Weekend inspiration/Home dec dilemmas
But first, let me digress and say thank you to everyone for the incredible support and responses to Wednesday's post about my new food attitude (I say that because it's not a weight loss diet, but a new collection of foods I've found that make me feel and look good). It's a huge change to go from mostly raw vegan for years, after being vegetarian for years, to switch to... well, one of the podcasters I listen to jokes, still "80% raw vegan" but with the rest high quality animal fats and grassfed meats! Anyway, thank you all so much for your support. I was definitely nervous about that post and am glad to have it out of the way! ;)
Annnyway, about my recent inspirations. I've noticed recently that I'm experiencing some seriously conflicting tastes for home dec. I still have a few parts of the house that I'd still like to perfect, but I really have been going back and forth on if I can continue with my (slightly girly) pale grey, more grey, white, ivory, pale pink, gold, silver, and sparkly look that's pretty common in our house or if I can switch to something more modern, edgy, black/white, non-gendered. Less Glitter Guide, more...SFGirlByBay, maybe? (Still actually pretty girly.) (But only some of the time!! Where are you, personal design sense???!?)
As you can see from my recent pins, I still have a lot of ideas about decor and there may be some common themes. For example, I love good use of color, whether in a black/white/Scandanavian modern room or in a grey/ivory/gold suburban girly room. ;)
But then, I'm also drawn to the more luxe, classical-inspired fancier pieces in a room like this one--and the dark walls, floors, and pillows are so pretty. And love those sconces. This room is has a unique look, doesn't it?? A bit mysterious and definitely different than a lot of others I like.
Then there's this. Amazing. How awesome would it be to work in Erin Hiemstra's beautiful new white office? Modern, sleek white, plus the classic Louis XVI chair as a desk chair!, and those awesome gold pendants (two! Cool idea!)...
Here's another room, with still different appeal. First of all, awesome light fixtures, and that ceiling/crown molding and picture molding means this is probably an old house with some serious character. But then those funky, modern touches like the stools and animal print make it so interesting! I was also intrigued by the toile pillows... toile had a big thing quite a few years ago and I never jumped on board, but the fact that it's still around (I guess it is a classic) and looking classy in this room may inspire me to try it. They still have it at the fabric store, I think.
So for the weekend, I don't have much of a focus yet, but I hope to make it to a Goodwill or something and see what there is to see. I also want to go to the Habitat for Humanity ReStore near me, and hopefully find some awesome one-of-a-kind random vintage thing. But also, my friend who's an indoor plant expert is coming by to help out--I've collected quite a few indoor plants since we moved, and I'm excited to use them well throughout the house but don't quite know how. They seem to lend a homey, personal touch to any room when placed right, but I'm not a pro. So I've also been collecting plant inspiration pins!
I just got a yucca plant like this one!
Okay, so that's my photo ramble of decor inspirations for the week. If anyone has any great tips about decorating with plants, I'm all ears!!
Or, has your design sense changed over time and with a new space to decorate? I'm not used to feeling this indecision!
I'm a very different kind of home dec "designer." I find pieces I love or have inherited, put them in a room together, and accessorize to make them match.
ReplyDeleteIn my bedroom, that's been easy - my furniture is mostly dark brown woody colors, and I've added jewel tones (primarily purple and teal) in the blankets and pillows. When I found a steamer trunk on the side of the road, I knew I wanted it at the end of my bed. I refinished it, and thought maybe the bright pine colors wouldn't "go," but even if it doesn't from a more strict design perspective, I love the look of having the trunk, and the functionality of having a place for my blankets.
My living room is more of a hodge-podge. I have a mixture of old pieces (like an old Army foot locker with the tag still on it), found pieces (my couch, due to be recovered due to cat scratchings from a previous owner), and new pieces (my TV table, so wonderfully guest-posted here a while back!). I've been trying to pull my living room colors from an old blanket I found at a church sale, incorporating the deep mustard yellow, bright green, and dark and tan browns all over the room, but other colors have been seeping their way into how I design the room, like oranges and reds.
The way I see it, and this is something my mom and her best friend have always taught me, is that if you love a piece, it'll match. Your personal style is made up of the things you love. Don't worry about it looking like a magazine. Worry about it looking like HOME. And if it doesn't, or there's no space? There's always storage.
My design sense has totally changed over time, no question. I fluctuate between super girly (I love toile too), mid-century modern, rustic (my boyfriend loves it too), and even world traveller (think Moroccan fabric pillows).
ReplyDeleteI'm eclectic, and so is my design taste and closet for that matter!
My house dictates how I decorate. Right now my fiance and I live in a lofted townhome which is headache to decorate. On the bright side we have LOTS of plants because of a wall of windows. My advice for plants is 1) pick easy things that like to grow while being ignored (harder to kill) 2) I put all of mine in terracotta pots and painted all the pots to match, makes it feel more coherent even though I have everything from succulents to orchids 3) make sure you buy something that likes the amount of light it will get where it is kept, low light means you can't put a plant that likes full light in that space, it will die 4) if you are not a pro (like me) don't invest a lot in the plants. If they live to be HUGE (happens quick) fantastic, if they die in 3 months you aren't out a lot of money. And have fun, I love my plants!
ReplyDeleteYou always have so much energy for weekend projects! It's inspiring :) I have found that home is much more "me" when I just let things come together over time using loved pieces that I've collected over years. It takes a while to figure out the perfect furniture arrangement and all, and I get impatient, but I'm never really satisfied with results when I'm thinking consciously about what I'm doing. My style has changed over the years, but the change has been slow and organic, and driven by the different spaces I've lived in.
ReplyDeleteGood luck with the plants! I absolutely love mine - they bring such life and cheer to a place. My only tip is to just have fun with it, and buy cheap plants and don't get too emotionally attached at first... just in case.
after these photos, it is obvious I need to step up my indoor plant game! they add so much to a room :)
ReplyDeleteI have to decorate with fake plants because I will either kill them with my brown thumb, or if they manage to survive that, my cat & dogs will go to town on it.
ReplyDeleteYucca plants are spiky! My grandma used to have them by her garage. It made getting out of the car quite fun.
ReplyDeleteIt's funny, but for the most part, all the rooms you pictured have a very similar "vibe" to me, and they all seem like something you would pin! I think you are going to achieve the cohesive look you're going for by merging all of these features you like, but right now you are overwhelmed with possibility.
There are so many things I LOVE about these pictures :) I just moved into a new apartment, and this has been really good inspiration for decoration! I especially love the couch in the first photo!!
ReplyDelete-Erica
sweet-endeavors.blogspot.com
It's amazing what a little paint can do to change a piece of furniture! I love how all of these turned out - great work!furniture jonesboro ar
ReplyDeleteI have been indecisive so often in the past (Like two months ago when my husband and I moved into our new little apartment). I have come to accept that my taste just does not totally pull off modern. But I like it, so I incorporate it. I like for everything to flow and come together, but I am a whim decorator. I try things, ditch them, keep them THEN ditch them, paint them, repaint them, etc. Tracy Porter is one of my main inspriations. Her style is very unique but the core elements are translatable for people like me.
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