Amanda Lamb: The freedom to re-imagine

When I was growing up, if my mom put a throw pillow on the couch or hung a picture on the wall, chances are those items would stay there for the next 15 years. But I was always too restless for this kind of continuity. I preferred to change things up on a regular basis just because I could.

I remember as a teenager staying up until 3 in the morning rearranging the furniture in my room, rehanging my posters and changing the organization of my books and knickknacks in my bookshelves. My dad would come in and tell me to go to bed and do it in the morning, but I just couldn't resist the need to re-imagine my world, which at the age of 14 pretty much consisted of my tiny bedroom.

My mom, on the other hand, was so tied to consistency that she decorated my room with the same exact wallpaper, carpeting and bedspread each time we moved in three separate houses. 

I am now reaping what I sow as my girls have developed the same desire to change their rooms as often as possible. From rearranging their furniture to switching colors schemes to changing what they hang on their walls, they are constantly telling me "It's time for a change."

Part of me just wants to say no, to tell them to be happy with the rooms they have and not always feel the need to change them. But then I remember that green and white checked wallpaper, the pink shag rug and the awful matching floral bedspread that I spent the entire 1970's living with and I think maybe it's not so bad to give them a little freedom to re-imagine their personal space.

All of us could benefit from a little change in our environments every so often. If anyone wants that floral bedspread, I'm pretty sure it's in my attic wrapped around an old piece of furniture ...