Gee dlm2000, you've been so much help to me on my various posts, that I'd really like to help you out. However, the only reason my decor is sparse at the moment is because it's all piled to the ceilings in our MB sitting area and spare bedroom.

I'll be looking forward to the responses you get, myself. :)

This bare enough for ya? Hahaha! Just kidding. This was after we pulled the carpet up and re-finished the floor. I'll try to take some new pics tomorrow. I think much of my "spare and bare" decorating stems from not knowing how to accessorize, making a lot of mistakes, and giving up. I'm also happiest when my house is neat and clean, and it's easier to keep a bare house clean then a cluttered one.

I also have a lot of tchotchkes from my Mom, but 95% are tucked away.

The clutter that bothers me the most is on kitchen counters -- absolutely can't stand stuff all over the counter!

{{!gwi}}

I don't know if my style "fits", but I do like restraint. I've had plenty of people tell me that I need more "stuff" (metal scroll work, prints, shelves, etc.), but it's just not me.

I know my bedding isn't ironed. I can deal with it if you can.

jeanninepc99, I love what you've done with your home. I wouldn't change a thing.

Happytobehome, I'll look forward to your photos!

jeannine I LOVE your style and also your description - RESTRAINT - how perfect! That's exactly where I am on the spectrum, a bit to the tailored, a bit of negative space but hopefully not so much to be cold. Your rooms are lovely.

parma, how sweet of you :) I only wish I had stuff piled up in transition - haven't quite made it to that point yet!

happytobehome I love YOUR restraint - how, um..... streamlined ;-) Boy you are singin' my song on how a clean house is mood altering and the kitchen counters???? OY!! My boys are both in town, my kitchen is in constant chaos and it's driving me nuts! I'm trying so hard to just go with the flow - they have, shall we say, far different cooking styles and cleaning standards than I have so my mantra is to remind myself how much I miss them when they're gone! Right now my oldest and I are cooking in preparation for a family funeral on saturday and my kitchen is a war zone. I should get a picture.

Thanks a bunch jeanninepc99. Now that I've seen your beautiful home I don't want to post my pics. How am I supposed to follow that? ;)

Just remember, I said "bare" not "pretty".

Thanks, guys. I still have a kitchen, bathroom, and a lot of living room that I didn't show...because it's less than photo ready.

I should qualify it all and say that I'm single, without kids, and have moved A LOT in my life (I think I'm up to 7 times in 12 years). I am just starting to stop thinking about "do I want to move this" when I buy something.

A distaste for shopping, lack of time and money for shopping, and an indecisive personality lend themselves very well to this type of decorating. :)

I tend to think I have a more spare style.

Below is a link to my old house and you can see what I mean. Don't have access to pics of our current one, which I think has more stuff up and out than I like, but DH has to be happy too.

In my old house I didn't have more than things that were required. For example night stands held a lamp and whatever book or magazine I was reading. Maybe a glass of water vs. I tend to see decor items on those as well. Walls had a few pictures and groupings of pics, but there was still plenty of empty wall space.

My mantel was pretty spare too in number of items, but I loved the set-up on the mantle.

I didn't have anything but remotes on my coffee table, not a ton of pillows on the sofa/chairs etc.

My mind isn't at peace with too much stuff everywhere. DH likes a more decorated space as in more stuff as he thinks it looks bare, but he also calls them dust collectors, so I don't know what to do in his case. I have a few more items out than I would prefer in our house now.

Here is a link that might be useful: Pics from old house

After our recent move, I unpacked all my tchotch in the basement. It's been piled onto shelves, just like my very own HomeGoods. (Well, none of it actually came from HomeGoods, but YKWIM.) I've been bringing it up slowly and have only tapped about a third.

I just read a suggestion (in House Beautiful perhaps) to pull everything once a year and start over, using what you have, but with a fresh eye....and with less.

When I look at my rooms, they always seem to be lacking in WTs and not one piece of furniture has a skirt. I know some advise to stay away from a "leggy look" but it's just what I seem to be drawn to. After tchotchkes, I think over-stuffed fluffy furniture with lots of detail (tucks, buttons, nailheads, skirts, etc.) are the #2 reason for a non-spare look.

You asked for a teacher and I forgot to mention Mariette Himes Gomez. I think she is the Queen of Spare! She manages a very clean look while staying quite traditional. I'll give you a link to her site. Look for her books Houses and Rooms, as well.

Here is a link that might be useful: MHG

Lena your style has always drawn me in. The breathing room makes every piece special, almost scuptural.

My problem is it seems I go through this every year and it's always during the winter. I want to clear everything out but we're months away (like 5 or 6!) from garage sale season and by the time we get there, I'm working in the garden and have no desire to prep for one. I don't have the room in my basement to stash stuff for all that time, either. Sigh......I need a taskmaster.

oops - missed your last post amy - I've seen her before somewhere.....yummy! Of course those tall ceilings, and bare windows where privacy (or light control) isn't an issue are not part of my world!

My bedroom
is kept completely clutter-free and I love keeping it that way.

I've had people ask me if I ever use my kitchen, I just don't like to have much on the counters in there.

On my kitchen table I took all of the vitamis and napkins and stuff and put them in a little box to declutter that area.

All of your Spare & Bare rooms are so pretty. They should be in magazines, they're so lovely! I have none to offer, as my home isn't like that, but can admire the ones posted here.
Lynn

jeanninepc99, your dining room is really lovely. I hope you don't mind that I have saved your photo as an inspiration shot for "staging" our dining room when the house goes on the market. So pretty!

I am really begining to like spare (have too much artwork to do bare). We have stored a ton of our stuff over the last two weeks and unexpectedly I absolutely love the sparseness. We have filled two storage units and I can't believe I had room for it all in the first place. In my new place I plan to be extremely selective about the "bringing in" part.

I am an accumulator at heart, however. I love old oil portraits of women, and to me they are like potato chips and diamonds all at once.

On the good side, I have solidly gotten over the Italian floral tole phase, due to upkeep issues. I am only keeping one chandelier and that's because it's got the beautiful pink porcelain flowers and doesn't show dust much anyway. Otherwise, dusting tole is the pits. (If anyone reading this likes floral tole, for gosh sake, let me know how you keep it clean! Q-tip?)

I'll probably just have to have the mother of all garage sales, and then abide by the strict rule of something in, something out. I hope we'll have more threads like this...everyone's pictures were very inspiring.

Joanna

Tradewind, I also really enjoyed my "staged" house.

I love my books, all bazillion of them, but it was awfully nice to clear the decks and get them out of the house...living room, in particular. Because I cannot take the advice to group them according to size and/or color, rather than by subject matter, they are just inherently a hodge-podge mess. I don't think I'll ever put so many books back in a LR again if I can help it.

Spare and bare: I wish! Or I should say, my husband wishes even more. When my Dad passed away 2 years ago I moved a few of their better pieces into this house, but without really making room for them. I have a sofa, loveseat, 2 armchairs and 2 side chairsÂall in the same room! I think IÂm giving away my old sofa on CL this weekend, but IÂll have to see if it actually happens. ItÂs been harder to sell or even to give stuff away than I thought.

And my momÂs decorative thingies are still in boxes in the basement. Admittedly a small selection only. I kept some of those things for the sake of childhood associations, but they donÂt go with my décor. What am I going to do with them?

Maybe I donÂt need a "Spare and Bare" teacher, but rather a "Spare and Bare" hypnotist.

Jeannine,

Can you tell me where you got that headboard and beautiful lamps? I love how it all works together.

Spare and bare is how I would like to be, but I have a difficult time doing it with all my books, magazines, laziness, and other people in the house!

Sure, Pam. The bed (there's a footboard and side rails), unfortunately, doesn't seem to be available anymore. I got it, from all places, on the JC Penny website. I had my doubts, but I was really pleased with the upholstery work.

The lamps/shades are from a local store called The Shade Shop, but I have seen very similar lamps at Target and Restoration Hardware. The shades are ovals with gold on the inside and black on the outside...I haven't seen them at any chains.

By the way, this might make you all chuckle. I posted my dining room on Rate My Space today and already have "you need x, y, z" comments. Back when I posted my bedroom, I got suggestions for added shelves and iron scroll stuff to the area over the bed. I understand the "more is more" approach, but I think some people assume that "less is more" type rooms are just unfinished. :)

I got into "spare and bare" because the 90s country clutter look left me surrounded by dirt and dust! I was so busy buying and making all that crap that I didn't make time to clean and the result was cluttered YUCK!

I don't have any pictures up of what my house looks like now, but one of my mentors is Don Aslett, the cleaning guru. He wrote a book called "Make Your House Do the Housework," which has a lot of theory and tips on home decoration styles that are easier to clean.

He is also very anti-clutter, and his books "Not for Packrats Only" and "Clutter's Last Stand" provided the motor-vation for us to declutter towards a "spare and bare" look. Those are two books I DIDN'T declutter, and whenever I need to get motivated to declutter, I read a chapter and the next thing I know, I am in the middle of things, decluttering away!

Mark Brunetz, the designer on the TV show "Clean House," is also an inspiration--and the whole show is motivation. OMG--did anyone see the first "Messiest House in America" special? My sweetie and I were clutching each other and whimpering, "No! No!"

Here is a link that might be useful: Make Your House Do the Housework

Jeannine, thanks for your response about the headboard and lamps. I checked out the JC Penney website and you were right. That headboard is a Chris Madden design. It appears that they only have two pieces of that collection available - and it's not the bed. That's too bad, but I'm sure I could find something similar. Thanks for the inspiration.

I'm glad you didn't put anything scrolly above the bed. That definitely would clash with the clean lines of the room.

Aw, thanks for the kind comments, Pam. If it helps, here's the rest of the room.