Our final post in the series converting Rita Wilson’s fashion tips to our own homes is here. This tip is particularly powerful, and one we often forget: “be grateful.” In the stir of making many selections, working within a budget that simply seems smaller every day, and balancing all the factors when making home decisions, it’s tempting to let the small frustrations ruin the magic of making a home yours.

Take a few minutes to be grateful. Be grateful that you have a home – many people in the world never will. Be grateful for the bounty of options available to you as you customize your space. Many of the choices were not available twenty years ago. Be grateful for the excitement of finding that perfect tile, selecting just the right grout to go with it, and seeing the perfection of the finished version of your vision.

Take time to appreciate the salespeople and designers who help you make good decisions, the installers who work hard to make sure your home looks great, and all of the other people who have helped you turn a dream into reality.

It takes some version of a village to make a house, and it takes your effort to make it a home. Be grateful for the opportunity.

To see the other tips in this series, click here.

We’re combining two of the tips in Rita Wilson’s wardrobe suggestions into one because they both end up focusing on the same issue with our homes. “If you travel a lot, have a packed toiletries bag ready to go,” and “There are one thousand stylish things you can wear while traveling…”

We understand that when you’re fixing up your new home or making your current home over, the last thing you are thinking about is selling it. Keep in mind, however, that on average people live in their homes about five years. Job transfers and other life changes may lead to a decision to sell, and when that happens, you want to make that process as easy as possible. Your choices now may make a big difference when that day comes.

This is not a recommendation to turn your home into a standard-issue place. Take advantage of the opportunity to make your home special and a good reflection of your taste. However, if you happen to love purple, maybe that’s still not the best choice for your bathroom tile. When you have a taste or color preference that leans toward the unique, how about demonstrating it with paint and accessories, allowing you to neutralize your home when and if you have to put it on the market. Draw on put expertise  if you’re not sure whether your taste will make selling your home harder some day in the future.

Your home can support who you are, both while you’re living in it and when you’re ready to sell. Find that balance that will allow your home to reflect you and still appeal to its next owner in a few years.

To see the other tips in this series, click here.

Tip Number 7 in our look at fashion tips from Rita Wilson is not as easy a fit as some of her other suggestions, but stay with us here and we’ll make it work.

“Enjoy new bedclothes once a year.” The focus here is letting yourself have new nightclothes, rather than living with the shabby ones you’ve been wearing for years. For our home connection, think about maintaining your home’s décor.

Do you have your carpets cleaned twice a year at least? Are you following the manufacturers’ recommendations for maintaining your wood floors and granite countertops? If not, don’t blame them if your home finishes start showing wear earlier than you’d planned.

Speaking of wear, do you have a home update budget that allows you to replace or update your home’s furnishings and finishes as you need to? Just as your wardrobe needs regular updating, your home does too. Many people move into a home and decorate, then never update anything again. By the time they’ve been there 20 or 30 years, the entire house looks dated and discouraging. Don’t let that happen to you. Get those new PJ’s, and keep your home up-to-date.

If you’re enjoying these tips as much as we are, click here to see the other tips in this series.

Tip six of Rita Wilson’s fashion suggestions focuses on makeup rather than clothing, “simplify your makeup if you wear makeup.” On the surface, this may not seem very connected to our homes, but stay with me here. Think of your home’s makeup – your art, accessories and smaller furniture elements. Does your home look overly “made up?”

Too much makeup keeps us from actually seeing someone’s real face. Too much stuff: furniture, rugs and accessories, can hide the beauty of our home behind the little things. To see good examples of overly-made-up rooms, take a look at some homes from the Victorian era. They are so filled with decorative elements and accessories that the eye has no place to light. Too many elements in a room, particularly with accessories, can quickly start feeling like clutter. How does your home look? Why not try removing a few things – possibly some accessories you’re tired of, or a rug that is distracting from your luscious tile floor. Does it look better? Keep taking things out of the room until it starts looking bare. Then put one thing back and voila, you’re done!

Simplifying a room gives the beauty of the space, your finishes such as your floors, and your furniture and accessories, room to be seen. Just as a touch of makeup well applied can improve our look, the right touches – and no more – in our homes can show them off to best advantage.

To see the other tips in this series, click here.

Watching Rita Wilson present fashion tips on a recent episode of “Oprah” makes it easy to realize how much fashion and décor have in common. Here, we are  taking a look at these tips and how to translate them from your closet to your home. Tip 5 is interesting, “it’s normal to fear altercations, but not alterations.”

OK, we’re just going to ignore the part about fighting, but the idea of letting yourself make alterations in your home, or customizing your space, is a great one.

If you’re choosing the finishes for a new home, or when renovating your current space, how willing are you to take a few chances to make your space unique? You may choose a neutral-toned floor tile, but how about setting it on the diagonal to add architectural interest to a room? You can customize your beautiful wood floor by adding a border or a medallion to turn your space from standard beautiful to still beautiful but also unique to you. Finish the room off with furnishings you select to reflect the real you – most upholstered furniture comes in a variety of fabrics. Pick something that helps make your space feel customized to your taste.

With only a few minor additions, your home can move beyond standard to become an exact reflection of your style.

To see the other tips in this series, click here.

On a recent episode of Oprah Winfrey, actor and producer Rita Wilson came on to present ten ideas for making sure women looked fabulous at any age.  It’s easy to see that many of those tips could be easily translated into good advice for our homes also. We’ve discussed the first three; how about taking a look at number four?

“Wear comfortable shoes.” You know those sexy stilettos you loved in the store and regret every time you wear them? Don’t make the same mistake with your home. Think about comfort as well as style when decorating. If your feet ache regularly, you’ll be better off with wood or carpeting than tile, because these “soft” surfaces are easier on your feet. If your family likes to collect together and watch movies on a Friday night, make sure your television lives in a room with enough space for all of you. Don’t be tempted by a beautiful couch that no one will want to sit in for more than a few minutes unless you really don’t like having guests. Sit in those charming dining chairs for a while to make sure your dinner party conversations continue around the table long after the meal is over.

Comfort and style can be partners. Let’s plan for both as we decorate your home.

To see the other tips in this series, click here.

We considered how to apply two wardrobe tips From Rita Wilson to our homes in a recent blog. Here is one more tip and its connection to decorating our homes.

“Your haircut and color tell people a lot about you.” OK, so you’re wondering how we’re going to connect hair to home, right? Well, it’s easy. Hair is one element of our wardrobe that stays with you no matter what. Of course, no haircut or color is permanent – thank heaven, but day after day, no matter what you wear, you’re wearing your hair. Given this, spending money on your hair is a better investment than any item of clothing, because it’s the most permanent part of your current look. In the same way, our home decoration budget should reflect this position. Spend your extra dollars on the most permanent and hard to change parts of your house: cabinetry, flooring and window treatments. Better furniture and fancy accessories can be added any time!

If you enjoy tips like these, to see the other tips in this series, click here.

In our last post, we took at look at the first wardrobe tip Rita Wilson discussed on a recent Oprah episode and how it could be applied to her home. Her second tip, “trust your own personal style,” can also be easily applied to your home.

Over the years, have you found yourself drifting from your own taste due to the influence of others? When you look around your rooms, do you feel proud of how well your space reflects your personal style? By spending time with magazines and catalogs, as well as visiting model homes and shopping, start planning what you need to do to make your space match your style. Make a plan to turn your home into a place that fits you. Even if it takes a while for your budget to make the changes happen, you can be proud that you are moving in the right direction.

Whether you’re talking about your living room or your closet, take advantage of these ideas to enrich your look and your space. Your home can be a true reflection of your taste and style, which will make your home your own, and make it a place where you love to live. We can help you.

For insights into converting more wardrobe tips to home tips, click here.

Rita Wilson, actor, producer, and style columnist for Harper’s Bazaar, recently put together ten wardrobe tips to help you look fabulous no matter what your age. Watching her appearance on a recent episode of Oprah, it struck us that many of those same tips could be applied to our homes.

Her first tip, “If you haven’t worn something in a year, get rid of it,” applies in an indirect way to our décor. Do you have furniture, accessories or other elements in your home that are dated, worn, or otherwise unsatisfactory? Consider whether you want to keep them, or if it’s time to eliminate or replace them. If your carpeting is aging, or you’re ready for a new look, what’s stopping you from making changes – bit by bit to match your budget – so that your home doesn’t look like yesterday’s space. Can you separate the “classics” in your home from the out-of-date items? Like the clothes in your closet, it’s important to keep your home’s look current.

Just like you can update an old dress with a new belt, updating your home might mean just moving accessories from one room to another, or even redoing something.

Stay tuned for more tips like this!