Super important: subscribers won’t be able to see the video through email… please click the title. I promise… there are sexy auditory goodies involved.

Oh, the uphill climb. That “ugh” when you open the door. The overwhelming urge to just ignore everything and eat Chinese takeout while staring at the television and wondering why your peripheral vision is so damned… acute.

Welcome to Rental Hell.

If you’re new here, I created the Rock Your Rental contest for my fellow renters who are currently living in a state of aesthetic purgatory. I’m showing one lucky winner how to transform their space without a) blowing the budget and b) making the landlord hyperventilate. Join us for the ride!

In the last post, we discussed Mr. & Mrs. B’s specific situation. To say I have my work cut out for me would be putting it mildly. Issues include a lack of space, a lack of privacy, and oh, the fact that this entrepreneurial couple are literally living out of their bedroom. Click the link to refresh your memory on their current state of aesthetic affairs.

And to all of that, I say, “no problem”.

Truly.

As is common for temporary digs, inhabitants generally tend to think, “well, I’m only here for such-and-such a time, so why bother?”. But the truth is, IT DOES MATTER. Your living environment absolutely matters. What you see every day affects your sense of well-being. If your space works, you can work. If your space feels organized and calm, YOU feel organized and calm. The state of your space = the state of your inner sense of being, so for crying out loud, why let a monthly rental cheque dictate how well you live? Don’t you deserve a space that’s the best it can be?

Exactly.

In Mr. & Mrs. B’s case, a lack of storage means that every available surface is covered with life’s detritus. Tissues, medications, books-on-the-go, clothes from yesterday, today, and possibly tomorrow. Office equipment related to the burgeoning business. Keepsakes from a life well lived, and all manner of everyday “stuff” that threatens to goggle up the couple in their sleep. In other words, serious storage is in order.

So, let’s break it down. We need:

• storage for clothing (both his and hers and out-of-season wear)
• storage for keepsakes that doesn’t involve clear plastic bins (face it: they’re beyond fugly and only work to create MORE stressful visual clutter)
• storage for seldom-used office supplies and accessories
• space for two to work in tandem or separately as the need dictates
• light control that offers privacy at night while drenching the space in light during the day while cutting down on screen glare
• most importantly, a space that doesn’t scream “we’re temporarily living our whole lives in here”

Right. So we’ve addressed all the technical bits. Now let’s talk about the intangible stuff. You know, the bits that make all the difference, but are seldom talked about in design circles. Specifically: how do you want the space to make you feel?

Ah. Good question. Why is it so few of us actually ask ourselves this make-it-or-break question? I mean, we’re talking cash here. Time. Major effort. Shouldn’t that criterion be the first damned question on your list?!

Well, here’s how Mr. & Mrs. B want to feel.

Sexy. Sophisticated. Polished, even when their lives have been unraveled and tendrils are hanging in every possible direction. Accomplished. Focused. Alive.

Kind of something like this.

Stay tuned while I begin the spec’ing process. We’ll begin addressing each item specifically as we build the design around their specific needs and aesthetic preferences. And, of course, how they want to feel.

*I’ve been granted permission to use this particular expression since their own description of the space was a little more, um, colourful.

If you’re new here, I created the Rock Your Rental contest for my fellow renters who are currently living in a state of aesthetic purgatory. I’m showing one lucky winner how to transform their space without a) blowing the budget and b) making the landlord hyperventilate. Join us for the ride!

As a side note, I took a sabbatical this winter. Behind the scenes, the Rock Your Rental project has been underway and client projects have been in full swing. A few knock-your-socks-off projects will be comin’ your way soon. In the meantime, let’s get our feet wet again by circling back for a bit, hmm? It’ll be full steam ahead from here on out.

In my last post, I showed you Mr. & Mrs. B’s sad sack of a bedroom personal living space. And by that I mean, their whole life is crammed into their bedroom new space is rather, er, cozy.

So let’s meet Mr. & Mrs. B, shall we?

To say they’re in a period of transition would be putting it mildly. He’s penned a novel and burned the midnight oil as an investment banker. She’s been a successful real estate broker for nearly three decades. And while each of them have found satisfaction and success in their respective careers, both have decided to give it all up in pursuit of a deeper entrepreneurial dream.

As part of that, and in order to give themselves greater financial flexibility, both sold their homes (a condo and townhouse, respectively) and moved into an apartment over-looking the rolling hills north of a major metropolitan city. I’ll be able to share their venture with you at some point, but for now, I can share that Mr. & Mrs. B are hiding out while the develop their business plans. And by hiding out, I mean, hiding out.

As in, renting a small bachelor apartment.

Right.

Now I have your attention.

Let’s revisit the photos, shall we?

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A little fuzzy, but totally clear, if you get what I’m saying.

So, next up, we’ll learn about Mr. & Mrs. B’s particular challenges and their musical preferences.

Yep. This is where things get interesting.

Stay tuned.

THANK YOU to all of you who entered the Rock Your Rental contest. Choosing a winner wasn’t easy, and while I’ve personally thanked each and every one of you, I’d like to thank you here. Right now. I couldn’t have done this without you, and I’m deeply grateful for the community we’re building. Cheers!

If you’re new here, let me get you up to speed. I created the Rock Your Rental contest so that I could help you break free from the decorative limitations of renting. Renting sometimes sucks, but unless you’re a college student or in an especially transient period, your living situation should never *feel* temporary, even if it is. Rock Your Rental is about giving one lucky reader the chance to transform their space ~ on their terms, within their budget, and on their timeline. And it’s giving me a chance to show all of you that no matter where you live, it should always feel like *home*.

I know renting can sometimes feel like living in aesthetic purgatory, and the sense of, “where do I even start?!” can be overwhelming. But there’s absolutely no need to ‘grin and bear it’ when it comes to your personal space. Personal space is just that… PERSONAL, and it doesn’t take bundles of cash and a couple of sledgehammers to make it feel so. More to the point, a space isn’t about the bits of ‘this and that’; it’s about how you want to FEEL.

So whatever your individual nasty happens to be ~ ugly fixtures, even uglier lighting, dusty don’t-know-how-long-they’ve-been-up window treatments, I’m about to show you that renting doesn’t have to equate to “ugh”. I’m inviting you behind the scenes for an intimate over-the-shoulder peek as I tease apart the story, get inside the minds of our winners, figure out where they’re going sideways, and best of all, what turns them on.

And the juiciest part? I’m giving you a peek inside their record collection, which will form the basis for my intuitive excavation and space orchestration. It’s what I mean when I talk about teasing out your inner theme song, and bringing the intangible essence of ‘you’ into tangible 3D form. It’s exposing inspiration and solving problems by listening.

So without further ado, allow me to introduce you to Mr. & Ms. B. Actually, let me introduce you to their bedroom, specifically. Photos are a little fuzzy, but you can definitely get the gist…

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This should be interesting, no?

Next we’ll meet the couple behind the images and break the project down. And later, I’ll bring you inside their record collection for some gorgeous inspiration, where you’ll get an idea of how to create your individual aesthetic fingerprint, by taking cues from what turns you on, auditorily speaking.

So stick around; you might just learn something new that you can use in your own space, renting or otherwise.

And it seduced me into doing this:

What seduces you?

Here’s what I know:

What you do, every day, becomes part of who you are. Scraping pennies or rolling naked in your dough, you’re trading your brain power, your creativity and your most valuable asset – your time – for your daily experience.

Are you filling your heart or are you just filling your days?

When I’m working with clients, I have a front-row seat to some pretty amazing stuff. A half-finished painting. Music sheets scattered at the piano. Poems gathered in dusty notebooks. Hand-made quilts folded up in the closet. Cookbooks hiding in the back of the cupboard. A carpenter’s bench shoved at the back of a dimly-lit garage…

This stuff may not be bringing home the bacon, but these are the things that tell the world WHO YOU ARE. And whether you’re sharing your art with the outside world or not, you sure as hell shouldn’t be hiding it at home.

This is the experience you choose. This is your inside brought outside. This is you.

So. What’s your art?

And how can I help you tell your story?

Your insides are twisted

coming outside

fraying at the seams.

And pushing ahead

pulls you under.

Hungry, and needing to be filled,

you give yourself over – listen for the voice that does not come

yet you remain

a stranger – suspended

but sometimes we break.

And you resist

hold

while what you need recedes.

So I say,

just BREAK

Unravel. Get naked in your ache.

Draw the line. And break.

“Here we are buck naked but where should we begin? When it’s not the flesh we’re after but the howling ghost within.”

So when you reach and what you need

is you

I will help you draw the line.

Hold the mirror

and show you

all the things you need but do not see

a home created

to unravel. Get naked in your ache.

So just break.

I’m getting pushed and pulled and jostled in this space I’ve claimed as my own. This space – where you’re reading – right now. It’s the tension between where I could be going and where I need to go. For me. For my work. For my creative pulse.

I will not ignore my creative pulse.

So. Let’s go there.

“Designer.”

I’m both to-the-belly-deep proud but I also, now and then, feel the face-burning cringe.

And I ain’t ashamed to say so.

I cringe at the frivolity of the industry. I cringe about the “pretty” that hides the bullshit. I cringe at the collective thought-wall of ‘designer-as-pocket-picker’ that reverberates when I drop the word in certain company.

It doesn’t have to be that way.

It’s not about paint, or furniture, or lamps, or decorative brik-a-brak. It ain’t even about shuffling walls and installing a beautiful sink. It’s about the way you want to FEEL.

How do you want to feel?

Here’s me: I want to feel the warmth of my family when they’re around my table. I want to feel the sanctity of peace when I’m alone within my walls. I want to feel the heat of sex when I need to amp the vibe. I want all of it.

All of it.

Most of all? I want to give that gift to you, whatever your story happens to be.

I want to make you see You.

You.

So who are you?

Tell me.

I want to know: how do you want to feel?

The legend.
‘The Green Muse’ by Albert Maignan 1895 Courtesy Musee de Picardie, Amiens.

The nouveau connoisseur.

The gentlemen’s club.

When I hear her, in this way, like this:

I see this:

Loaded with innuendo and fraught with undercurrents of sexual tension and personal intimacy, I’m often left to piece together a private language I’m neither invited to learn nor want to share. But how else to understand how to design – mm, no – design well if I’m not offered the chance to share, however briefly, an inner world?

By listening. All the things said and left unsaid.

Well, that and a little feminine intuition.

So this:

Became this:

A little of her and a little of him. Quite a potent combination.

mm.

That was easy.

Photograph at top right by Ellen Von Unwerth

Either one works.

This? This is the kind of room that waits for the dark…
Interior design by Todd Yoggy

When you need to hide

come to me

Crawl in and unravel

I will hold you through the fragile night

and release

you

when the daylight comes