# Try to make one room in your home as beautiful as possible



## MoonRiver (Sep 2, 2007)

This is one of the 12 rules from Jordan Peterson's latest book. 

In a book that was written to help one improve themselves, what do you think you might gain by making one room in your house as beautiful as possible?


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## HDRider (Jul 21, 2011)

MoonRiver said:


> This is one of the 12 rules from Jordan Peterson's latest book.
> 
> In a book that was written to help one improve themselves, what do you think you might gain by making one room in your house as beautiful as possible?


We all need beauty, ever how we define it, in our life. There are many things in our life we cannot control. Hopefully we can control one room in our home.


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## HDRider (Jul 21, 2011)

My wife has one of her many pieces of art, hanging in my bathroom that says, "There is beauty in everything."


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## MoonRiver (Sep 2, 2007)

HDRider said:


> My wife has one of her many pieces of art, hanging in my bathroom that says, "There is beauty in everything."


Did she hang it there a long time ago?


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## HDRider (Jul 21, 2011)

MoonRiver said:


> Did she hang it there a long time ago?


She redid this house about 4 years ago. She hung it around that time.

BTW - My entire house is beautiful.


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## MoonRiver (Sep 2, 2007)

HDRider said:


> She redid this house about 4 years ago. She hung it around that time.
> 
> BTW - My entire house is beautiful.


Mines clean and my bed is made. I sure will be glad when it is sold and I can go back to my normal life.


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## CKelly78z (Jul 16, 2017)

Two years ago, I finished a complete remodel of our downstairs bathroom with a large walk in shower that has seating, a custom vanity that has a barn style sliding door, all wall surfaces, electrical, plumbing is new, all new fixtures with better lighting, and my favorite feature... a barn style sliding entry door that I built, and stained by hand in my shop.


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## Wolf mom (Mar 8, 2005)

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder....
If Peterson is saying make one room just for you, that makes you peaceful, comfortable, then I agree. Although I'd ask why isn't your whole house that way, partner's likes included.

An acquaintance has a house chock full of "collectables" and things she's saving for her grands. It's overwhelming to me, but beautiful to her. She's even been known sleep in an attic bedroom (with her husband) so she doesn't disturb her show piece bedroom at Christmas. I know she doesn't like my decorating, as it's pretty eclectic, with "meaningful to me things" around and I use every room in my house.


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## MoonRiver (Sep 2, 2007)

For those of you familiar with Peterson, you know there must be a much deeper reason than anyone has come up with so far. 

Hint: What makes a piece of art great? What makes it stand the test of time?


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## Alice In TX/MO (May 10, 2002)

Before furniture


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## Gayle in KY (May 13, 2002)

My livingroom is filled with thousands of books, pictures (not photos), and knick-knacks. Everything has to pass the 'Do I love it?" test before it gets a spot. It looks cluttered, but I don't care. When people come over they start looking around. Everyone ends up commenting on various objects. My son's boss told him my house looks like a museum.


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## mreynolds (Jan 1, 2015)

MoonRiver said:


> For those of you familiar with Peterson, you know there must be a much deeper reason than anyone has come up with so far.
> 
> Hint: What makes a piece of art great? What makes it stand the test of time?


I think what he might be saying is this. 

Many people I know fix up their house to show to everyone else what a nice house they have. When I go to a house like this I am often nervous about even stepping on an expensive rug the wrong way. I don't usually visit houses like this very many times even though I will remain friends with them. 

Maybe what Jordan is saying is that make one room just for you. Your man cave or she shed. Some place that you can just walk into and breath a sigh of relief. No one judging you in this room. If they do you still don't care.


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## MoonRiver (Sep 2, 2007)

Another hint: 6 of the top 10 countries for tourism are in Europe.


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## MoonRiver (Sep 2, 2007)

mreynolds said:


> I think what he might be saying is this.
> 
> Many people I know fix up their house to show to everyone else what a nice house they have. When I go to a house like this I am often nervous about even stepping on an expensive rug the wrong way. I don't usually visit houses like this very many times even though I will remain friends with them.
> 
> Maybe what Jordan is saying is that make one room just for you. Your man cave or she shed. Some place that you can just walk into and breath a sigh of relief. No one judging you in this room. If they do you still don't care.


If I understand correctly, it is not about making you comfortable.


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## mreynolds (Jan 1, 2015)

MoonRiver said:


> If I understand correctly, it is not about making you comfortable.


Maybe not. Years ago I watched a video from a retired Admiral from the US Navy. It was a motivational video on 10 things you should do every day. These things you have control of and will make you succeed in life better. 

Number one was, make your bed as soon as you get up. According to him, this trains you subconscious that there will be a tonight and a tomorrow. Even if you have a bad day you can come home and know that there is one thing less to worry about. 

To me it helps me to realize that when I start something I will finish it. I guess everyone will have a different idea of what Jordan means. What did he mean to you?


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## MoonRiver (Sep 2, 2007)

mreynolds said:


> Maybe not. Years ago I watched a video from a retired Admiral from the US Navy. It was a motivational video on 10 things you should do every day. These things you have control of and will make you succeed in life better.
> 
> Number one was, make your bed as soon as you get up. According to him, this trains you subconscious that there will be a tonight and a tomorrow. Even if you have a bad day you can come home and know that there is one thing less to worry about.
> 
> To me it helps me to realize that when I start something I will finish it. I guess everyone will have a different idea of what Jordan means. What did he mean to you?


What inspires you? What makes you think deep thoughts? What makes you say WOW?

People don't travel to France or Italy to see what makes them comfortable.


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## Pony (Jan 6, 2003)

The one decent room in our house is the bathroom. For now.

We're in the process of building a new house next door to the one in which we live. The original house has an irreparable foundation. Three years into this project, we should be in the basement of the new place by Autumn.

Maybe. 

In the meantime, it's hard to get excited about the house we originally planned to fix up, all the while knowing it is slated for gutting/recycling, and ultimately burned to the ground. (With the price of wood, however, we'll be scavenging as much as possible.)

I can keep the bathroom clean and neat, and relatively pretty. 

Won't be renting that space out for air bnb, though.


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## newfieannie (Dec 24, 2006)

i've never read anything by him. can't say i've even heard of him. i'm not a tidy person in either room in my house. too many books spilling over everywhere. i might have 3 books going at one time. the den is quite tidy but i dont use it. just walk through it on the way upstairs. i like a place lived-in

the best house i was ever in was my friend who lived by the campground where i use to camp. i had to kick my way through to get a place to sit but they were always so welcoming. my brothers wife on the other hand. most of the family would visit once and never go back. ~Georgia


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## Lisa in WA (Oct 11, 2004)

mreynolds said:


> When I go to a house like this I am often nervous about even stepping on an expensive rug the wrong way. I don't usually visit houses like this very many times even though I will remain friends with them.


If those expensive rugs are orientals they are meant to take a beating and they become more beautiful with age and use. If something spills on them you can have them literally washed (unlike carpet). if a dog chews the edge of one, they can reweave it. The best part about them (besides their gorgeousness) is how resilient they are to animals and kids. I never worry about mine, don’t ask people to take off shoes etc. They are meant to be used.


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## MoonRiver (Sep 2, 2007)

newfieannie said:


> i've never read anything by him. can't say i've even heard of him. i'm not a tidy person in either room in my house. too many books spilling over everywhere. i might have 3 books going at one time. the den is quite tidy but i dont use it. just walk through it on the way upstairs. i like a place lived-in
> 
> the best house i was ever in was my friend who lived by the campground where i use to camp. i had to kick my way through to get a place to sit but they were always so welcoming. my brothers wife on the other hand. most of the family would visit once and never go back. ~Georgia


Jordan Peterson is a world-famous Canadian.


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## newfieannie (Dec 24, 2006)

goes to show how much i know or dont


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## HDRider (Jul 21, 2011)

MoonRiver said:


> Jordan Peterson is a world-famous Canadian.


Very much unlike Justin Bieber


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## HDRider (Jul 21, 2011)

newfieannie said:


> goes to show how much i know or dont


Some may say infamous

So when Peterson exposes the Stalinist mindset of today’s popular “woke” culture, it evokes a deeply hateful reaction. The fact that he will not back down or even soften his accusations escalates the hatred of the woke to the nihilistic rage we see being acted out on America’s streets today. 


https://merionwest.com/2020/11/25/jordan-peterson-biographer-on-why-people-hate-him-so-much/


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## HDRider (Jul 21, 2011)

MoonRiver said:


> Did she hang it there a long time ago?


I am curious what prompted this question


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## MoonRiver (Sep 2, 2007)

HDRider said:


> I am curious what prompted this question


I thought maybe she was trying to tell you something!


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## HDRider (Jul 21, 2011)

MoonRiver said:


> I thought maybe she was trying to tell you something!


My wife and I are very different people. She makes me a compete person. She fills the gaps I have as a person.

She is always trying to tell me something, and I am thankful for it.


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## muleskinner2 (Oct 7, 2007)

MoonRiver said:


> This is one of the 12 rules from Jordan Peterson's latest book.
> 
> In a book that was written to help one improve themselves, what do you think you might gain by making one room in your house as beautiful as possible?


My house looks like an old time bunk house, pictures of horses, tack, guns, and books cover the walls. My wife and I are the only ones who ever see it, we don't invite people over very often. You would have to be a very good friend to be invited over. Never heard of this Peterson fella, I wouldn't care what he thought about my house.


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## HDRider (Jul 21, 2011)

I think you two might get along wonderfully if you don't shoot him after the first 20 minutes. 


muleskinner2 said:


> Peterson


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## Clem (Apr 12, 2016)

It disturbs me greatly, and makes a big swing in my impression of a person if I visit their house and it looks like nobody is living in it, and the furniture, etc is for looks.

My maternal grandparents had a shack with 4 rooms and a split upstairs with about a 5 ft ceiling, so, I suppose 2 bedrooms. So, those 2 bedrooms, grandparents room downstairs, a kitchen, an all in one living room/dining room. and a very scary room with fancy furniture covered with sheets, along with a player piano. The room was just so "unlived-in" it was kinda scary to all of us. Going up behind the barn for a toilet, and a big tub on the porch that got drug in the kitchen every Saturday for a bath. We'd take turns in the tub, starting with grandma, until the water was like mud. All that was just the way it was, but that room full of fancy furniture and a player piano was scary...unwelcoming...downright creepy. Then they used it to display great-grandma for a couple days after she died...

So, just my own preference, if you got a couple socks in the floor or a wet towel hanging on the shower curtain, a couple dirty dishes in the sink and a half full trash can, I figure you're pretty much normal. The creepy unlived-in look, I just go to wondering what the heck is wrong with you.


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## emdeengee (Apr 20, 2010)

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder and each should have a place of their own. I like things simple, organized and colourful yet calming. No clutter. All the main rooms of our house fit this description and are places that are relaxing and beautiful for the whole family. Am I the main director of this “beauty”? Ye, but I do design with everyone in mind and I even kept that awful chair. 

And then everyone has always had their own space to do with as they wanted. Avocado green bedroom furniture? Sure. It was the paint colour chosen so of course it is the right colour. I just closed my eyes.

Right now with my husband retired he has two great spaces – his hobby room and his workshop. He loves them and to him they are places of beauty – full of stuff, organized according to his liking but cluttered with projects on the go. I would never dream of designing his happiness and mess so I never tidy even though I really want to. That would just be soooo rude.


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## MoonRiver (Sep 2, 2007)

Here's an explanation from Jordan Peterson. There is an even better video, but he says a word not allowed here, so look up art Jordan Peterson on youtube if you want to hear the other explanation. Same basic answer, just more detail.


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## newfieannie (Dec 24, 2006)

i think that was the thing then Clem. you had what they called the parlour . ours had beautiful furniture also and a piano. french doors , a franklin fireplace. moms china cabinet etc. etc. that's where we would have our christmas tree. when that was over the doors would be closed and open only for special occasion. 

anyway i went out shovelling some soil and many people i know are passing by today to the lakes. i thought i would ask if they knew him. i asked 5 people(not sure if one counts he's been teaching in HK for 10 years but he is Canadian) none of them knew who i was talking about. maybe he's better known in other parts of the world or i didn't ask the right people. 2 were computer experts, one is a retired general. then the teacher and the other an Architect. so they didn't just crawl off a turnip truck. ~Georgia


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## Wolf mom (Mar 8, 2005)

Make one room in your home as beautiful as possible...

I am comfortable in my mind (and heart). That's what's important to me.


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## whiterock (Mar 26, 2003)

One of DD's friends said my house was " a testament to Lonesome Dove" . I call it Texican. Leather sofas, Mexican pine dining set, serapes over the windows and on the furniture. Concrete floor painted brown. Hats in every room, on hat racks, hooks over windows, which support the cedar poles holing the serape window treatments. Cast iron in the kitchen and on the hearth. Bluebonnet prints and other western style prints on the walls.


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## newfieannie (Dec 24, 2006)

sounds lovely!


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## hiddensprings (Aug 6, 2009)

I think it's a great idea to have one room in your home that *YOU* consider beautiful I have such a room. Anyone else looking at it would say "what a mess! She is so unorganized! What is all of this crap?" I, on the other hand, look at my room and see nothing but creativity. I love to make things, carve things, try things, learn things and that is exactly what I do in that room. I find peace there. I find knowledge there. I find my creative spirit there. I have the beautiful house with all of the painting, rugs, furniture, etc that other people would find appealing, but it's MY room that I love the most.


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## po boy (Jul 12, 2010)

I have one small room that I keep neat and clean. The guest bathroom.


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## frogmammy (Dec 8, 2004)

MoonRiver said:


> People don't travel to France or Italy to see what makes them comfortable.


No, but they often enough DO look for McDonald's!

Mon


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## homesteadforty (Dec 4, 2007)

Aristafon said:


> I think that Peterson means having some personal space in your house is cool. At least one room should be decorated the way you like, and you should always make sure it’s clean. You might not have the energy to keep the house nice and clean all the time, but one room is much easier to maintain clean.


I'm just pointing out my way of thinking... my whole house (cabin actually) is my personal space. Of course, it's only about 500 sq. ft. It's not decorated but does contain stuff that I want/need. It's always clean enough for me... don't care if it's clean enough for others. Sometimes is not so nice, clean, tidy... like right now... it's canning time... not much time to worry about other stuff.

Only a couple of people ever come over... if they see something they don't like they're free to not come back. If they feel some insane need to comment they better be ready for...


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## MoonRiver (Sep 2, 2007)

Aristafon said:


> I think that Peterson means having some personal space in your house is cool. At least one room should be decorated the way you like, and you should always make sure it’s clean. You might not have the energy to keep the house nice and clean all the time, but one room is much easier to maintain clean.


I think he is also referring to art. Art stimulates our brain in a different way from just being clean and decorated.

Even if it is just 1 piece of art, it is something that can take our minds to a different place.


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## link30240 (Aug 22, 2021)

Im pretty proud of our little house especially since we rebuilt it from pretty much destroyed to its current state doing it all virtually ourselves. But this is probably my favorite room (our guest bedroom), it certainly keeps my perspective. and my wife makes sure our whole house is clean and nice all the time


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## gilberte (Sep 25, 2004)

All we care about is that our home is secure, clean, warm, and comfortable for us. We are outdoor people and find the "beauty" outside.


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## muleskinner2 (Oct 7, 2007)

My house only has one room, 30'x40' with a 10' ceiling. It is clean and efficient. Many people live in their houses 24/7, I do not. I live outside, I work outside, weather permitting I cook outside, in the summer I often sleep outside. My house is where I keep my clothes, books, and guns. I never invite people inside my house. I built it to suite my wife and myself, not anyone else.

My grandfather, my dads father, lived in a house with no indoor toilet for his entire life. There was running water in the kitchen, but you did your business in the outhouse. He thought it was dirty, and unhealthy to crap in the house.


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## Danaus29 (Sep 12, 2005)

muleskinner2 said:


> My grandfather, my dads father, lived in a house with no indoor toilet for his entire life. There was running water in the kitchen, but you did your business in the outhouse. He thought it was dirty, and unhealthy to crap in the house.


He sounds like my great-grandpa. Ggpa never had an indoor toilet until he moved in with us. He often told my mother that people were meant to eat indoors and do their business outdoors.


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## TxGypsy (Nov 23, 2006)

That 'room' is called outside and is the reason your house has windows.

I am so utilitarian that my handyman in Mexico gave me paintings to put on my walls. He couldn't take it any more 🤣🤣🤣


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## TxGypsy (Nov 23, 2006)

muleskinner2 said:


> My house only has one room, 30'x40' with a 10' ceiling. It is clean and efficient. Many people live in their houses 24/7, I do not. I live outside, I work outside, weather permitting I cook outside, in the summer I often sleep outside. My house is where I keep my clothes, books, and guns. I never invite people inside my house. I built it to suite my wife and myself, not anyone else.
> 
> My grandfather, my dads father, lived in a house with no indoor toilet for his entire life. There was running water in the kitchen, but you did your business in the outhouse. He thought it was dirty, and unhealthy to crap in the house.


I agree with you and your Grandpa.


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