What to Keep After a Divorce
He
got the dog and the CD collection. You got the china and the house. How
do you re-do your marital home into a newly single home post divorce? According
to the GfK Roper poll commissioned by divorce360, 28% of divorcees buy new
furniture and 25% buy a new house or apartment.
Divorce360.com understands how traumatic the first spring cleaning
post divorce can be for millions of people. The psychological power of
stuff often goes unnoticed until it's time to let it go. It hurts to watch the
dissolution of a home as represented by the division of household goods. At the
same time, decorating a new space, or redecorating space you shared as a
couple, can be a powerful exercise in moving on and reasserting your sense of
self. A divorce represents an opportunity to redefine one's individuality in a
area that is most reflective of self: the home. So, where do you start?
1. In general, if you're staying in the connubial home, change it.
If you're moving some place
new, add stuff you really like it from your old home and to new things
you've purchased for your new life to make your new home your own, advised
Lauri Ward, founder of Use-What-You-Have Interiors, a company that teaches
clients to rearrange their belongings more attractively.
2. Don't take
things you don't use.
It sounds obvious, but a lot of people spend time and money lugging
around furniture they don't really like, Ward said. If there's a wagon wheel
coffee table in your home, metaphorically or God forbid, literally, don't take
it with you - not for continuity, not for revenge, not to fill space.
3. Do research to
develop a concept for how you want your space to look.
Do you prefer contemporary styles or something more traditional? What colors do
you favor? Look for ideas in design and fashion magazines, said Peter Klick, an
interior designer based in Barrington, Ill. and program coordinator at
Harrington Institute of Interior Design in Chicago. Men, in particular, should
spend some time considering their personal tastes, since during a marriage
their decorating preferences often are overshadowed by their wives.
4. Buy new bedding
for the master bedroom.
Enough said.
5. Don't be afraid to separate furniture and move it into a new room,
Moore said.
'(People) think, We bought this for the living room.' Well, so what? Put it in
the bedroom.
6. Clean and reduce clutter.
Visual chaos adds to stress, Ward said,
and the newly single have enough stress. Bonus: If you clean immediately,
you're less likely in three months to find a stray button from your ex's shirt
that prompts a crying jag that makes you late for work.
7. Painting a room
can transform it immediately.
Designers don't always agree on how color choices can affect your
mood, so choose a color scheme that makes you
feel good, regardless of how others interpret it.
8. Light affects people psychologically, so if you're searching for a
new apartment, look for apartments with western exposure.
Good lighting, both natural and artificial, makes a space more cheerful, and
literal brightness can help sidestep mental gloom.
9. Show your personality by displaying collectibles or objects
related to your interests.
If your spouse banished ceramic poodle or
your model car collection to the basement, now is the time to bring it out and
show it off with pride.
10. Surround
yourself with memorabilia that makes you feel good.
Display photos of your family or from your childhood. And it should
go without saying, but … no photos of the ex. Not even ones with the head cut
off.
Story Contacts:
Peter Klick, Klick Interiors: http://www.klickinteriors.com
Kelley L. Moore, entertainment and lifestyle expert: http://www.kelleylmoore.com
Lauri Ward, Use-What-You-Have Interiors: http://www.redecorate.com
Harrington Institute of Interior Design: http://www.interiordesign.edu
Contact
for divorce360.com: Paula
Sirois paula@divorce360.com or 561/713.3732
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