Meet Lyndsay
Dear Fellow Home Decorators,
I have a couple of confessions to make so that we can start our relationship with complete honesty and transparency:
- I'm a recovering "perfectionist,"
- I've been known to "procrastinate & second guess" a personal decorating decision for months,
- I don't love the decorating process, but "I LOVE" how I feel when the project is done,
- And I'm not sure if it's a good thing or a bad thing... but I'm addicted to Pinterest.
There's nothing as comforting as having a personalized space, or a whole room, that makes me feel WONDERFUL and helps me recharge and re-connect with my inner me.
Besides my kids, husband, and dogs, the greatest joys in my life come from helping other women get "un-stuck." So they can design, build, and finish their own personal sanctuaries and spaces.
"I believe every woman, especially us self-sacrificing moms, deserves at least one extra-special place in our home we LOVE.
That's all our own!"
"My Relationship with Decorating Started in My Childhood."
I grew up in a loving home in Melrose, MA the youngest of 3 kids.
From 7 to12, I lived in a house we had to completely gut, renovate, and add an addition to.
- My Dad did all the construction himself - working at night and on the weekends after his day job as a cement truck driver.
- My Mom worked at my elementary school by day and acted as chief "what if" researcher and designer at night.
- She hated to cook, so we ate most of our meals in front of the TV while she did her dreaming, scouring through a pile of "Spiegel Catalogs" for decorating ideas.
FYI: "I'm not sure, but I think all that happy time I spent with my Mom & Dad, researching and talking about decorating ideas from those 'Spiegel Catalogs' seeded my current addiction to 'Pinterest.'
Today's digital version of the old Sears & Spiegel catalogs." LOL
Since my brother and sister were older and wouldn't babysit. I was constantly dragged along to the paint and furniture stores as my parents made decisions about refurbishing & decorating our home.
- My parents took real pride in our home.
- They worked together choosing decor that fit into our casual lifestyle and made one room after another a "Beautiful Warm Inviting Space" you always felt comfortable in.
- Today, I'm very much a "homebody." And I'm sure it all started from my childhood feelings of beauty and comfort at home with my family.
AND all that shopping with my parents ignited another life-long passion of mine.
"Home Decorating."
Luckily, I had my own room when I was a kid, and I loved spending time there.
- I loved it because my parents - let me make it my own.
- It was my sanctuary, my own special place.
- I was in control and took advantage of the opportunity.
- I had fun there. I constantly re-arranged the furniture to see what layouts worked and how they made me feel.
"It was in that Room I Found My First Home Decorating Client."
A stylish woman who was by today's standards the Paris Hilton or Kim Kardashian of her time,"BARBIE!"
I decorated and redecorated "Barbies Dream House" over and over again. And every time I finished redecorating a room for Barbie, I followed my family's "magical rule" about completing a project.
"One of the most important things I learned from my parentsabout making your home your own; was to celebrate your successes."
My Dad was a "measure twice, cut once" kind of guy. He wanted things done right, and he wanted them done in the proper order.
"There's no reason to start a new project
until you finish the one you're working on now."
"ONE DONE - is better than 3 half-finished." he used to say.
And in our house, getting a project finished... lead to a "magical moment."
"The Magic of the Reveal."
My Mom & Dad took the time to enjoy and "celebrate their accomplishments."
When the room was done, and all the little details were in their proper place - we had a "Reveal Party."
During those merrymaking "TA-DA Moments," everyone acknowledges one another for their contribution (no matter how small) to make our home more beautiful and comfortable to live in.
Those fantastic moments made my parents "Proud." And they made me "Proud," too.
Proud of them and proud of our home and my small contributions.
- I loved the excitement of finishing a project so much I repeated the same "Magical Reveal Party" process for Barbie whenever I finished a project in her dream house.
I'd set Barbie up outside the room... then pull back the curtain and laughingly scream "TA-DA" as I pulled back the curtain. It was so much fun.
I learned later that psychologically those celebrations gave myfamily the "Joy & Momentum" to take on the next project.
It's funny, but one of the things I miss when we work with people remotely;
- is being in the room to see our client's faces when they have their space completely done,
- and they reveal it to themselves and their family - for the first time... "it's just magical."
I still get goosebumps when I think about my own unveilings (yep, I do them in my own home). And think back to all those deserving women Wendy and I have helped get the space they always wanted and deserved.
That's one of the things I think busy home decorators cheat themselves out of - when
they don't finish the final little details and celebrate what they've created.
Whether it's hanging the final pictures or adding a few family heirlooms... finishing one project BEFORE you start the next and
celebrating that accomplishment
IS VITALLY IMPORTANT.
You deserve a TA-DA Moment!
"My Curse of Perfectionism"
As I got older, my parents repeated their renovation on another home, and I went off to college.
I started as a business major but kinda lost my direction... and ended up going into a Dental Hygiene Program to become a Dental Hygienist.
I like being a Dental Hygienist for a many reasons:
- I got to wear pajamas, I mean scrubs, to work. No need to pick out the perfect outfit every day,
- I got to help people be healthy,
- My day had a structure
- Every cleaning ended with a TA-DA Reveal Moment! LOL
I'm mentioning my dental career because it revealed something about my personality that makes decorating my own home 1000X HARDER.
I believe my own work MUST BE PERFECT!
In the dental office, I wanted everyone to have a perfect cleaning and a million-dollar smile.
The truth is...
"Excellence does not require perfection."
"Striving for excellence motivates you; striving for perfection sets you up for distress and disappointment."
If you want to stay out of the looney bin, learn to live with excellence.
My Problem: When I don't use the tools Wendy and I created in our decorating system, I get caught in this vicious loop. And sometimes, if I don't get help - I still get STUCK!
**This is a true story.
Goal: Get the dining room drapes done
BEFORE the next holiday.
Heres what happened:
- I had 12 swatches sitting on the dining room table for 6 months
- I told myself I'd have it done by Thanksgiving 2020, then Christmas 2020, then Easter 2021, which then got pushed to Thanksgiving 2021, then Christmas 2021, then Easter 2022... ahhhh
Here's how I got there.
Pre-Decision:
- It has to be perfect.
- I got stuck in Pinterest for days weeks... just looking for ideas,
- Then when I got an idea I had to research my options,
- Then I had to research my research - "Because some little voice in my head says maybe I'm missing something, I'd better not make any decisions until I've done more research. What if I've missed something?"
2nd Guessed Decision:
When I finally decided - I immediately started 2nd guessing myself with...
- What if...
- What about...
- I wonder if...
That led to 24 months of
"Decision Procrastination."
Finally, my business partner and true friend Wendy... organized an intervention.
“For goodness sakes Lyndsay, you've missed 2 years of holidays over 1 decision…”
- Can you narrow down your 12 options to 3 by Weds? I said, "Yes."
- Then could you narrow down that 3 to one by Friday? I said, "Yes."
And I did it!
The Reveal Party is in 2 weeks!
All it took was the mindset - to make one little decision by a specific date.
Each little decision you make is a SUCCESS!
Wendy had this embroidered on a hat for me, along with a sign for my office. LOL
"Progress, Not Perfection: A Mantra to Get Sh*t Done"
So far Wendy and have helped over 2000 women discover their style to start making their home their own.
We hope you come along…..
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