I read so many posts about how to “classify” your design style… is it French Country? Is it Elegant and Refined? How about… is it YOU?! While I have so many qualifications when it comes to purchasing décor (something red and metallic probably won’t end up in my house!) my number one stipulation is.. is it something I LOVE!
People have been known to call my home “eclectic”… I guess that means it’s a mash up of different styles! That’s because if I find something I love, that makes my heart sing, if the happy dance has been danced… we find a way to make it work! So here’s a couple tips to help you define your YOU style!
1. Pick a color Palette! When you define a color palette it does a couple of things… it ensures that everything in your home that falls within that color palette will match! Color is a unifying factor… while two pieces might not mesh if they are red and purple a coat of blue paint and voila! Now they match! We have a color palette of blue, white, gray and yellow… most everything in our home is one of those four colors! Of course there are exceptions… being a girly girl I tend to love pink… so occasionally you will find a pop of pink. Just make sure to keep extra colors to a pop here or there! A pop of color is fun and exciting…. 20 pops of color looks like a rainbow! Now if you love rainbows, if that’s your style then go for it! Remember this is all about YOU!
2. Look at pictures in magazines, on Pinterest, in hardback books, anywhere online… or at your best friends house! Anywhere there is décor there is a sense of inspiration! Now compile all of these things together… what is the common factor? Does all of your inspiration have glass back splash… that’s something you love! Are there antique lamps in every picture? Chance is you love antique lighting… use your inspiration to narrow down a common theme to the things you REALLY adore!
3. Go shopping! Now I don’t mean head to the store and buy everything you see. Browse the aisles and see what you love. Take in the inspiration! My favorite place to be? Stores like IKEA that have little displays! I love to go walk around the little tiny living rooms and take notes! See what type of organization they use… the unique way they arrange their wall art or desk supplies. Take pictures and see what you can re-make in your own home! Most of the time these trips leave me empty handed… I don’t even buy anything!
4. Don’t care what other people think! Working at Sherwin-Williams I am in awe of the number of times I hear “I love this color but it’s so bright… what will our friends think? Maybe we should go with beige” Your house is your safe haven… decorate for YOU! If a bright red accent wall is your thing or a purple kitchen makes your heart sing I say go for it! If your friends don’t like it they can go home! Next time meet them for dinner out or hit a movie… true friends won’t care how you decorate anyways!
When I was a 22 most of my friends were asking for laptops or ipads for Christmas… what did I want? The two biggest things on my wish list were my pottery barn dress form and the blue bubble gum machine I saw on Pinterest! I just fell in love with the elegant lines of the beige dress form… and the fun whimsy of the bubble gum machine! Opening both Christmas morning made my day! I still have both and love them every single day… no matter how many funny looks I received from friends when they asked what my favorite Christmas present was and I said “my dress form!”
5. Collect over time! We touched on this a bit last week in my post Tips for Adding Minor Details to Your Home… take your time! Sometimes I will go out shopping for one particular item and come home empty handed 12 stores later. That’s ok! Be willing to wait for that one item that makes your heart sing! If you go out shopping for a pair of side lamps be willing to wait for the perfect pair! That might take 2 stores and one trip… or it might take 11 months and 15 trips! When you find the perfect pair… you’ll know! You won’t want to leave the store without them!
So what’s your YOU style? How do you find it?
Linking up with: I Heart Naptime!
I love IKEA. This is great post! Thanks for the tips!
I adore IKEA! You’re such a sweetheart! Thanks for stopping by!
I think I tend to stick with simple things. I would love to get some more unique pieces for my house.
I love unique pieces… I like to have things that other people don’t! Luckily DIY makes that easy!
you have great taste!!!
You’re such a sweetheart! Thanks for stopping by!
How CUTE is your style and I LOVE the gumball machine. I also adore IKEA and I think my first apartment was furnished and decorated 100% courtesy of San Diego’s IKEA. haha. And it’s so true, my husband and I have gone around the “norm” and have done with our house what we want. We thought that friends would think we were odd for some of our choices (for example we walled off what should have been a formal dining room and turned it into a fully functioning movie theatre) but in the end they actually said they wish they could do that! haha
That sounds so cool! A movie theatre would get WAY more use then a formal dining room at our house! Thank you so much for stopping by!
Your ideas are so much fun! I walked IKEA yesterday just for the fun of it!! I love mix-and-match and your suggestions are right up my alley! Thanks so much!
I’m so glad you liked my tips Tina! Mixing and matching is so my thing… It’s all about coordinating not buying a whole set!
I love these tips! Especially the ways to find out exactly what you love! I have never heard that tip and cannot wait to use it!
I’m glad you like it! It’s great to find new tips…Thanks so much for stopping by!
Great post! Thank you
Anytime! Thanks for stopping by Suniciliya!
I like your thought about not worrying what other people think. It’s SO important to decorate in a way that makes YOU happy!
It’s your house? Why worry about what other people think? They can decorate their way at their house!
My house is definitely eclectic. I just pick what I like, regardless if it matches anything else lol x
I love it Claire! That’s the way to do it!
Great advice! I love your style 🙂 I normally tend to go with the same style I dress which is very eclectic and sometimes boho.
A lot of people think there’s a connection between how we dress and how we decorate! I’ve even heard of using your favorite outfit as a jumping off point to start decorating! Sounds like you have a style and stick to it… That’s great!
Ooh thanks a lot for the info! I haven’t decorated anything yet, but I’d love to try it now. x
You so should Denise! Decorating is like my drug!! Haha! Thanks for stopping by!
I have my favorite colors, but other than that my decor is pretty random.
Haha! Maybe you have a random style! Thanks for stopping by Jenny!
I’ll tell you what- I am SO glad I live 2+ hours from IKEA. I would be there every weekend otherwise. We go maybe once a year (if I’m lucky) and my husband is always talking me down. I usually have to fill the cart and run to check out before he knows what’s up. HA!
We live about four hours from the closest IKEA… It’s like Christmas when we get to go! I love looking through all their displays though! My hubby doesn’t even try to talk me down anymore… Just follows along with the bag! Although he was pretty amused with their carts last time… As you can see from the pictures!
What a fun post! My husband and I are hoping to remodel our living room and I can’t wait to pick our color palette. The warms are too dark for my taste — I want our place to feel light and airy! Our current style: tbd. Haha
Light and airy is amazing! I love that feeling… Can’t wait to see your new and improved color palette!
I love these tips! I definitely need some help in the decorating department 🙂
I don’t know how much help I am… But there’s my two cents worth!
Our style in our house is a little lacking right now because the kids are so destructive. Maybe in a few years we can have nice stuff again.
Trust me… I understand the “can’t have nice stuff” rule! We adopted a cat three years ago that they told my hubby was a Manx… No he just is a domestic shorthair with no tail! Well since he has no tail he has no balance! So basically he breaks everything! Yuck! Your kiddos will get better… They’re so cute when they’re little though!
I love your eclectic style. Much better than mine.
Visiting from Authentic Bloggers
My style is toddler style, all over the place. Great tips for helping with picking a style for your house. I love your hutch too.
liz @ sundays with sophie
Toddler style is great! So much love and hugs and kisses! Ty
I agree with you totally…it’s your home. Decorate for YOU and what makes you feel happy, comfortable, inspired, etc.:-) Love your style btw, so much personality!
Thanks Andele! You’re such a sweetheart! I definitely think your home is one place it should all be about you!
I couldn’t agree more with all your tips but mostly #1, for me, color is everything. I love lots of different decorative items but so long as it fits my color scheme, I will take it! One thing I can’t really relate to is collecting over time. As much as I’d like to, since we pick up and move so often it’s hard to keep small decorative pieces. However, the few I do I have, I love 🙂
I’m so glad you liked my tips Sam! It’s gotta be hard to move over seas… We moved once a year and had tons of stuff collected over time but our only overseas move was Hawaii!
I love looking in magazines and at Pinterest to get inspiration for room ideas!
Me too! I could look at pretty pictures all day! Thanks for stopping by!
Great tips!! I absolutely love decorating! I went a little crazy when we moved into our new house haha but collecting over time would have been the smarter thing to do 😉
It’s so hard NOT to go crazy though! Especially when you move into a new place! I tend to go through a phase of “I want all the stuff! The empty spaces need to be filled!” And then regret when I hate what I bought hastily!
Great post! I always find it hard to pin down my style. I think it varies from time to time but I notice I tend to have expensive taste. 🙂 I love the idea of the dress form and the gum ball machine. I do the same thing and ask for things most people would think are strange but things I LOVE.
As long as you love it, that’s all that matters! I think everyone’s tastes evolve over time… That’s part of the fun! Re-decorating! Thanks for stopping by!
I like looking at decor, but I don’t do as well doing it myself 🙂 I need staging to help!
That’s okay, sometimes staging is important too! Plus there’s people like me who jump at the chance to help! Thanks for stopping by Amanda!
Lots of great tips here! My favorite is to decorate for YOU. I might like my walls to be neutral with pops of color, but if you want your whole house to be bright and full, do it! Our homes are just that – OURS. Thanks for this encouragement! Visiting from the Peony Project 🙂
You are so right Lauren… decorating for YOU is the most important! I love your examples… it totally makes sense! Thanks for stopping by… us Peony Project sisters have to stick together!
I love this post! I like using simple decorations and mixing it with a few unique things.
Thanks for stopping by! I love unique pieces… They really make a home YOURS! I also love simple but am horrible at it… I like my stuff 😉
I usually look at the magazines to get some ideas. These are awesome tips you shared with us and I will bookmark this.
I’m so glad you liked it! I love magazines… Pinterest is great but there’s something about pictures you can hold in your hands! I love to go to the bookstore, sit on the floor and just pour through decorating magazines and books!
I sure wish we had an IKEA near us. I have ordered from them though. I have a cart that I use in the kitchen. It is adorable…Even my husband likes it. He doesn’t like anything, lol.
That’s hilarious! Husbands can be so picky! IKEA is pretty much the best thing ever! I wish we lived closer to… But sometimes I’m glad we don’t. Living close might take out some of the magic.
I love looking at magazines and getting tips. Yes, I agree that we should not listen to what other people has to say. After all, it’s our house!
Exactly… OUR home, not theirs! Thanks for stopping by Channel!
I agree it’s better to come back empty handed than to come back w/something you’ve settled for… I learned that lesson a long time ago. 🙂
You’ve got it down Rosey! I figure if I settle for something it will just cost me more money when I end up replacing it with something I love! Thanks for stopping by!
I like the living room. It looks very pretty and like the design.
You’re such a sweetheart! Thanks for stopping by Jessica!
I’m not sure what my style is but I love colors – oranges, reds, and yellows. Each room in my house is a different color. At least I know what I don’t like – modern and classic/country! I love your style though, your house pics are beautiful!
Thanks so much… you’re such a sweetheart! Color is so important… if you know what colors you do like that’s a great start! Plus you know what you don’t love… I don’t love modern either!
We just bought our first house and I feel like we have such sparse rooms right now. We are basically working “room by room” but I am getting so antsy for it all! The guest room is currently ready to be decorated, and this post gave me much better direction (I have been ALL OVER the place with what I want in there). My husband and I just started a house blog – I’d love if you followed along and gave me some decor pointers. Bookmarking your page 🙂
http://www.theaccidentalhouseblog.com
I’m glad you loved the advice! Decorating a new house is so daunting… especially when you want it to be done like yesterday! Thanks for stopping by… I’ll definitely check out your new blog! Sounds like fun!