This post is about style. Your style. Great style. And how to figure out which is which.
Do you find that you love transitional beach modern French bohemian country shabby chic log cabin Edwardian cottage junk style? Do you get your home set in one style and then a magazine or blog will sway you in an entirely different direction? Do you feel like
your style is a moving target?
You're not alone. You're not suffering from IDSPD (Interior Design Split Personality Disorder.) It's ok to love a lot of styles.
Here's the important question you have to ask yourself:
Do you love this style or do you love this style for
your home?
That's a very important question.
As decorating fanatics, we all appreciate great design and chic style, but we don't have to use it all in our homes and we don't have to use it all together at the same time. It's also ok to love something and not own it. It's ok to love a style and not use it immediately in a room in your home.
These are some ways you can avoid being easily swayed by the winds of home decor change.
Know your staples.We all have things we have loved for years. Antiques, blue and white, ironstone, dark woods, French country and toile are some of my staples. I have loved and used all of these for over ten years and I have never grown sick of them.
Fad vs. ForeverLook at dated magazines or home decor books. I'm talking gingham fabric, baskets hung everywhere, dried flowers and geese. Look past the big bangs, brass hardware and over abundance of froof and see what is in the room that would still work today. You'll be surprised at how much would still look great. This will give you a good clue at what is fad and what will stand the test of time. Spend your decorating dollars on the latter and buy the former for less, knowing it will change.
Embrace Your StyleYour style does not have to be easily categorized or labeled. It's ok if you like to mix coastal with cabin, cottage with country, modern with medieval. You don't have to justify your space or style to anyone else. Just do what works for you and your family and throw convention out the window. Most of the greatest trend setters do this and the masses follow.
One Common ThreadYour home is going to work if there's one common thread that ties all of the furniture, accessories and decisions together. That common thread shouldn't be a theme or style. It should be your love for it. If you love a piece, it's going to work with all of the other pieces you love.
A Grain of SaltThe blog world is great for getting feedback on your projects and styles, but don't allow this wonderful world to throw you off track. It's easy to look at the pretty pieces and rooms on the blogs of others and get the itch to makeover your entire house to look like theirs. (Has anyone else thought that about
Dreamy Whites?) It's ok to do that, if you feel like you've finally found your style after years of hunting for it, but don't run out and change everything if you've just finished your mid-century modern makeover right after your wild western theme was carried off to the thrift store. Just stop. Walk away from the blog. Put the decorating mag down and take stock of what you really love. If you really love mauve and blue with a teddy bear border and everyone else is ripping it down and talking about how hideously dated that is, don't let that sway you. Declare your love for 1980's decor from the roof top and take the opinions of others with a grain of salt. It's your home and you need to be comfortable in it.
Don't Muddy the WatersWe all do, especially those of us on a tight budget. We accept freebies or cheap-os that we don't really love and those pieces muddy the decorating waters. It's hard for us (or anyone else) to see our style behind the mammoth 1970's hutch from Aunt Beverly or the orange burlap sofa you picked up off the curb. I'm not saying to chuck it all and sit on the floor. Just know those pieces are temporary and don't buy pillows that coordinate with the sofa or the dining set that matches the hutch. Be patient and only add pieces in that are "you."
Now, don't take this advice and tear your house apart right before Aunt Beverly comes for Thanksgiving dinner, but mull over it for a while and start fresh in the new year. Make it a resolution to embrace your style and create a home you love.
