What's a cure for decorating fatigue?

[Marisa Starbrook]

Right after I landed my dream spot, decorating fatigue set in. I think i know the reason for it. I had achieved my goal. Now what? Anyone have a solution, a tactic, an idea to get me out of this slump?

[LittleMe Jewell]

5 minutes ago, LuLu Starbrook said:

Right after I landed my dream spot, decorating fatigue set in. I think i know the reason for it. I had achieved my goal. Now what? Anyone have a solution, a tactic, an idea to get me out of this slump?

I've hit that slump a few times.  Sometimes, moving on to one of my other homes has taken care of it and sometimes I've simply ignored all of my homes for a while, doing hunts or concentrating on building or such.

[Elena Blossom]

14 minutes ago, LuLu Starbrook said:

Right after I landed my dream spot, decorating fatigue set in. I think i know the reason for it. I had achieved my goal. Now what? Anyone have a solution, a tactic, an idea to get me out of this slump?

I've been there, both in RL and SL  Just take a short break, check other SL destinations, have some fun around... You might look at your home from a different perscpective

Finding the ideal spot is a true work, an intense task, and it's human to lower your energy once you've achieved a dream  Enjoy your home, I'm sure it's amazing

[Nika Talaj]

13 minutes ago, LuLu Starbrook said:

Anyone have a solution, a tactic, an idea to get me out of this slump?

I've been on a long break from hopping because we have two wonderful properties that we haven't moved into yet.  We're just finishing a challenging one, and are definitely slowing down lol.  The expo has provided some new ideas, tho!

Sometimes just spending time in the parcel a bit, letting it speak to you, will result in a brand new concept that suits it so well that you get inspired.   That's what I'm doing in Saltmarsh - my boat just has a meditation pillow on it, and I just kinda hang there sometimes.  That's what we had to do with our Well Springs parcel.  We tried this ... we tried that ... nearly abandoned it before we found the right combo of home & addon that enhances it,  and then came upon a piece of prairie furniture we loved.  It led us to make our living room Frank Lloyd Wright-ish, it gives us great joy, and the views from that home now refresh me daily.

And we've done some of what Lil does - Sat. night we went and listened/danced to some excellent blues.  There are a lot of dance troupes now in SL, and making time for one of them every week is always fun.  You get to know their crowd   Someplace to wear all your clothes to, as well!

[Rolig Loon]

Try exploring.  There are loads of lovely places to wander in Bellisseria and lots of surprises in the parks and beaches.  You might get inspiration from what people have done in their parcels as you wander around, too.

[karynmaria]

I take forever decorating any home I have.  Thru my hopping I have discovered that each parcel is different and requires a different house and look and add ons.  And sometimes I can work with the house and sometimes I can't.  Or the landscaping is not working for me.  

Also don't feel pressured that you have to have it all decorated in one day.  I take weeks and weeks to decide what I want to use and place things one at a time.  Sometimes I get halfway done and start over with another house.

And honestly as long as I have an alt that is hopping around I will probably always be looking for something else just to see what is out there.  Part of me doesn't want to be done looking and there is also a new theme coming out at some point.   We could just very well be nomads wanting to wander throughout Belli.

[Sylvia Tamalyn]

4 minutes ago, karynmaria said:

Part of me doesn't want to be done looking and there is also a new theme coming out at some point.   We could just very well be nomads wanting to wander throughout Belli.

This is me. If I can't get inspired to decorate a new parcel in a reasonable amount of time, it's almost surely because I'd rather do my nomad thing than settle down, no matter how nice the parcel is. 

[Pussycat Catnap]

Decorate a space to use it rather than to display it.

If you were to look around at my SL Homes dating all the way back to 2009 you would notice a lot of carry-through. Things get carried on from home to home and slowly swapped out as I find better items or take an interest in different things.

If I'm not using something or is it isn't anchoring some mental concept it eventually gets tossed.

Furniture ends up filling with my choice animations, pictures get swapped for my own screenshots, and so on.

- I decorate to use, and to be a reflection of my experience in SL.

 

Even if you were to go between builds I have done when in strictly G or strictly A states of my time in SL, they end up being very similar with just differences in animations and what kinds of screenshots show up...

 

This is probably a lot LESS exciting to decorate, but more exciting to stay in, and it very much speeds up the build process when I move builds because I just lay all my usual suspects out and put them in their spots...

- Redecoration for me happens the same way it does in RL... slowly over time one piece at a time changes, and every so often I get lost in the SL version of an IKEA and come out with a pack of new things... half of which vanish into inventory and half of which end up being added to the usual suspect list.

Edited February 17, 2020 by Pussycat Catnap

[Marisa Starbrook]

I am loving all of your ideas! Thanks for giving me a different perspective. Like @Sylvia Tamalyn and @karynmaria, I've always been very nomadic. Apparently I'm pretty competitive, too! I've played the catch and release game of homes for awhile. My favorite mode of transportation is a kayak. I've loved venturing out and gliding through the peaceful waterways of Bellisseria. It really is good for the soul. What I decided to do is rent a 1/4 homestead for a little while. I find that I've missed terraforming and throwing down all the houses I have in my inventory. I'm going to let my Poseidon Peak dream spot marinate for awhile. 

Thank you and big hugggggsssss

[karynmaria]

10 minutes ago, Sylvia Tamalyn said:

This is me. If I can't get inspired to decorate a new parcel in a reasonable amount of time, it's almost surely because I'd rather do my nomad thing than settle down, no matter how nice the parcel is. 

Exactly this too.   Sometimes you find that the parcel you wanted the most just doesn't work for you.  When I first started all this home hopping I had an image in my mind that i wanted a nice green property totally private and no sand.  Well one of my favorite parcels has ended up being a sand one and it is open. 

Also we sometimes think that we HAVE to keep a parcel because everyone else thinks it is great, but we feel bad cause we don't and then think we are a little nuts for wanting to give it up cause we have been saying "i got the perfect plot I have been looking for" .   Not that I am telling you to give the parcel up, but I know I have released parcels that some would think I was nuts for letting go.

[Dune Ravenwood]

Stop looking for perfection and just enjoy Second Life and the home.

[Sylvia Tamalyn]

1 hour ago, karynmaria said:

Also we sometimes think that we HAVE to keep a parcel because everyone else thinks it is great, but we feel bad cause we don't and then think we are a little nuts for wanting to give it up cause we have been saying "i got the perfect plot I have been looking for" .   Not that I am telling you to give the parcel up, but I know I have released parcels that some would think I was nuts for letting go.

Yep, me too! I tell myself that people may think I'm nuts for giving up a great spot, but I just made some other resident very happy.  

[Elora Lunasea]

1 hour ago, LuLu Starbrook said:

Right after I landed my dream spot, decorating fatigue set in. I think i know the reason for it. I had achieved my goal. Now what? Anyone have a solution, a tactic, an idea to get me out of this slump?

I frequently just don't do anything and let it sit empty for a while until I genuinely feel inspired to work on it. 

The inspiration can come from anywhere. I follow a lot of RL decorating accounts on Instagram for instance . There are many that specialize in small spaces. Even still I might see something and let it gel in my head for a bit. Or, start working on it and as it goes along, rework the idea completely that I'd seen to suit my own needs and aesthetic. 

A trick I use for myself is to pick a word and go through my inventory and just grab items with that one word or variations of it. For instance, I started on my houseboat which had been laying empty for a while. I decided "red' was my prompt. Started pulling objects and as I started decorating other words occurred to me that I built on.  Rattan. Moroccan. Tile. Lacquer. And so forth.

So this is where I am now, not done yet but got pretty far in a few hours and direction is firmly set.

 

[Sylvia Tamalyn]

2 minutes ago, Elora Lunasea said:

A trick I use for myself is to pick a word and go through my inventory and just grab items with that one word or variations of it. For instance, I started on my houseboat which had been laying empty for a while. I decided "red' was my prompt. Started pulling objects and as I started decorating other words occurred to me that I built on.  Rattan. Moroccan. Tile. Lacquer. And so forth.

I'm going to have to try this trick! I like the somewhat random element (I mean, you never know what "red" will get you), and your Moroccan theme is off to a lovely start. I love rich jewel colors like that the best of all.  

[Elora Lunasea]

5 minutes ago, Sylvia Tamalyn said:

I'm going to have to try this trick! I like the somewhat random element (I mean, you never know what "red" will get you), and your Moroccan theme is off to a lovely start. I love rich jewel colors like that the best of all.  

Exactly. Could have wound up being Boudoir inspired too  

[Rolig Loon]

22 minutes ago, Elora Lunasea said:

A trick I use for myself is to pick a word and go through my inventory and just grab items with that one word or variations of it.

That is similar to a trick that I use to explore a RL city that is new to me.  When I arrive, I tell myself, "Today I am going to look for a penguin," or "a figurine of St. Peter", or "a yellow blouse with a bird on it."  It doesn't really matter what I tell myself the target is, as long as it's hard to find but not impossible. I'm not going to buy it anyway.  I could just as well be looking for grafitti or mural art that has animals in it (I actually did that in Reykjavik once, and it was great fun.) The point is to make a hunt out of the first day or two in town, so that I have to look in all sorts of out-of-the-way places.

[Marisa Starbrook]

1 hour ago, Elora Lunasea said:

I frequently just don't do anything and let it sit empty for a while until I genuinely feel inspired to work on it. 

The inspiration can come from anywhere. I follow a lot of RL decorating accounts on Instagram for instance . There are many that specialize in small spaces. Even still I might see something and let it gel in my head for a bit. Or, start working on it and as it goes along, rework the idea completely that I'd seen to suit my own needs and aesthetic. 

A trick I use for myself is to pick a word and go through my inventory and just grab items with that one word or variations of it. For instance, I started on my houseboat which had been laying empty for a while. I decided "red' was my prompt. Started pulling objects and as I started decorating other words occurred to me that I built on.  Rattan. Moroccan. Tile. Lacquer. And so forth.

So this is where I am now, not done yet but got pretty far in a few hours and direction is firmly set.

 

These are both such great tips! Thank you for sharing them. I love following your Bellisseria travelogues, Rolig. I'm already getting re-inspired, Elora!

54 minutes ago, Rolig Loon said:

That is similar to a trick that I use to explore a RL city that is new to me.  When I arrive, I tell myself, "Today I am going to look for a penguin," or "a figurine of St. Peter", or "a yellow blouse with a bird on it."  It doesn't really matter what I tell myself the target is, as long as it's hard to find but not impossible. I'm not going to buy it anyway.  I could just as well be looking for grafitti or mural art that has animals in it (I actually did that in Reykjavik once, and it was great fun.) The point is to make a hunt out of the first day or two in town, so that I have to look in all sorts of out-of-the-way places.

 

[Elora Lunasea]

1 hour ago, Rolig Loon said:

That is similar to a trick that I use to explore a RL city that is new to me.  When I arrive, I tell myself, "Today I am going to look for a penguin," or "a figurine of St. Peter", or "a yellow blouse with a bird on it."  It doesn't really matter what I tell myself the target is, as long as it's hard to find but not impossible. I'm not going to buy it anyway.  I could just as well be looking for grafitti or mural art that has animals in it (I actually did that in Reykjavik once, and it was great fun.) The point is to make a hunt out of the first day or two in town, so that I have to look in all sorts of out-of-the-way places.

In photography, it's "color walks" - going out and saying you're going to look for a specific color to shoot that day

 

[Jadziyah Nova]

I'd suggest perhaps trying to decorate in a theme you haven't done before or in a while- steampunk, boho, retro futuristic, whatever. Or set yourself a challenge- furnish a room the best you can under $500, with items only from one store, or items you made yourself, items only from the current year, etc. 

[Beth Macbain]

I think we all get the fatigue. My motivation for decorating comes in spurts (heh). I left the boat empty until the neighbor complained to me... and even then, I really waited until the urge hit again. 

There's not a thing wrong will leaving a house, or boat, or camper, sitting empty until you find the inspiration or motivation. 

[LittleMe Jewell]

4 minutes ago, Beth Macbain said:

I left the boat empty until the neighbor complained to me... and even then, I really waited until the urge hit again. 

If someone complained to me about my home not being decorated - at all or not enough - I'd probably make a mental note to intentionally leave it empty for at least 3 months.

Yeah, sometimes I'm spiteful.

[Beth Macbain]

1 minute ago, LittleMe Jewell said:

If someone complained to me about my home not being decorated - at all or not enough - I'd probably make a mental note to intentionally leave it empty for at least 3 months.

Yeah, sometimes I'm spiteful.

I put a dancing animesh Elvis on the roof and left it for a while.

[karynmaria]

1 hour ago, Beth Macbain said:

I think we all get the fatigue. My motivation for decorating comes in spurts (heh). I left the boat empty until the neighbor complained to me... and even then, I really waited until the urge hit again. 

There's not a thing wrong will leaving a house, or boat, or camper, sitting empty until you find the inspiration or motivation. 

and this!  I don't understand people's fixation because others leave their plots empty.  Even the older LH lots of people didn't decorate them.  These parcels are nice even without filling up your house or yard.   When i first get a parcel I like I always spend more time just walking around it and admiring how nice everything looks before i start decorating.  I think people too feel more pressure to get the decorating done just because these places are so nice.  But people are not obligated to decorate them if they don't want to. 

[Sylvia Tamalyn]

1 hour ago, karynmaria said:

and this!  I don't understand people's fixation because others leave their plots empty.  Even the older LH lots of people didn't decorate them.  These parcels are nice even without filling up your house or yard.   When i first get a parcel I like I always spend more time just walking around it and admiring how nice everything looks before i start decorating.  I think people too feel more pressure to get the decorating done just because these places are so nice.  But people are not obligated to decorate them if they don't want to. 

I love it when neighbors leave their houses empty. That's just that much less stuff in the area for my viewer to have to render.  

[Raspberry Crystal]

13 hours ago, LuLu Starbrook said:

Right after I landed my dream spot, decorating fatigue set in. I think i know the reason for it. I had achieved my goal. Now what? Anyone have a solution, a tactic, an idea to get me out of this slump?

It could also be that this particular dream plot isn't what you really want. Sometimes it is hard to know without actually getting to that point. Give yourself some time to work it out.