Works in Progress
Many of us are often a work in progress - that is to say, our lives, careers, families, and goals are en route to where we’d like them to be but perhaps not there just yet. DWTS feels that despite this, it doesn’t mean we can’t live in homes that are stylish, comfortable, and reflect us, even if they, too, are a work in progress.
To demonstrate this, I’d like to share with you a very personal space - my very own living room. I’ve lived in this apartment for a year now and in this particular place I have to live with a few things I can’t change - the window treatments, the chandeliers, and millennial gray walls. To combat this, I chose early on to infuse colour and pattern in all my furnishings. Contrary to how I design for all of you, I didn’t build this space with my astrological chart in mind; I gravitated to a few inexpensive things I knew I loved and also needed. The rug is driving the style in this room - I found it at Ruggable and loved the abstract pattern and warm tones (very much in line with my Leo sun/Libra rising, really, when looking back on it!). Building on that, I bought this west elm chair I had in a different colour at my old apartment. It was on super-duper sale and I knew it was comfortable. Same thing with the west elm tiered side table - I’d been eyeing it for a long time and it finally went on sale. For a long time, the rug, chair, and side table, alongside a drink table I already owned, were the only things in this gigantic living room.
Moving forward, I added things as I could afford them, with only a few rules. I had to love them, they had to be pieces I’d use again whenever I’d move, I’d buy second-hand or thrifted items as much as possible, and of course they had to ‘play nicely’ with everything else I’d already purchased. Then again, if you only buy things you love, I believe those things will always go together, even if they’re disparate styles. I had a few surprises - like the gorgeous purple sofa. I wasn’t looking for a purple sofa, and it was double the price I’d hope to spend on a sofa at all. Then again, I knew I couldn’t find a sofa again at that quality and price, especially one I loved. It makes the room. It proves a theory: good design always leaves room for surprises.
You may look at this room and say “Augie, it looks great - why is it a work in progress?” Well, for starters, I need a proper coffee table! Gorgeous as it is, my thrifted brass side table is not scaled properly as a coffee table and will need to find a new corner of this room to inhabit someday. Not to mention, a coffee table would be the perfect home for the fun tray or gorgeous ceramic bowl I have, waiting in the corners for a proper home. I have a narrow pine bookcase in one corner that is in desperate need of a makeover - one of those projects I’ll get to someday.
There’s other things to point out, but suffice it to say, the room is a work in progress but a pleasurable one to be in. Most everything has a place, it’s reflective of who I am and where I am, and I’m comfortable. DWTS is here to assist you with transforming your space, even if it’s only a work in progress. Maybe you need help picking out a rug that’ll make the space, or help finding your own purple sofa. Or maybe your space has been in progress for a while and you’re ready to level up! Great, we can help with that too. No matter what you need, we are here to guide you through the process and assist you in making decisions that reflect you, add value to your space and your life.
