Live The House You Want Now

We bumped into an old friend the other day and she was sharing about her small home and small shed-turned-office. (House tour very soon!) We could tell by the way she was talking that she cared about her home and her dedication to making it functional and stylish. In our conversation she said "I am living in the house I want right now!"

We loved this thought! Many of us are not quite in our dream house yet (ok - some of us not even close). We are still renting or living in a home that is good for now. In our friend's case, she made her good for now house into a version of her dream house. Here are just a few things you can do to make your current house more into your dream house.

1) Unpack everything. Even though you may have been living in your rental for a year or longer, you could have a few boxes still unopened. Commit to your space now and unpack all of your things.

2) Hang up your artwork. Like we just mentioned, commit to your home and hang up your favorite creative pieces. This artwork inspires you!! Why keep it hidden in a closet? Enjoy it - now!

3) Paint. If you really want to add that favorite color to your walls then do it. Painting is an affordable way to transform a space and your favorite color appearing on the walls in your right now home will make you feel great!

4) Buy that insanely expensive investment piece. If you love a piece and know you'll have it forever, buy that investment piece now instead of waiting for your dream home to arrive in the future.

5) Share your right now home with your friends and entertain! You'll always have on-going home projects and things you'd want to change in your right now house but you can still have that feeling in your dream house. A home (even a dream one) is always evolving because you are!! Invite your favorite people over and have some fun!

Check out more inspiration from Apartment Therapy:

(Image from AT House Tour Matt's Eclectic Luxury)

Comments (22)

i completely agree and will start working on it.. :)

Good advice.

Gratification deferred is gratification denied.

Everyone said, "don't furnish this house if you're only going to go buy something else...." They were WRONG! making the house I was in my "dreamspace" not only made me happy, it made it possible to sell my house in 3 weeks (in this economy!!!) because it looked beautiful.... and because everything was beautiful, it all works just as well in my new home.

i agree with your post wholeheartedly. as someone who has moved 7 times in the last 5 years, i have finally learned that putting pictures up and settling in no matter how short the time frame, is the only way to safeguard your sanity.
in my youth i lived for long periods of time out of boxes and suitcases and it did nothing for my emotional well-being.
now i unpack, decorate and make it my nest. after all, waiting for the perfect home means putting my life on hold and i don't want to do that.

Great post! I've always tried to treat places as if they are permanent, but it's not always easy. I am loving the Apartment Cure for this reason - it's forcing me to take all the steps to settle in and make my place something I love!

What a timely post -
- If everyone were truly thankful for what they have and made the best of their current situation (Hanging the pictures, painting the walls, acquiring quality furnishings they'll appreciate for a lifetime, getting rid of the clutter that drags us down) we'd all be much happier people.

Great advice. More and more people are renting these days and it is easy to succumb to the feeling that the current house or apartment is only a temporary dwelling. Well, I always have to remind myself that there is nothing more permanent as the temporary, and I certainly don't want to live permanently surrounded by moving boxes. Will hang the last of my paintings now!

thank you, thank you. this came at just the right time, in between "let's move" and "we've moved!" Maybe this is the weekend to paint the seldom used office/storage room peacock blue and commit to living here at least until June : )

Since my husband and I married, 8 years ago, we have lived in seven different homes. We made a long distance move this last time and I have been gun shy about settling everything. I'm almost afraid too. In our spare bedroom closet, there are loads of unpacked boxes, and this last move occurred two years ago.

I find daily inspiration from Apartment therapy and I think was just the push I needed. Thank you.:)

javagrrl - definitely go gfor it! Paint the office peacock blue (*lovely*) and send photos to me!! Would love to share your "right now" home with the fab AT community! rebecccao@apartmenttherapy.com

This post is great timing for me also. I have moved often and will be in the process next week.

There must be something in the air! I finally broke down, after living in my house for over 2 years, and starting painting my living room today. Although it may not be the house I'll live in forever, it still deserves to look pretty. So glad I stopped treating it like an ugly step-child........

I realized that it's a good idea to decorate and get things even while renting.
When my husband and I bought our home, after living at home and renting... and I looked around, I realized that there were so few things to make the home really comfy. That's when I wished that we had started collecting and buying things while renting.
That way, those things could have been used to make the current home comfy sooner.

What a great post - I so need to hear it... I am always "doing" creating a relaxing home... I am never relaxing in it!!!

I take issue with the advice to buy your "investment" furniture RIGHT NOW, in fact I give my younger friends just the opposite advice. That's because I've been there, done that. I didn't end up purchasing the craftsman style home of my dreams. Instead I live in an Eichler (which, to my surprise, I love). I still haven't found a way to make my Stickley furniture look at home amidst the MCM windowed wonder, and I can't afford to divest myself of either the house or the furniture and start anew.

I have to agree with the investment piece as long as you can afford it. The sofa tends to be mine in the living room - but almost each room has one (ex: the bed in bedroom).

I'm moving on Monday so I appreciate this post and will have my husband read it too so I can refer to it when I ask him to help me hang our artwork, curtain rods and shelves!

paintbright - I do hear what you are saying but, to me, it's a matter of perspective as far as what expensive is or what your budget is.

I am a renter and a few years ago I found a credenza I wanted that was about $900. For me, that was a lot of money to spend on furniture (and still is). To others, $9000 would be expensive. I decided I could work out the $ and that it was worth it. And years later I am loving this piece still - it make s me happy. I am so glad I went for my investment piece instead of buying a cheap version of it and not loving it.

This idea is spot on. I am fortunate to be living in a house I love in a neighborhood where I want to live, and I'm all about "upgrades" that make me happy now and will impress someone someday if I should decide to sell.

I think I shall print this post out and use it as inspiration! I keep *wanting* to make my home more homey, but lose inspiration to do it when the the project seems permanent. This post is great advise and I'm going to move forward with it!!

I could not agree more. Two years ago I decided to adopt that philosophy, and it makes coming home that much more inviting. Life is too short to be living "temporarily" ... live for "now," and let your home (whatever it may be) reflect that.

I'm glad I collected furniture I loved (not necessarily expensive pieces - definitely a mix of high/low) before I bought a house. After investing in the house and subsequent renovations, there's very little money and motivation to buy furniture. As a bonus, the house looked finished very quickly after moving in the furniture! If you love a piece of furniture, you'll find a place for it.