers who get a lot of light.


4 Entertain
Everything is energy including your home. Having people over for brunch, games nights, BBQs will fill your space with positive energy and keep your place ‘alive’. It also nurtures your friendships which is a super important part of life we often push aside when we get caught up in the day to day parts of life. It also combats our current trend of relating mostly through our phones. That can feel like you’re connecting or doing something real but you’re not. Use your phone to invite people over instead.


5 Look Your Best

I have a simple rule for always looking your best everytime you leave the house and here it is. Every home should have two things : a full length mirror and brutal honesty. This may sound trite or harsh but it’s true. Give yourself the full once over before you head out everyday whether for work or play. And not just to ensure you don’t have broccoli in your teeth. If something is too tight or too big, ditch it. Off-the-rack suit a little shlumpadinka? Take it to a tailor. Rip in the seat of your jeans you didn’t know of? Grab your khakis or at least be wearing cute undies. Everyone is uniquely different but looking at yourself from head to toe and being truthful about the architecture of your body will ensure you always look great.


So there you have it. My top 5 Tips I think everyone should know to have effortless style. It just takes a little effort. Until next time, thanks for reading and striving to live The Well Designed Life.


Steve