Canadian philosopher
Marshall McLuhan once said, “Art is anything you can get away with.”
Why not take a similar approach when decorating your home? If McLuhan’s definition is to be believed, then there’s room to think well outside the box when adding artistic flourishes to your living space. Consider this your invitation to embrace the unconventional and make your residence a one-of-a-kind original catered to your personal tastes, however avant-garde they might be.
Start outside: Brush up on your fine art skills by painting a do-it-yourself design onto your mailbox. Anything goes: mermaids, dogs, abstract floral designs, realistic portraiture of Bob Dylan … let the neighbors look on with awe. For the more ambitious among us, no one’s stopping you from buying an eye-catching novelty mailbox in the shape of an alligator, tractor, giraffe or even R2-D2. A specialty mailbox can make mailtime as weird, wacky and wonderful as you want.
Nearby, the garden is an ideal place to get playful with art pieces. There’s your standard lawn décor: gnomes, pink plastic flamingos, sparkling suncatchers. But there’s also the potential to opt for something next-level think a large, decorative sundial, a gargoyle statue or a birdhouse customized to look like a tiny replica of your home. Hedges can also be sculpted into intriguing shapes or designs. The sky’s the limit (or the power lines).
Your journey continues indoors. Pick a wall, any wall, and create a mural of your choosing. You can paint it yourself or commission somebody else, but either way, adding a custom art piece to
a room not only amplifies its cool factor but gives it a flair of personality. Case in point: My cousin had a mural that included her dog, a tiny chimpanzee and someone walking a rabbit on a leash painted onto the wall of her childhood bedroom. It was a fun way to individualize the space and few people, if any, can say they had the same exact design. Oh, Daisy, never change!
Next, if you have kids (or grandkids) and they’re constantly churning out artwork like pint-sized Picassos, incorporate their designs into your home. String up a strand of beads or twine in your child’s bedroom and use clothespins to pin up the newest pieces on a rotating basis. Certain companies can also take your child’s artwork think crayon-scribbled monsters, vibrant patterns and playful cartoons and transform them into plushies, pillows and sculptures. Disperse these touches throughout your home for subtle but sweet accents that will make your children feel like bona fide artists.
Don’t focus only on the walls for artistic opportu nities the floors can be great spaces for expres sion, too. Funky vinyl flooring in splashy patterns can refresh a room that was only average before. Or opt for interesting rugs in cool colors or shapes to add some quirk beneath a table, desk or chair.
Above all, make sure that the pieces and flourishes you choose genuinely match your lifestyle and aesthetic. Nothing could be more stilted than trying to inhabit a space that feels like it was designed for someone else. Home, but make it art … and make it your own.
All articles in this publication were written or compiled by Times Total Media.
Times Total Media is the advertising and marketing division of the Tampa Bay Times. Please email questions to timestotalmedia@tampabay.com.
The upsides of working from home are legion: Your commute is a few steps, there’s less wear and tear on your car, a tank of gas lasts way longer, you have more free time, and less of your money goes to restaurant lunches and appropriate office attire. Plus, since you’re home during working hours, you can beat wannabe porch pirates to the punch and pick up deliveries on the spot, and you’ll be on site for repair or install visits.
If you work from home, you’ll need your office to be a source of calm, inspiration, and productivity (Plus, for virtual meetings, an organized, appealing background is nice to have.)
Declutter. Whether you’re working in a spare bedroom, a repurposed closet or an underused space in your home, get as much clutter out of there as you can. Unnecessary papers, junk mail, extra tools, checkbooks, unused or outdated tech, magazines, anything that should be in another room. Clutter looks chaotic and raises your stress level just by being there. Toss, relocate, sell or give away all the stuff that doesn’t belong in your workspace so that you can start with a clean slate. And because they create a feast of distracting clutter of their very own, get cords and wires labeled and organized, and as out of sight as possible.
Organize. Not everyone organizes the same way, and not everyone knows their organizing style –or even that there is such a thing. (Hence, clutter.) Do some research to find the approach that
resonates for you and use it to organize whatever you need for your workday Any organization style that sounds annoying to you, or like too much effort, won’t last, so be realistic about your behavioral tendencies. A good place to start this research is on Cassandra Aarssen’s website, clutterbug.me. She calls herself a “Recovering Super Slob turned Organizing Expert,” so she has probably felt every bit of discomfort you feel regarding this process herself. Check out the quiz on her site to pinpoint your preferred organization style and take it from there. If her process doesn’t speak to you, there are plenty more organizational experts online or at the
bookstore to explore (Marie Kondo is just one who comes to mind), until you land on a method that feels right.
Set it up. Once you know your preferred organization style, you can hit the stores for furniture, and storage and organization aids. That could include a desk or desk system, baskets, stackable plastic containers, lidded storage boxes, cork or magnetic message boards, tech accessories, cable and wire clips and covers, drawer separators, filing cabinets, bookcases big and small whatever makes sense for the type of work you do and the way you prefer to do it. The Container Store has an Office section and a College Shop; both offer loads of smart storage solutions that make optimal use of a small space.
Bargain buys on similar items can be found at Target and Home Goods, as well as consignment stores.
If your office space tends to get hot (a possibility when you have lots of tech, or a small space, or a room on the west side of the house), boost your comfort with a portable desktop air conditioning unit. Examples include the ChillWell, the Evapolar evaCHILL, and Nordic Hygge (pictured). They are desktop-sized, affordable, and run on regular or rechargeable batteries, USB or electricity.
Probably the most important item for your day-to-day comfort is your chair.
You can order online if you prefer, but first visit office stores and departments to sit in and really feel the chairs you’re interested in. If you want to go with an ergonomically designed office chair, expect to pay good money; but you’ll be rewarded with decades of support and comfort.
Personalize it. You have the basics in place; now comes the fun part. Only you know what makes you feel drawn to a space. A deep teal feature wall? Boho decor? A snarky poster? Potted orchids? Personalize your office with those big and little touches that make it reflect you and inspire your creativity. You’re going to spend a lot of time in this space. Whatever you love that you can add will make that time feel less like work ... and more like a pleasure.
When you’re little, themes all the rage, and ther theme (think cartoon characters or adorable animals) for just about everything: backpacks, lunchboxes, toothbrushes, tissues no household object is safe. Nothing, however, is more ubiquitous and “themeable” when you’re young than the crowning jewel of childhood, a themed birthday party To pull off a great themed party, all you have to consistent, whether the theme is Power Rangers, Pretty Pretty Princess or pepperoni pizza.
Why not apply that same wide-eyed, theme-happy wonder to your adult dinner parties? Instead of settling for the old standby of casserole conversation, take your cue from childhood and choose a concept at your next party that gets people really talking. Here, we’ve compiled a list of ideas to help you take your gatherings to the next level. Boring dinner parties, begone!
Murder mystery party: If you like your supper with a side of murder (via live-action role play, of course) look no further. A murder mystery party is your oppor tunity to serve up a delicious meal alongside a Clue-esque whodunnit, with all your guests partaking in the fun. For this event, you’ll choose a theme (1920s Paris; the Wild West; the fabled underwater city of Atlantis) and either write your own mystery or find a party kit online that matches your vision. Guests will portray different characters and will need access to info about their roles ahead of time. Do up your home with theme-appropriate props, wear crazy costumes and let the sleuthing begin!
Medieval party: Dost thou fancy a joust? Fans of Renaissance festivals and folklore would find it most opportune to hold a ye olde medieval party
in their primordial abodes. It’s all about turkey legs, goblets of mead and questionable sartorial comfort at this so-old-it’s-the-Middle-Ages dinner up the finest feast thy neigh hath ever seen and turn up the lute-laden tunes of yore. Or make things modern with medieval-inspired instrumental covers of current-day songs on YouTube. You may just be inspired to display your finest tapestry for the occasion. Don’t forget to include an after-dinner showing of The Princess Bride. To go without it would be inconceivable!
Masquerade party: Make paltry party go from less-than-fantastic to Phantom of Opera faster than you can flee a century Parisian opera house with the addition of fantastical, face-obscuring
masks. Is that Auntie Jo in the green feathered mask? No one can say for certain, because she wasn’t invited, but she’s hovering suspiciously around the charcuterie board in a dress of emerald damask. Isn’t that fun? If you have the space for dancing, there’s always the option to expand your masquerade-themed meal into a masquerade ball. Just be careful doing the waltz with the potential block to peripheral vision.
Dark academia party: Why have a regular dinner party when you can have a dark academia dinner party? Pay homage to the greats in literature and art with a moody, intellectually inspired evening. Enjoy an entrée with a glass or two of wine as candles flicker in your dimly lit dining room. Encourage guests to follow a dress code of collared shirts, knitwear and tailored trousers, the more pretentious the ensemble, the better Hold a mandatory poetry reading in the den, or let a record revolve lazily as guests hold a lively debate over late-night cups of coffee. If you’re a film fanatic, you can’t do without a viewing of Dead Poets Society.
Do you have the standard-issue American garage? As in the embodiment of procrastination dusty, dimly lit, spidery, cracked concrete, motor oil stains, copious cobwebs, an accident-waitingto-happen deathtrap of junk where there’s not even room for a car? I feel your pain.
Maybe this could be your next home-improvement project. Picture this: epoxied floors, all cracks sealed, all corners and surfaces free of dust and cobwebs. Painted drywall with pegboard or space-saving storage cabinets. Overhead storage systems. Everything off the floor. Bright, reliable lighting. Your car fits in here! And your bike! And your lawnmower! And sports gear, gardening equipment and trash and recycling containers! You know where everything is and you’re not embarrassed if anyone sees it! Whoa
You can have this amazing garage, but it’ll take real work. (And you knew that, which is why it’s a nightmare.) But this work will pay off in a very big way, giving your garage function and utility to spare. And if you ever decide to sell your house, that clean, organized, not-scary garage will impress buyers so much, it will do half the work for you.
The first step – preparation, or the dreaded cleaning and decluttering. If you have friends who owe you favors, now’s the time to call them in. Depending on the heat index and the state of your garage, this process could take a couple of days but the more people who join in this effort, the sooner you’ll be done. Turn on an industrial strength fan, play some music, put on a dust mask and have plenty of trash bags and a shop vac at the ready Once you’ve banished all the
junk and duplicate items, sorted the chemicals, and vacuumed up the dust and cobwebs, it’s time to decide what you want to store here. Mountain bikes? Kayaks? Sports equipment? Paints and chemicals? Hurricane plywood or shutters? Gardening supplies? Holiday decorations? All of the above?
At this point, hiring a garage design and organizing professional, even just for a day or for smart advice, would help you figure out how to go forward.
Floors. Do you want to epoxy the floors? (Not a must-do, but it really makes your garage look polished. The pros can do it in about a day; it takes an additional four days to cure.) Other options for the floor include glazing the concrete, or installing snap-together or interlocking tile, or rolls of garage flooring.
Walls. If your walls are concrete block, installing drywall and pegboard will give you more options for hanging storage and organization solutions, including open shelving or tall cabinets. If your garage is a little wider than average, or you have a two-car garage but only use one car, deck boxes (i.e. for pool gear) can sit against the wall and hold a number of items. Label these containers so you’ll always know what’s in them. Also, if your electrical panel is in the garage, make sure it is as visible and easy to get to as possible. (Ditto
for the AC. The more accessible it is, the more likely you will replace the filters every month, fix leaks and clean out algae buildup before any of that becomes a problem.) While you’re at it, oil the garage door framework so it doesn’t wake the neighbors when you come and go. They will thank you.
Overhead. Most garages have plenty of overhead space, which can be commandeered for things you use infrequently. Store labeled bins holding those items in an overhead storage rack. You can store things like bikes, kayaks, and hockey and skiing equipment in the upper reaches of your garage as well.
Items like lidded storage bins, shelving and tall or wall-mounted storage cabinets, as well as overhead storage systems, can be found in Lowe’s, Home Depot, Workpro, Amazon and Wayfair, among others. Whether you put in the work yourself or hire a garage organizing pro for help, your garage could ultimately become the highest functioning, most-favorite room in your house. Who knew?
