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diy-03/04 S
pring is the perfect time to get
organized, clean away the staleness
of winter, and throw open the
windows to let inside the vital energy of
clean, fresh air. Hopefully this months
makeover will inspire each of us to
tackle the tough job of getting
organized.
Recently I received a call from Tory
Schmitz, who had received some
unexpected cash for a speech and
decided to spend it on freshening up
the main living spaces in her circa-l963
house in one of Houstons older
neighborhoods.
A regular reader of Houston House
& Home, she was very interested in
seeing what could be done using
essentially her same furnishings and
possessions. I thought previous DIY
makeovers looked livable, yet also
beautiful and classy, she explains, and
I wanted that for our house.
Before we met, I asked Tory and
her husband, Mike Dingus, to go
through magazines and books and mark
pictures of rooms they really liked.
When I visited them for the rst time,
she showed me photo after photo of
rooms with natural wood trim, strong
mustard-colored walls and lots of color
in ethnic accessories and rugs.
I was surprised at how quickly you
pointed out these themes in the photos
we had selected, Tory says, and that
you suggested painting walls right off
the bat. (The couple had moved into
the house with a one - and a ve- year-
old, and painted everything white.
Getting paint on the walls was all we
could manage, Tory says, laughing.
The kids are now 14 and 18 years old.)
The one thing I noticed
immediately was how the pale lavender
and gray wallpaper in the entry hall
died against the beautiful red Oriental
rugs and colorful artwork. The only
way to balance the rug color was with
color on the walls, which meant
eliminating the wallpaper. They were
reticent. We lived for weeks with big
paint samples taped up on the walls and
decided we would never know unless
we tried it. It was a leap of faith. Once
we agreed to go ahead, Mike and I
worked together on stripping wallpaper,
spackling and painting, she explains.
DINING ROOM DECISION
A surprise for Tory was my focus on the
dining room, which was one of the rst
rooms you see upon entering the house.
It was, shall we say, stuck. There was art
pinned to the walls from when the kids
were in grade school. The piano was
2
HOUSTON HOUSE & HOME
free your homes chi from
d i y d e c o r a t i n g
clutter
spring cleaning
and a dash of
color work
wonders
by joetta moulden
photography by janet lenzen
After: The living room, made cheery with polenta yellow walls, is much more livable now that its free of clutter. The wicker hamper serves as a coffee table while storing some of the childrens board
games that had previously been stacked in the dining room.
After: Enlarged and neatly framed travel photos remind the couple of favorite places theyve been. In
place of the piano is a sideboard anked by ladderback chairs that have been painted black. 3
MARCH 2004
crammed behind the dining table,
which was placed perpendicularly in the
small room. Their sons unused magic
show was against one wall. Deep
wooden shelving, suitable for the
garage, held Monopoly and other
games. The microwave and trash can
were in the corner. The cat food was on
the dining table to keep it away from
the dog. The window did not match
the parlors new stained bay window,
located right next to itand both face
the street.
Surprisingly, Tory did not have the
dining room on her wish list, but
knowing how evil clutter is, and how it
completely stagnates the energy in a
house, I suggested she tackle that room
rst, to clear the roadblock and to get
the ball rolling.
I thought that the dining
room/playroom/music room was a lost
cause. I guess I tuned it out, seeing it as
a project for some future time, Tory
says.
FENG SHUI PRINCIPLES
I am a big believer in feng shui, the
mystic art of placement, which has been
practiced for thousands of years in
China. The Chinese do not consider
homes to be inanimate objectsrather
they believe homes radiate an energy
eld called chi. Chi is energy that enters
into our homes through doors and
windows, and radiates from both the
furnishings and the people and animals
who reside there. Strong, healthy
people, thriving houseplants, and pets
with gleaming eyes and coats means
there is healthy chi in the home.
Chi ows around our furnishings,
caressing us with positive energy and,
conversely, distressing us with negative
energy. We have all been in homes that
feel good" and those that feel
uncomfortable". Since clutter is pure,
negative energyand thus bad feng
shui, we need to eliminate it, ideally as
part of spring cleaning.
Clutter is very berating, and "talks"
before
before
before
before
The lavender and gray colors of the wallpaper in the entry couldnt stand up to the bold colors of the
couples art and furnishings.
The dining room was essentially being used for storage. 4
HOUSTON HOUSE & HOME
to us constantly. Clutter says, "Take me
to the cleaners". "File me". "Give me to
Goodwill." "Take me to be repaired."
"Dust me, wash me, hang me up, put me
away in a drawer."
Clutter is a scrap of paper with a
phone number scribbled onto it, a half-
wrapped package not taken to the post
ofce, an un-returned purchase in a bag
on the oor, loose change emptied onto a
dresser top-in short, unnished business.
In order to turn down the volume on all
the noise that clutter makes and have
some peace in your home, it is vital to
develop a plan of attack. Since clutter will
not go away by itself, you have to take the
reins and make it disappearjust like
Tory did.
My favorite organization book,
which I encourage clients to read, is
Lighten Up! Free Yourself From Clutter,
by Michelle Passoff. Tory bought the
book the same afternoon we met, and
nished reading it that evening. Within
24 hours, she had cleared every scrap of
clutter from the dining room and had
switched the piano and the sideboards
locations, and turned the dining table to
parallel the long wall. She was denitely
on a roll!
Successfully eliminating clutter
implies that you are making a move in
your life. Throughout the clearing
process, you must ask yourself many
questions about what is- and what is
notrelevant to the life you really want
to be living. Brutal honesty, author
Passoff says, is the key to success. The fear
of regret or of making mistakes keeps
people from tossing out objects or
making simple decisions. Tory knows
rsthand how tough this process can be.
I carefully sorted the games, puzzles and
toys that were in the dining room. Some
I moved upstairs to kids' rooms, many
went to Goodwill, some to the trash, and
the remainder went into the wicker
basket, she says. The greatest value in
letting go of what no longer has a place in
your life is that it sets you free.
We were ready to begin our adult
life and make more physical and mental
room in our lives, now that our daughter
has left for college and our son has started
high school, Tory explains. Not only
was there a decrease in teenage physical
clutter, but a decrease in the amount of
mental space which was consumed with
homework, college applications, Girl
Scouts, swim meets and carpooling. I was
ready to spend more time on other
things, she says.
ACTION PLAN
The rst visit resulted in a pages-long
master plan, which included future
replacement of the dining window to
match that in the parlor, selection of
paint colors and space planning. We
selected C2 Paints Turkish Market for
the dining room and entry, and
Polenta for the parlor, family room and
kitchen.
Board games were relegated to a
wicker chest (found in a back bedroom,
which we moved into the parlor for a
coffee table). Space was found in the
kitchen for a smaller, new microwave.
The trash can found a new home in the
kitchen. Beautiful area rugs were
rearranged. Chairs were moved, and the
piano and sideboard were assigned to
their new, ipped positions. The rest of
our work was done with e-mails and
sending photos back and forth, including
the idea for enlarging and framing their
favorite photos for the dining room wall.
Once the room was cleaned out, I
suggested she nd some Windsor chairs
for the table (four for $ 99 at Alabama
Furniture) and paint the two red
ladderback chairs black, and place them
on each side of the rosewood sideboard.
Tory had PhotoWorks blow up the
photos, bought six 16 x 20 frames at
Cost Plus Warehouse, and had mats for
the entry hall and dining room art cut by
Ardens Picture Framing (my favorite
framer).
Unbeknownst to me, Mike had two
specic desires in this redecorating
project: to gain a dining room and to
have a place to display photos. So for
Mike, Having a real dining room was far
and away my favorite change, he says.
Tory and I both love photography. We
trade secrets
To declutter like Tory, handle one item at a time
just once. It should go into the keep pile, the
Goodwill pile or the trash pile.
Dont re-clutter what you just decluttered! If you
just cleared off a tabletop and wax