4 Tips to Redecorate Your Home After a Divorce
You’ve finally come to it. Your divorce is final. You’ve just paid off the last payment to your Salt Lake City divorce lawyer (or attorney in whatever city you live in). You’ve changed your name. Your ex no longer has a key to the front door. The question is now what? If you’re at this stage, you should know that one of the best things you can do to recover is to reclaim your space. Aside from the fact that it gives you something concrete to do, it also helps you to reassert your own identity. So, if you’re ready to start pouring through IKEA catalogs again, here are five tips to keep in mind as you redecorate after your divorce.
1. Take Up More Space
Once your former spouse moves out, you have a lot more empty space. Half of your closet is empty. Half of the fridge. Half of the medicine cabinet. You get the idea.
Filling these spaces back up with you and all you represent counts as one of the best remedies for half-empty syndrome. And don’t just put more clothes in the closet. Buy furniture and other decorations to fill in the void your ex left behind. Make your home or apartment look more like you.
2. Rearrange What You Do Have
And related to the previous bit of advice, rearrange what you do have. Moving the couch and the bed around (plus all the smaller items that you’ve placed next to them) counts as a fast and easy way to give the space a new vibe.
3. Hide the Evidence
In the days and months directly after the divorce finalizes, it’s easy take many trips down Memory Lane. However, it’s a good idea to avoid looking at honeymoon photos and sentimental cards from their exes.
Instead, it’s best to stash these items away for a time, or even better yet, get rid of them. Understandably, some items like photos you may want to keep if you have kids together or if those photos include parents or relatives that have passed away. However, get rid of the rest of the stuff to make room for new memories.
4. Do Something With The Walls
A couple of cans of paint doesn’t cost much but can completely change the look of a room. Art can have the same effect. Post-divorce is the time to try painting that accent wall you’ve always wanted. It’s also the time to experiment with creating a black and white photograph gallery along the staircase. Or to invest in some pieces by that up-and-coming local artist. Or whatever. The point is adding new stuff to the walls can make you feel new.
5. Get Some New Wine Glasses
Often, people will only use their china and wine glasses for special occasions. Often, these special occasions never happen. Why wait? You certainly don’t need to run the decision to buy new stemware by anyone nowadays. A new set of dishes and glasses adds new life to one of life’s most common activities. They also remind you that there are celebrations and dinner parties yet to be had. New glasses encourage you to have these celebrations more often.
Conclusion
Divorce can feel devastating. Your life gets turned upside down. You’re no longer a member of a team. However, after the dust settles, it can also feel liberating. Divorce gives you an opportunity to reclaim your taste and your space, to hang your favorite pictures on the wall, and to get rid of that eyesore of an end table that your ex loved. Mostly, it gives you an excuse to redecorate and redo. While this can feel scary at first, ultimately many people realize it may be the first step in the right direction they’ve taken in a very long time.
