Accessing Your Creativity

By Val Sharp

Imagine you are struggling with the placement of something, or feeling frustrated or in a rush. How creative are you in that moment? My guess is that your creativity goes right out the window.

Imagine instead that you are feeling joyful, playful, and child-like. What possibilities are now open to you? Would you ever think of using that old wrought-iron gate from your garden as a focal piece on the dining room wall if you weren't feeling playful?

Creativity lies in the joyful 'try anything' side of you. So pay attention to your frame of mind when redesigning your home. Adopt a child-like, playful attitude. If you find yourself struggling with something and it feels hard, then stop and do something else for a while until you're feeling playful again.

You also want to stop yourself from analyzing and planning. If you spend too much time looking at the room and thinking about what to do, you will be using more of the left or logical side of your brain. Alternatively, if you are physically moving things around to see what works, you will use more of the right or creative side of your brain. So turn off your brain and start just moving things around. Try everything and anything. I call this "throwing spaghetti at the wall to see if it sticks." Sometimes you're right, it doesn't work. Other times you get fabulous surprises and 'the spaghetti sticks.'

Here are some tricks you can try to maintain a playful mood:

Look in a mirror and make funny faces at yourself.
Go for a walk around the block or to the nearest park. The outdoors is a great place for inspiration. Try skipping instead of walking.
Turn on your favorite music and dance around the room.
Start trying truly crazy ideas that you know won't work. Be silly - put shoes on the mantel; drape earrings on pictures. This frees you up to try new ideas
Hum silly tunes like children's songs or 50's music.
Have someone over who makes you laugh.
Have a 'girls' redesign party in your home. Invite a few friends over to help redesign your home. Try everyone's ideas and vote on which ones work.

Okay, now that you've got the right frame of mind, you can truly create a home that reflects your unique personality. This is not serious business. It's play! So enjoy yourself. You'll get far better results.

Val Sharp is the founder and past president of the Canadian Re-designers Association and the author of “The Art of Redesign – 5 Simple Steps to No-Cost Redecorating”. She instructs people in starting their own interior redesign and home staging business. If you want to become a redesigner or home stager, or you want more information about Val and her book, stop by www.sharpredesigns.com