A new year offers us the chance to have a new beginning and a fresh start. We hit the gym, eat less sugar and clean the dishes out of the sink every night.
But do you ever take this time to focus on the way you feel in your home? Is “Make Our Home More Us” on the top of your New Year’s Resolutions?
I’m here today to argue that it should be. A few years ago, I brought a pillow home that had this infamous quote from designer William Morris: “Have nothing in your houses that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful.”
I really took this sentiment to heart. In an industry where everyone is always chasing the next big thing, I decided to focus on what my family liked, regardless of where it fell in pattern and color trends. We like big, bold and colorful. We want our home to be fun since we spend so much time here.
And I want our home to reflect our quirky personalities. Yep, I’ll admit it. We can have some weird ideas. But, those ideas are what make us who we are, so we embrace them instead of fighting them. I don’t take decorating seriously – like at all.
So, how has my style evolved since I embraced William Morris’s creed? I’m glad you asked!
Here was my style circa 2009. The soft, neutral color palettes were all the rage. The world was transforming from Shabby Chic to vintage neutrals, and I went right along with the trend and even created the tutorial for the popular book wreath.
(Be forewarned, there is some very old, very bad photography heading your way. Luckily, my photography skills have evolved over the years, too!)
Now, I’m not saying there is anything wrong with this look, so please don’t think that at all. What I am saying is that this is not the right look for me. It’s very 1993 GAP, if you know what I mean – khaki and denim. I was bored. I needed life and vibrance in a space. But I was scared and this is what everyone else was doing – and I thought everyone else knew better than me. I didn’t trust myself – not even a little tiny bit. So, I just went along with the flow and lived in a very beige world.
The color inside of me just screamed to get out. I embraced our Smoked Turquoise (by Glidden) dining room as the only room in the house that understood me. I took down the heavy silk curtains I hung up in there when we moved into the house and replaced them with drop cloth panels and a valence made of bamboo placemats. Though still neutral, I was starting to explore quirky character.
(See? I promised you some truly horrible photographs!)
Folks, once you let yourself start going down that road of embracing your true self, keep on going. I replaced the neutral shades on the builder’s grade chandelier with some turquoise zebra striped ones. Little by little, my true self was emerging.
And then, I really went into left field by taking down that builder’s grade chandelier and replacing it with one made from plywood and cardboard. This was all back before it was cool.
I have found that the more I allow myself to take risks, the happier I am in my home. I don’t always make choices that I will love for the rest of my life, but the good thing about decorating is that you can change your mind as much as you want to. That kind of thinking led me to this:
And then this:
And I kept on going. Our powder room got a makeover:
As did the kids’ playroom:
Even as I started to working with my beloved bold colors, my style itself came into its own, too. Instead of heavy, glazed furniture, I embraced the clean lines of the midcentury modern esthetic. I don’t want to feel like I live in a time capsule, however, so I learned to mix MCM with other styles for a more eclectic feel. When I first started down that route, it took me a long time to figure out which pieces worked together. Now, I can spot them in a snap. Just like riding a bike, practice makes perfect.
The herringbone wood wall was a huge risk that definitely paid off. Knowing that I could simply remove it if I didn’t like it helped, but most design elements can be easily undone (as long as you aren’t ripping down walls).
As of today, my biggest risk of late may not seem like much of a risk at all to many people, but it was to me. I’m almost finished updating my 3 year-old’s nursery to a big girl room – without painting the walls. I promised my husband when we painted the nursery that the colors would be able to survive the transition, but I secretly wasn’t so sure. But here I am almost finished with the room, and the neutral wall color fades away from the bold furniture pieces and linens I’ve brought into the room.
I have learned a valuable lesson with this room in that a bold wall with these particular furniture pieces may have been too much of a good thing.
If you’ve made it this far, I commend you! And I will also give you some valuable advice that I wish someone would have given me a long time ago. You be you. If you allow yourself to listen to your inner voice and to ignore that scared feeling in the pit of your stomach (when it comes to decorating – not when doing something like jumping off a roof, by the way), you will live in a home that you’ll never want to leave. Embrace the fact that true style does and will evolve (you don’t have mauve and gray in your house anymore, do you?) and that it’s okay and even really exciting. Don’t worry about what your mother, neighbor or the pizza guy may think when you open the front door. You be you, and enjoy the process.
Paint those beige walls blue and throw a yellow blanket over that beige chair. Let’s begin 2014 by making sure that you start living the real you.
awesome advice. Happy New Year!
Thank you, Laura. Happy New Year to you, too!
Best blog post I’ve read in a LONG time. You are very inspiring and I hope to follow your lead in 2014.
Thank you very much, Jennie!
Love this! I’m still working on bringing it all together and EDITing! I love a bright quirky piece, but getting them to fit and not fight is my challenge. Love seeing how much your style has changed! And my best photography might be comparable to your early dining room shot. 🙂 Happy New Year!
Keep working on it, Charlotte! It’s taken me years to feel like I can make it work without the quirky pieces feeling out of place. Happy New Year!
We have a small home in Northern Idaho, Coeur d’Alene. It was built in 1981 with popcorn ceilings and dark brown trim. But, to my credit, I have painted the first wall that you see when you walk in the house a BOLD Orange color. Everyone loves it. So cheerful in the middle of Winter. I am now trying to decide what color picture frames to use when I hang all of the family photos. Thinking of an Ivory color. Although, a shiny Bronze might be kind of amazing. Love your encouragement to be ourselves.
Oooh, I love the thought of a orange wall and bronze frames! Whatever you come up with will be amazing – trust yourself!
Preach it, sister!! “Chasing the next big thing” <—— THIS!!
My friend was just telling me how she's almost done changing her all beige walls "that everybody has" to gray because "that's the new beige". Which everyone will now have. Makes sense to me…??
I think it's tricky, ESPECIALLY in this online world of neutral on neutral on neutral (with a POP OF COLOR)(don't get me started on how I loathe that phrase), to remember what makes you happy. That is not to say that vanilla walls with white slipcovered furniture can't be someone's style. I know plenty of people that truly are that conservative, and there's nothing wrong with that. Just because someone doesn't want to be surrounded by color doesn't mean that they aren't being true to themselves.
HOWEVER.
For some it becomes difficult to know if something is truly what they love, or they just love it because they're seeing it everywhere. Kudos to you for being one of the very few that celebrates living in spaces with flavor and moxy. If you can't tell some big, playful personalities live in my house just by peeking inside, then I'm doing something wrong. It's refreshing to know that I'm not alone 🙂
Happy New Year!
Every little bit of your comment made me happy, Rebecca! XOXOXO
OMGosh! Wherever didypu find the cabinets in your playroom? They are exactly whaat I need in my schoolroom!! And your colors are amazing!!
Thanks Sarah! Those are Billy Bookcases from Ikea that I did a little work on. Here’s the post on that: http://makelyhome.com/ikea-billy-built-in-bookcase-diy/
Color is so much better, in my opinion. Love the way you decorated!
Thank you, Erica! I agree! 🙂
Lindsay, I am so glad we got to meet this year – I have a feeling my life will never be the same now that you are in it! 🙂
Me, too! The world should be scared that we’re together now. LOL! 😀
Thanks for the inspiration, Lindsay! These types of posts are my favorite and most inspiring—makes me feel like there is hope! Keep it up : ]
Thanks, Jennifer! I’m glad you enjoyed it!
Really cool post. I read your posts pretty
regularly and you always do a good job articulating the whatever topic you’re writing
about. Btw, I shared this on Twitter and my followers loved it.
Keep up the great work!