I’ve never been much of a shelter magazine reader. Don’t get me wrong – I adore the gorgeous pictures and love seeing how designers layout different rooms. I’m always inspired by what I see.
But, I generally don’t decorate like that. I don’t lay out a space before hand, collect pictures of furniture pieces I’d like to recreate or even have much of a color scheme in mind. I start with what moves me and then tweak and change until the room becomes a final project.
I don’t plan. I just do.
Most of what I am after when I’m working on a room is a feeling. Often times, I struggle to explain that to you, since it’s so hard for me to put those feelings into words. I generally don’t have a grand plan of where I’m going from one project to the next, and I find that working this way helps it all fall naturally into place.
As you know, I’m currently working on the playroom space in our home. I want it to be fun and playful, having a theme yet not being a theme. I want it to inspire my kids and inspire me, as well. I want it to be, well, this:
Summer Fling by EyePoetryPhotography
Coney Island Carnivale Tilt Shift by Mina Georgescu
Tickets & Tokens by The Little Pixel
The feeling I’m able to create in a room is much more important to me than the individual elements that are in that room. Maybe not having a plan is why it takes me so long to finish a room. But, since the end result is always exactly what I was going for in the beginning, I’ll just continue on doing what works for me.
How about you? Do you have a plan for a room when you begin to decorate? Or, do you just let a feeling take over?
I have a plan color scheme and the mood I want in mind….then I just let it happen!
It makes it more fun, right?
I think you have a good combo of inspiration and actual completed parts. To me it looks like a theme park room. I like it.
I tend to find a look I like… like a picture that inspires me (like yours did for you) and then I find items that fit with my vision in my head. Some times it takes a while to finish because my vision changes or I have a hard time finding the items that fit with my desires or that spark feeling in me.
Take my bedroom…. I saw a iron fluer-de-lis and I loved it, so I went with a vintage, french, royal feel.
My kitchen has this historical country farmish feel. I have vintage tins all over, as well as rooster statues that are aged. My tins range from different coffee cans, hersey tins, animal crackers, crayon ones, and some old style games.
Awesome! I love finding objects that inspire, too.
I love how these inspiration pictures totally do evoke a certain feeling. I absolutely understand that. The playroom is looking fantastic already — that chandelier is beyond awesome. I enjoy the collected-over-time look. I just continue to let my space evolve without really setting my mind on a certain look or style. 🙂
Thanks, Maria!
You make a great point about letting a space evolve over time. Nothing in my home (and I guess yours!) will ever be “done.”
I’m the same way. Unless you have an unlimited budget, it’s pretty hard to follow a specific plan anyway. But more importantly, it *is* more fun to make it up as you go, pull in things from other rooms and see them “reinvented” in a new context.
I over plan! We are getting ready to start building a house and I have drawings with where furniture will go, what will go on each wall, etc… However I haven’t started yet, so that might change! 😉
Ha! I was totally like that when we built our house. I’ve relaxed since then, though. I feel ya, sister!