Not So Extreme Home Makeover

by Mary Ann Romans | More from this Blogger

19 Aug 2009 08:18 AM

If you have been following my blogs, you might be aware that I'm a big fan of decluttering and organizing while still maintaining a house that never seems to be far from clutter. Now to my defense (watch out, rationalizing here), I have three young children, a work at home career, a hardworking husband in the middle of a huge work project and a healthy sense of procrastination.

But I still hate clutter and the feeling that there is no space. So why is it that in the past few weeks we have added three very large items to our home?

The first item came in the form of a used swing set. You know that we had been looking for a suitable one for quite some time. This isn't too bad, since it required that clutter (brush, weeds and dead or dying trees) be cleared from the backyard. The swing set fits in nicely back there and ads to a sense of being a family home, so that works for me (not to mention that the kids are having a blast with it).

The second addition came in the form of a free elliptical trainer that we were given through Freecycle, a great website to both get things that you are looking for as well as declutter your home by giving away stuff. That went into the basement, and while it is used where it is, it is offering further motivation to get the basement finished out or at least semi-finished. Sigh. I just want to empty that whole space out and start from scratch.

The third addition is a new dining room set, also long planned. We got lucky at a recent yard sale. The table and chairs now make the space feel as though it is a part of a real home, as though we are actually adults. The wood is cherry, which we love, and the chairs are elaborately carved, which we are learning to appreciate. The clutter problem here is what to do with the old game table. For a couple of days it sat in the living room/playroom making the space look too cluttered. Now it is banished to the spare room while I figure out how to rearrange a space to accommodate it for games and crafts.

Mary Ann Romans writes about everything related to saving money in the Frugal Blog, creating a home in the Home Blog and caring for little ones in the Baby Blog. You can read more of her articles by clicking here.

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Learn more about Mary Ann Romans

Mary Ann Romans is a freelance writer, wife and mother of three children. She lives in Pennsylvania with her husband, the kids and a 16-pound cat.

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thequeenofthecastle (413) 21 Aug 2009 11:04 AM

You know a great way I've found to kind of make an ornate, classical piece of furniture feel fresh and contemporary is to paint it a solid color. It kind of minimizes the "frump" factor while still showing off the details. I love painting chairs black and leaving the table wood. It is a really nice combo and I've seen it done in some of the high end stores catalogs, so I think you can pull it off very nicely with a high end effect. I also recommend a paint with a little bit of gloss. Spray paint works best because it goes on nice and even and gets into all the little details nicely. The secret is to be patient and paint several light, even layers of paint letting them dry in between.