My first resolution is to embrace my love for color and eclecticism. I recently asked social media friends and followers for recommendations on home decor. When we bought our home several years ago, I felt like I needed to decorate it in a very 'grown up' way, so it wouldn't feel like an over-sized college apartment. I got ideas from Pinterest and other sites. We got such a great deal on our house, and we love it and we want to make sure that we do everything possible to increase its value, so I didn't want to do anything that might decrease it, like paint walls funky colors. Our front room had ugly Brady Bunch era wood paneling. We painted it white, and filled the room the neutral colors, like this:
It looks okay, but we never spend any time in that room. It just doesn't feel like 'me.'
I like color. I like funky hand-painted furniture. I like vintage fabrics. I like musty-smelling books and time worn teddy bears filling my shelves. I like the things I've found at flea markets and thrift stores or on the side of the road. My living room should look more like this:
A mix of bohemian/gypsy/whimsical/granny chic, carefully curated from thrift stores and the side of the road.
I was afraid to decorate the inside of my home in such a bold, unique way because I was worried about people judging me as weird or unsophisticated or tacky.
But I don't care anymore. I love my house, and I love spending time in it with my friends and family. And if my home-made wind-chimes and antique Ouija board and dollhouses make people uncomfortable, then they have bigger problems than I do.
So my first New Year's resolution is to stop caring about other people's styles, and just love my own.
I've never particularly cared that all my pillow cases don't match, or that I've never set foot in IKEA. And in the long run, it doesn't matter anyways.
Why be bland if you can be bold?
The nice thing about filling your house, or even just a room, with things that you love and/or have made -- needlepoint cushions, chairs upholstered in bright and differently-colored fabrics, fringed lampshades, mid-century modern stools -- is that if you move, all of that goes with you and you haven't made structural changes like knocking out walls or blocking up windows, things that would give a buyer pause.
ReplyDeleteGo for it! I love the eclectic look of the second pair of photos.