What is my home style? This is a question I’ve been thinking about a lot lately, as I’m brainstorming more design ideas for our current home. We plan to be in the house for a long time, and I’d love for it to be timeless. I want something that is going to last through the ages without having to do a major design overhaul in 10-15 years when times and tastes have changed.
I’ve always loved coastal decor, since I spent a good part of my childhood at my parents’ beach house in southern Delaware. When David and I moved to Maryland, we were just down the street from the Susquehanna River and the Chesapeake Bay.
When we moved to South Carolina, we weren’t too far from the beach where we lived in Charleston. It just made sense… being near the water, and I loved coastal decor. Done!
But, what now? We live in Northern Delaware. The closest beach is about 1.5 hours away. Plus, I think I’ve tired of our coastal decor. I’ve stared at it for almost 8 years now. I think it’s time for me to move on and find my true “adult but kid-friendly” decorating style.
Well, easier said than done. It’s paralyzing. Every time we’ve done a project on our houses, we’ve always been in the mindset that we weren’t going to be there for the long haul, so it was okay if I fell out of love with it over time. But now we’re here, in our “Forever Home” and I’m just a little stumped. I want to renovate and decorate with things I love (not too many things) and things that are going to last through trends, changing style preferences, and changing times.
So I figured I’d try to start by defining what my style is. I’ve been thinking about it for a few months now… and I still don’t know the answer. I follow some amazing blogs that I get a lot of inspiration from. One of those blogs, Style by Emily Henderson, recently posted a “Style Quiz” that intrigued me. I took the quiz and answered most of the questions in a way that made me think, “well this is a weird way to answer this question, and it’s not 100% me, but it’s the closest answer I could find…” or “what the hell is a platner stool?….::googling platner stool::” Here were my results:
Meet Your Style: SCANDINAVIAN.
I feel like my results may have been based on the fact that I answered “Ikea” as one of my favorite home shopping stores hahaha.
So my initial reaction was “eh… I don’t think so.” I see that picture above and have no draw to it whatsoever. The description made me feel a little differently though:
“Hello, Sunshine. You’re the nature lover of the minimalist bunch and oh so happy! You celebrate the sun and throw your windows open at every chance to bring in the light. You forgo too many accessories because you want it to feel open and fresh and you’re not home much anyway, always enjoying the outdoors while the weather is nice and keeping active during cold months to stave off winter blues.
Scandinavian style celebrates minimalist decor and functional furnishings with a lot of whites, hints of black, wood tones, and a few pops of color to keep things happy and a touch quirky.”
So while I don’t feel like my house will ever look anything like that picture, the description really resonated with me. We live for the spring and fall when we can leave doors and windows open. We love going out for family walks around the neighborhood and hikes in the local state parks. I’ve always tried to accessorize but have recently given up on it, one, because I’m not very good at it, and two, because having too much “stuff” around is way too much of a pain in the butt to both keep clean and keep out of Connor’s little hands.
I take a look at one of our most recent room renovations (sneak peak below!…okay, you may have seen that in the Christmas post, so it’s not quite a sneak peak) and feel like it kind of follows that “simple, natural colors, with a few pops to keep things happy and quirky”. So while I still don’t think I’ll ever consider our home to be a “Scandinavian” style, it definitely helped reinforce the idea to me that you can create a personal style that may not have to be defined, but something that will be meaningful and lasting to you and your family.
Shiplap. Subway tiles. Mid-Century modern. Modern farmhouse. Rustic touches. Hollywood Glam. Art Deco. Minimalism. Traditional. Modern. Ecletic. Contemporary. Coastal. Country Kitchen. French.
These are all styles that resonate with different people. Some of them last over time. Others don’t. Like how long do we think that “Fixer Upper” style is going to last, even though some of those rooms are so drool-worthy? Who knows, only time will tell.
For now, I’ll just leave you with some rooms that really inspire me, from some of my favorite bloggers, because I still have a whole lot of brainstorming, planning, dreaming, and ordering to do…
What’s your style? And what are your favorite blogs (besides this one of course!)?
Like you, I’m never satisfied with the results I get on those style quizzes. I’ve stopped trying to identify what my style is, and instead I’m trying to focus on bringing things in to my home that I love. That being said….Do you ever take a stroll down pinterest memory lane? I recently did this and was surprised at how many pins that I loved a few years ago were no longer items or trends that I would want in our house. I think it leads to my decorating paralysis…..I don’t want to spend a lot of money and effort… Read more »
Yes! I heard someone reference Jonathon Adler’s motto recently of “love what you love” which I really liked. Actually, I did do that on Pinterest recently too, and I was in the exact same boat!! haha. So now I just need to figure out how flexible I want to make a room, because change is ultimately inevitable.