If living in base housing has taught me one thing, it's settle in and settle in quick.
Take your time and the next thing you know, you have orders - forget settling in, it's time to pack again! We've PCS'd and moved enough that I've gotten pretty good at turning "Quarters" into a "Home" quickly. Over the next 31 days I'll pass on some of the things I've learned along the way -military or not, most of us move at some point in our lives, and hopefully something I post here can help you with your transition - whether you're currently planing a move or your move was years ago!
Looking for 1 simple and affordable way to make your new home yours?
Paint.
Even if the walls aren't white.
Do you really want to live with the previous owners choices?
They may not be too bad, but are they really you? Until I've chosen the colors myself, I still feel like I'm living in someone else's house.
That is not settled.
Color lets you put your personal mark on a space. I think contractors must use cookie cutters to build houses. For many of us, our house really isn't that different from our neighbors. We all have one variation or another of the same floor-plan. Paint is one way you can set yourself apart from the herd.
Honestly, if you're a kid, moving sucks. But painting your new room the color you want? That rocks!
Give your kids a thrill and let them choose their color. Okay, within reason.
Not all of us can be the super cool mom who lets her teenager paint his entire room black.
But you can narrow the choices and let them pick.
Kadences playroom - before it was a terracotta color, definitely not cool. She was not into this room at all.
Playroom After. A much better fit for Kadence. As soon as we painted it she could see herself here. Simply put, painting this room made it hers.
If you can, save time and your back by painting before the furniture arrives, and before you clean the carpets too. Seriously, did you see my Studio post? Can you imagine even trying to paint this after moving all that crap in??
Wanna settle in quick? Paint!
I am looking forward to your series! The previous owners of our house decorated it very nicely (she is an interior designer). Neither my husband nor I are big DIY people (even painting), so I'm trying to make the most of it. After one year, I finally hung pictures on the wall this past week. I obviously need some advice on settling!
ReplyDeleteI am really looking forward to your series. I am a military brat and I just stopped unpacking at some point. Hubs and I moved to Phoenix in 2006 and I literally finally unpacked several of those boxes when we moved to Austin 3 months ago. I'd really like to get settled!
ReplyDeletePoint 1 - we had the entire house painted before we moved in. Our fun colors and everything. Yay!!
I need to read this - even though I've lived in my house for 9 years, I don't have pictures on the walls. Maybe some of your tips will break my decorating analysis-paralysis and give me motivation!
ReplyDelete