When I read Myquillyn’s book earlier this year, I began to think more and more about my style of decorating. I realized I loved collecting things that I love and putting them together. My home is a collection of thrift store, Pottery Barn, Target, and garage sale purchases. It contains items that are handmade, homemade, inherited, re purposed, and repainted. I’ve been open to finding, collecting, and purchasing items from all sorts of places. My home tells a story. My home is full of things I love and represents people and places and events that fill my family’s life. My home works hard and is comfortable, it represents the people who live here, what we like, what we do, what we want to do someday.
Lets discuss style. Defining your style of decorating is so important as you move forward in your pursuit of a home that you truly love. This can be overwhelming for many. You may feel you like everything, or that you don’t know how to put things together, or your not creative, or your scared to make those big purchases.
I have a simple philosophy for defining my style. I keep a list of things that I love, that I feel drawn to, that work with my family. My style right now (yes it has changed and will continue to change), if I had to define it, would be Modern Eclectic Country. I love a neutral color palette with touches of color. I’m very much into texture. Think leather, white couches, light wood, white frames, burlap, cotton, and brass elements. I love distressed mixed with new. They old mixed with the latest trend.
To define your style, take note of what you love. Pinterest would be a great place to store photos of rooms that you love. Before pinterest, I looked through magazines and catalogs. Start by collecting images of everything that speaks to you. Then begin to look for patterns. You may notice that you are pinning all the rooms with pine floors, or globes, or braided rugs. You may notice certain colors reappearing. Maybe you are drawn to white couches or extra large framed photos on the wall. Whatever it may be, take note of what you love most, and begin to figure out ways to add these items to your home. Start with one room and make it reflect your style. Use what you have, craft something, budget and purchase something new. Experiment. Have fun.
When I was designing our kitchen a few years ago, I watched HGTV in the evenings, googled kitchens images (back in my pre-pinterest days), and tore kitchen photos I loved out of magazines. I thought I wanted dark cabinets, I was convinced, until I noticed that all the kitchens that I absolutely loved had white cabinets. I fearfully decided to go with white. Five years later, I still love my white kitchen cabinets.
So have fun with it. It doesn’t happen overnight and is an ongoing process. I love going to homes where you can see the person’s style reflected in the items that fill their home. As you define what you love, you can begin to work towards adding your most favorite items to your home.
Speaking of style…your model is really rocking that Onesie and jaunty hat!