Redesign and Relationships- By Scott Hathcock

I can’t tell you how many times we move furniture and artwork around our house before it settles into a permanent spot.  We like change, and for that reason rely heavily on the rotation of using what we have rather than acquiring new stuff (or moving) to feed our habit.  In our house, “permanent” only means lasting more than 6 months before we get the itch to switch it out.  As the need for change relates to our relationships…well, it works like this. I am happy to move heavy furniture and rehang art AND she is happy to sign-off (or not) on what I’ve done. In other words, Kiersten typically gives the final say and very rarely do I involve her in the physical labor part and here is why.  I like to see my options in how furniture looks in the different spaces and sometimes that means moving furniture around more than once.  I understand how this might drive a spouse or friend crazy if they were to be included in my process, SO I don’t.  For our relationship, we find it works best when I just wait and give her the “big reveal.” We will periodically try her taking a stab at the first run, but typically she loses interest halfway during the process and I take over anyway. 

With ever-changing rooms, no single room is safe with the exception of my son’s.  Ironically, he is not a fan of change or of good design so we avoid his room at any cost.  The rest of the rooms are fair game.  Adding one piece of artwork or furniture to any room has the potential of starting a massive domino effect for total home re-arrangement EXCEPT in Noah’s room.  My process with him is quite different. My wife and I just recently upgraded our children’s beds from twin size to standard platform beds (this was approved by our son Noah).  Who would have thought that move would have affected the way our foyer looks now? Actually, I did because it gave me the creative licensing to make other changes that I had been wanting to.  In the end, he had a total room makeover without really realizing the complete displacement.  He accepted the change believing it was all in the name of good “function” and I got what I wanted from the “form.” The lesson here is to know your audience and plan accordingly.

Now, on to my daughter’s room, Grace, where the opposite is true for her and redesign.  She would like to redecorate her room daily, BUT let’s just say her tastes haven’t fully developed and they tend to follow her Disney Channel viewing habits.  So, with Grace, Kiersten and I tend to make design changes while she is out of the house.  We do take her ideas into consideration though and modify them…greatly.  Then, once we have completely finished making our change, with great “move-that-bus” enthusiasm, we sell her on the changes we’ve made and position them as if they had been her own. 

That’s our formula and it’s had a 100% success rate in this family.  What works for you?