It's often hard, very hard, to decide which theme or overall mood to choose for a room. I want to try them all and I seem to love too many different styles. Mostly my eye seems to prefer traditional decor, but nothing too prim or too stuffy or too ornate. I don't like superfluous details nor too many flowers and frills. And although I love traditional, elegant, sophisticated decors, a huge part of me loves simple, rustic, easy stuff. So I guess I fit into the "eclectic" or the "town and country" camp. My ideal home is a country manor with a stable full of horses outside and a house full of antiques inside.
There's also challenge in identifying not just one's key "style(s)" but also items one likes within that style. I like "vintage" but I hate rusty buckets full of flowers and clutter. I do like the soft white palatte and the "worn" look. I love beachy, breezy, light-as-sea-air interiors, complete with seashells and driftwood, but I am painfully afraid of appearing cliche.
I love the vintage organic botanical conservatory look, with its glass jars and antique prints. I have a lovely little collection of botanical flower and antique bird prints I want to use. I find lots of inspiration at www.Anthropologie.com and www.Cavallini.com And to make matters worse, I also happen to adore Arts & Crafts and Craftsman-inspired looks and have some Mission furniture that needs to find a home.
Sooo...lately, I've begun worrying less about content and style and more about following my heart: choosing colours that I keep coming back to, and items that I love. But trying to follow your heart and do grown-up coherent decorating is a challenge!!
This past weekend, David and I bought an unlikely pair of modern (yes, modern!) Mikasa glass candlesticks which we paired on our 1920's sideboard with some blue pottery, a large Arts & Crafts mirror overhead, and a gorgeous Art Deco reproduction lamp I bought years ago in Toronto. The mix looks great because they're all things I love and despite the varying styles, they all have a curvilinear quality that makes the look coherent. FYI...the candlesticks are called Florale and from the top they look like stylized flowers...
Eventually, I promise to post some photos of the house, some rooms "in progress". But sadly, my home computer isn't working and I can't (legally) upload my digital files at the office, so I can't do much with my photos!! And the rooms are all in monstrous flux anyway. I am constantly moving things!
But I'm beginning to really love this, as much as I just want to get ONE ROOM "done"!! Although, I am beginning to sense that serious decorators are never "done" and this decorating thing, well, I feel like I am falling in love...xo : )
Definitlely follow your heart! That is how you will make your house a true home. No catalogue or book out there can truly capture your personal flair. When you're shopping, grab what calls to you, what screams your name. If you're picturing it in your home, it's meant to be there. If you leave without it, and then think of it later, go back for it.
ReplyDeleteI'm stuck in my own decorating rut; ironic isn't it. I am a former multitasker. No more. I'm trying desperatley to reteach my brain how to function otherwise. it's not working. I need to focus one room at at time. But I can only see the full picture. Very hard.