A Few Revelations About My Design Style

Discovering one's style can be daunting.  I know that I've been struggling with it for years.  I like a lot of different styles (modern, bohemian, organic, a bit of glam, a dash of rustic) and when I attempt to mash them together my rooms easily end up looking schizophrenic instead of eclectic.  So then I go back and edit. I take away some color.  I take away some craziness.  And sometimes, I inadvertently take out my personality.

Currently, our living room and guest bathroom are my favorite rooms in the house.

I'm not a designer.  I have absolutely no background in anything creative.  I'm a science major.  My brain just isn't wired the same.  I will never be Emily Henderson and I have to accept that.  BUT…I can gather images that I love on Pinterest and replicate them with my own twist.  I can study and learn from other amazing diy/design bloggers.  And ultimately, my goal is to put together a home that is functional and beautiful in my and my husband's eyes.  It doesn't have to be beautiful to anyone else.  And that's something that I consider too much - what other people will think.  (Don't we all?)

I came across this house tour featured on Young House Love the other day and it made me so happy.  If you haven't discovered her blog (Swoonworthy) and drooled over her house yet, you need to click on the links above.  DO IT NOW.  It's amazing.  Her eye for combining colors is crazy good.  And her mix of vintage and modern is spot on.  I want to move in tomorrow.  

More importantly, I realized a few things while gazing longingly at her home.

Number 1:  I LOVE color.  I do.  As trendy as the neutral, layered look is these days, it just doesn't do it for me.  BOR-ING.  Color makes me happy.  Our first house showcased my love for color more so than our current one.

entryway from our first house

But in some rooms, I took it a bit too far.

I'm not sure I would combine black with orange at all again - just too Halloween for me.  I do still love the green/orange/white combo though.

Number 2:  I love filling up wall space.

A few months back I was agonizing over blank wall space in our living room.  I really wanted to fill it up. But I kept telling myself that it would make the room too busy and it would look awful.  I studied rooms on Pinterest and convinced myself that no one hangs something on every wall.  And so instead of following my heart and installing a fun gallery wall or a large print, I left the wall empty.  And guess what?  It doesn't make me happy to look at an empty wall.  I don't care if a room looks more calming and modern with blank wall space.  I've decided that's not me.  Or I've at least decided that there is a happy medium.

Number 3:  I like convenience.

I need things to be handy.  I need spatulas and olive oil and my coffee pot and my microwave.  And I need them out on the counter.  (I admit, it might help if I had this amount of counterspace.)  I need my remote controls on the coffee table.  I need another roll of toilet paper nearby.  You get the idea.

I'm going to try and focus more on how we live in a space when making future design decisions.  (It's not that I haven't done this before.  It's just that in the past I've convinced myself that a new filing system/rug/piece of furniture will work for us just to find out what I probably knew deep down all along - it won't.  Ultimately, I just need to be more honest with myself.)

Thanks to Kimberly Hughes (and YHL for introducing me to her style), I now have a clearer idea of what I like and what will work for our house.  

I'm going to start making some tweaks around here.  Up first is our master bedroom.  Stay tuned.  Happy weekend!