I am always looking for new ideas and new arrangements also. And I do think it is cabin fever...the winters seem so long.

Interesting question! Just lately I too have been pondering how I could rearrange rooms - even just a little bit to liven things up - and I even briefly toyed with the idea of ditching most of my Mexican/southwest decor in favor of more of a true 1930s/40s cottage style. (Not happening, by the way - it was a momentary foray into Fantasyland.) I do understand feeling like things have grown slightly stale. Just today I found some gorgeous valances on the sale rack at Target - less than $8 apiece, incredible! - so I bought four and plan to replace the perfectly acceptable, relatively new, valances that I hung not long ago in our home office. I can't really see doing a major overhaul on my house, but a few tweaks here and there seem to provide the freshness I crave.

Same as you...cabin fever! I purchased fabric yesterday;sewed up 2 new pillows by dinner time AND purchased a new serving tray!

Very quickly!! I'm always wanting to change things up...at least in some rooms such as my Family room. Easy updates are pillow covers that can be rotated depending on mood/season. Now, I'm changing the prints.

My problem is that I see so many things I love that I want to introduce some of it in my home. My house is not growing any larger though and neither is my budget:)

It's not so much I get tired of it as it is I'm always tweeking things.
This time of year is especially bad because I'm inside so much. I see all the little things that normally wouldn't bother me. The choice is to dwell on them or find something else constructive to do with my time. Fortunately I have lots of other things to keep me busy.

I only get tired of things that I don't love. For instance, my foyer paint color just looks "off" to me. Now that it's been a few years I feel justified to "think about" painting it a new color.

My family room, on the other hand, makes me smile and feel good. I can't imagine getting tired of it for quite a while. I do, however, change the art work, candles, and pillows with the seasons.

In my last house I was the queen of redecorating until I finally got it where I wanted it. Then I never tired of it. But it took me 30 years to get there. lol

Once I moved, it started all over again. Generally, once I've completed a project I know right away whether I like it or not. If I like it, I tend to stick with it. But overall, I'm a constant decorator.

I don't tire of my furniture. I do easily tire of accessories, lamps (except my parrot lamp), pillows, and rugs, and change them out frequently.

My DH converted one of the entry closets to shelves to contain my inventory of accessories, then added additional shelves to the MBR closet, then added shelves to a room in the basement. But, I really DO use most of what I have. It just may not be for a year or so. Since I'm now retired, I seem to need to change even more frequently, maybe because I'm home more now.
Dee

Very quickly. I did a whole overhaul in my house within 7 years. I'm now trying to buy more expensive/quality pieces but it's scaring me. I know I will have to stick with what I have for a long time. I like options.

I am constantly tweaking and changing things up a bit here and there....mostly just accessories. I have found that by buying only things I truly love and not settling on things that are only mediocre I tend to be satisfied with my rooms for a long time now. Don't ask me how many years it took me to finally figure that all out ;o)
~Des

Mostly, I rearrange furniture, art, lamps, and accessories. I have been doing that today a little and I am always looking around thinking that maybe that would be better here and this would be fun there...

Growing up I shared a (small) bedroom with my older sister. She was always getting me to help her push our furniture around. I couldn't have cared less as long as I was near an outlet to plug a reading outlet into. So, I grew up with an aversion to changing for change's sake. Now, I may take awhile to find what I want and sometimes have buyer's remorse, but if I get it right I'm usually satisfied for quite a while. Then again, the longest I've lived in a house in the last 35 years is 6 years so I'm always trying to rearrange stuff to fit new spaces!

I'm wtih dederae. I really love the furnshings I buy and don't tire quickly. Maybe it's because it takes me such a long time to finally finish a room

As styles change, I tend to become dissatisfied with some things and then realize I need to update and tweak a room. Typically this starts with paint and happens every 8-10 years.

Then I redo the room and keep what I still like, store what's still good but not working at the moment and update what I can afford and want to change.

Yes! When I want something new, my DH tells me to go shopping in my own basement! My DD was recently home for a weekend and she asked me if she could go shopping in the basement for her new condo. Ha! We did have fun finding things for her to take back home and use.

I always think that if I just get that one thing I've had my eye on or do the project I've been thinking (okay, obsessing) about, I will be happy for a long time. I get it or do it, and I'm happy, but it doesn't last that long time I thought it would. It's not that I get tired of that thing, but more that I want to do or redo more.

It's a curse! It is better in the summer when I am very busy with DS's baseball tournaments and am almost never home. These long winters are very hard on the bank account.

I think that I'll always be finding new inspirations and ways to incorporate them into my home without completely redecorating. Because I have an eclectic mix of traditional furnishings, I'm not worried that the major furniture elements will ever be out of style. However, I know I will want to update colors and accessories from time to time.

I don't, really. Every room evolves but my essential taste never changes.

It takes me forever to get a room the way I like it because I lack the decorating touch (which is why I'm always on here for advice!) so once I do achieve it I don't dare touch it!

I don't think I have ever gotten to "finished" before. Our first house was done nicely, but just when I could start to afford to take some rooms to finished, we decided to move. In this house for 4 years waiting for the big reno that we are now in the midst of. I imagine it will take me a few months post reno to get those rooms "done", but then there are the ones that will still need work. I figure in 3 or 4 years, our house will be set up finally they way I want a home to be and not how our budget or POs dictate.
AS for furniture, I love my antiques and special finds and don't see me needing change there often. We just retired my couch set at 17 years old and it only looked bad the last few months (we did not want to buy new until the reno was complete). I buy what I love and may tweak small things once it is all done, but the basic stuff will be timeless if all goes as planned.

"My DH converted one of the entry closets to shelves to contain my inventory of accessories"...
I love it! Your own personal HomeGoods!

I actually don't think I ever stop - which is not great.

My DH always says each night he comes home from work he never walks into the same house twice LOL (a little exaggerated :)

I always get bored with things or a feeling of "I can make that better". I used to be like that as a kid - weekly my Mom would come into my bedroom and my bed would be in a different spot (no joke) so it is just a part of me I guess.

:)
Haley

Very seldom. Especially if you live in an old house you learn patience, which isn't always a good thing; because sometimes you grow so used to things the way they are you forget how awful it really looks to other people.

I have to go along with palimpsest.

Pretty rapidly! I just like to keep things fresh & up to date. Don't like for my decorating to get dated so try to stick with classics but love all kinds of looks. Right now I would love to paint the kitchen, ha! May have to settle for husband just to take down the WT's.......I did ask for power tools so if he isn't around, I can get things up or down by myself. :)
Bonnie

I find that this happens when I am working with fabric. I sew and since the cost of window treatments, duvets, pillows etc. is mostly labor, I do it myself. The only problem is that after seeing the fabric for so long while I'm working on it I don't get the real wow factor when I install it!!! But I'm too reasonable with my money to hire someone else to do it, so I will just keep plugging along :) Contemplating a new window cushion and window treatments in the upstairs hallway of my 230 year old colonial right now. Already have the fabric that I bought for a previous house but I need to make myself strip wall paper first. I'm getting itchy to do that!

Sadly, I get tired of what I have immediately. The down side of blogs like this and my addiction to magazines like House Beautiful is that I am aware of the infinate choices out there. I have needed to pick out a tile for my fireplace surround. After researching online for over two years I finally made my choice, but will always question if maybe I should have purchased the white subway tile that was choice #2. Too many choices. If we weren't AWARE of ALL that is available, maybe people like me, wouldn't second guess ourselves so much.

The average person goes to the big box stores and has to choose between maybe twenty choices, and I know of 5,000. No wonder I can't make up my mind. I can't be the only one out there with this problem, can I???

I don't get tired of what I have very fast. If I loved it, then it stays, and I never get tired of it. I get tired of things if I didn't even like them to begin with.

I am always seeking perfection so I change little things here and there but other than that, don't get sick of most things.

Plus there are some things I'd like to change but just don't have $$$ for.

arapaho, I'd call it Spring fever. I once realized I liked to add little bits of yellow in our home around this of year to help me through the rest of the winter.

I agree with palimpsest. . . Although our home is always evolving I haven't tired of anything we've done here. After five years I am still blissfully happy with the color choices, the fabrics, the furniture placement. The furniture itself is a mix of purchased and inherited antiques and "good" stuff handed down from parents in addition to things I have bought that I love. I haven't gotten tired of one stick of furniture. DD decorated her first place last year and feels just the same about her things, wants to keep them forever. :)

Interesting conversation! I am envious of those who know what they like, find it and enjoy it for years to come. Is it a question of "finding your style"? My favorite magazines are home decorating ones and I could study photos for hours it seems. I wonder how others come up with creative designs that never even occur to me at all. It's fascinating to me. A form of artwork. Creating something and being satisfied with the end result.

It reminds me of those people who always knew what they wanted to do with their life - their career - and did it! They're happy to get up everyday and do what they always dreamed of. Reaching that point in any endeavor must be such a feeling of accomplishment and pride.

So finding your style and making it happen in your home is something that maybe I haven't quite figured out yet!

Not quickly at all. It took us several years (maybe we matured? LOL) to realize our style. We have a few handed down family pieces and through our marriage have enjoyed the hunt to find the pieces we love. Not that I have never made a mistake. There have been a few items that once bought, I realized it was a mistake. Many accessories are also old pieces or items picked up on travels. Family keepsakes and pictures are also treasured.

I now tend to keep to an overall color scheme for our home which makes it very easy to swap things out from room to room. Right now I will say that we have had a sofa that I am starting to tire of the fabric. It is about 13 years old. I'm not tired of the style, but the fabric, so a change will probably be coming.

tina

Arapaho, maybe your problem is all those decorating magazines you look through are giving you too many ideas. Just toss them aside and start buying and doing what makes you happy. When you see something you think you like for your home, don't buy it unless you feel it's a "gotta have" in you heart.

The older I've gotten, the less impulsive I am. I think carefully about something before I purchase it. I also downsized from two homes to one, so everything left is the stuff I really really like. That makes it easier.

This "new" house (2+years already) is perking along ever so slowly. It will be a long time before I feel like I am done. Perhaps if I had raced through all my plans and projects, I might feel like I was ready to change something up. But taking it slowly has me always looking forward to something...

It took us awhile to figure out the style that resonates with us, which is mostly centered on clean lines, without a lot of knick-knacks or decorative froufrous. Gilded baroque is probably our worst nightmare. Our home is sort of a cross between Frank Lloyd Wright and ultra-modern. We also have a few family pieces that have to be fit in because of the sentimental attachment.

I do think that any style or look can be done very well, which is how decorating magazines can be a bit confusing. It's easy to go from "I want a nice looking room" to "this room looks great" to "I want this room" In reality a great looking room may still not be the one you want to look at everyday, or appropriate for your lifestyle. It probably took us 20 years to hone in on just what was our preferred taste, as opposed to just what we'd grown up with or saw in stores and magazines. I think that more awareness and consideration on our part might have hurried the process along.

At any rate, once we figured out what we really like, and took the time and effort to find it, we've remained quite satisfied with it. It is definitely an ongoing thing. I've never had a house that I consider "done", but I have had rooms that way. A lot of that is budget. I will no longer buy something based just on price and availability. If I don't like it a lot, or have a dire need, it's not worth any price.
-----------------

ps.. I bet our feelings on home decor carry over to other areas as well. I would rather have a few nice clothes than a huge wardrobe of mediocre ones. Other people want to be able to wear a different outfit each day for several weeks. I don't think either approach is right or wrong, just right for the individual.

Oh, now if we are talking about mistakes, I have a whole file of things that will keep me humble for life . . . wallpaper, paint, a rug or two. It is one thing to know your style, and quite another to know how to execute it. So, Arapaho, I would say "finding your style" becomes easier as you get older. "making it happen" -----an ongoing challenge for any age or stage of life! I'd match my mistake file up against anybody's in the "What was I thinking ???" contest. Maybe we should have one some day. :)

justgotabme - you may be right about the magazines. They are real homes with real people but seem so perfectly decorated. Maybe in reality, outside of a professional photo shoot, things aren't so perfect.

kswl - maybe I'm over-thinking things but I am not sure what my style is. I wonder how many have their style defined by what they grew up with - their parents' style?

I like the idea of purchasing a few very nice things and using those as a base. Like the perfect black dress. Never goes out of style and accessorizing is endless.

nicole - forgot to tell you that your new pillows look great along with the serving tray! You did a great job!

I'm sure they aren't so perfect in real life Arapaho, I have a couple friends that have had their homes in magazines and they've told me it was crazy getting it ready and how many things were changed/rearranged just for the photo shoot.

Did anybody see this article in the WSJ yesterday? Duane Hampton writes about a sofa she & her husband, interior decorator Mark Hampton, bought in the mid 60s and how the sofa stayed with them through various taste changes & style shifts. After 16 years they couldn't adapt it to their tastes anymore and bid it a fond, tearful adieu. In the pictures you can see how they worked the same furnishings into different interior design.

Here is a link that might be useful: Duane Hampton and her sofa

Wow love that sofa. I don't think I ever would have gotten rid of it. It's classic!

Oh lord, AWM, you are torturing me! My parents had a tuxedo sofa like that made for them in the early 60's. Green nubby fabric. Probably would have been an acceptable color today...it wasn't disgusting.

I dragged that beast around with me for a decade and then finally let it go when we went off sailing for a few years. I am kicking myself, even now. It was built like a tank and would have been a great candidate for reupholstering. Incredibly comfortable, one could have lived on that sofa. :(