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" 1. If you don&amp;#039;t love it, let it go. When I received a sizable check in the mail a few weeks ago, I thought there must have been an error. It was my portion of the proceeds of a junk sale that had been artfully merchandised by H&amp;amp;amp;H Estate Sales, a local crew of geniuses, in the driveway of our New Orleans house. The reason for the purge was more psychological than anything. I had just wrapped my fourth renovation in 10 years, and the time had come to unbury myself. The extra cash was great, but witnessing the detritus of a 20-year collecting addiction being hauled away was almost payment enough. I could feel the weight lifting from my shoulders as battle-worn chairs, leftover rolls of fabric from upholstery long gone, plates, platters, silver cups, way too many shells, and a towering collection of British Vogues from the 1960s sailed off with new lovers. Our relationship was over, and I was relieved to see them go. Our near-empty house, now containing mostly essentials and things I love, has made me giddy. 2. A classically shaped sofa will work in any setting. Just re-cover it every decade \u2014 or three. Guest-editing House Beautiful&amp;#039;s annual &amp;quot;Makeovers!&amp;quot; issue has dovetailed nicely with my own personal renovation. For example, a hand-me-down Georgian sofa that didn&amp;#039;t sell during the great purge became a fabric opportunity. I had been fantasizing about chintz and finally decided to take the plunge and cover said sofa in Lee Jofa&amp;#039;s rose-strewn Mayfield print, a radical departure from its previous life in which it wore a beige and chocolate Ralph Lauren Home herringbone. It&amp;#039;s been about two years since my husband, Paul, and I moved with our three children from New York to New Orleans, and somehow, this reupholstered piece seems symbolic of our relocation from the North to the South. The new floral pattern has imbued our dining room (a misnomer, since it&amp;#039;s used mostly for Ping-Pong) with a lush, ladylike feel, indicative of my new home city. Bit by bit, we&amp;#039;re embracing a tide of transformation that has come with changing the backdrop of our lives. 3. Loosen the scheme and everyone will want to hang out. Having a serious house means we now have a serious living room to contend with. After I jettisoned a few pieces at the junk sale, I was able to swap a stiff floor plan for a more livable layout. Now we actually use the room! The kids do homework at a modern card table in one corner, my husband plays records in another, and we all lounge around with computers and books on the great big sofa floating in the middle. The most obvious perk of leaving Manhattan \u2014 more spacious digs \u2014 has been great, but the kitchen renovation, which has led to more family dinners and entertaining, is what&amp;#039;s really had the most impact. There is finally enough counter and drawer space for useful, task-specific appliances like a rice cooker, a Vitamix blender, and a sous vide machine. 4. Consort and consult with talented people.  For this issue, I sought out all sorts of inspiring spaces with trans formative ideas. From indigo-lacquered rooms to the spare simplicity of white walls, the decorating range seen in the featured projects here suggests makeovers in a major key, but the House Beautiful staff and I also conspired to show how minor changes can be just as powerful. The bed-linens story I dreamed up and staged in houses around New Orleans inspired me to try something different on my own bed. Taking a cue from the look we created at decorator Thomas Jayne&amp;#039;s French Quarter apartment, I placed two navy blue and white folk-art-ish embroidered shams behind my white standard pillowcases and tossed a faux-fur throw at the foot of the bed. I was blown away by the instant update. 5. Change doesn&amp;#039;t have to cost a lot. Recycling old furniture, repainting a hallway, and culling the excess can be just enough. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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