Have you ever walked through your home admiring all of your beautiful décor, and then realized that you are completely bored with your surroundings. This scenario is very common, and many home dwellers will persist through the feelings. Some may persist due to little to no budget, while other may persist just out of sheer lack of interest. What is a home fashion savvy person to do when they are exhausted of ideas? Turn on the “contextual creativity”, and let the fabric fly!
Contextual creativity is when you focus all of your creative energies on repurposing one item in your home to give it new life. If you truly feel that your creativity is completed depleted, then recruit a friend to help generate new ideas. The most important component of contextual creativity is to keep an open mind, and allow any ideas to be considered (even the crazy ones). To put this into practice, we will imagine that you have targeted your curtains as your repurposing project. You no longer desire floor length curtains in classic wedgewood, rather you prefer a smart little valance to let the sunshine into your home. What can you do with all of that remaining fabric? This is where contextual creativity comes into play. Make a list of all the possible projects you could complete in one day to use the fabric. This list might look a little like this: new lampshades, drink coasters, replace cabinet doors with small curtains, throw pillows, sofa scarf, or wall art.
Challenge yourself to write down 20 ideas for the fabric. Your creative juices will be flowing so fast that you will want to repurpose the whole house.
You can also find many cross utilization opportunities within your home through this process. Cross utilization is when you take the item out of its current environment or purpose, and use it in another manner. For example, you may decide you no longer need a curtain rod in your dining room due to transitioning to newly upholstered brocade roman shades in K2109 Hampton. In cross utilization, you can take that curtain rod, and use it as shoe storage in your closet.
When you are intentional about creative ideas the results can be very rewarding. Also, by using the techniques, you may become inspired to explore a completely different look beyond your wildest imagination. Most importantly, have fun with it. Open a bottle of wine, and bounce ideas with your creative partner with no reservations.