Timelessness

When exploring new styles and breaking away from the big box store home decor (sorry Hobby Lobby and Target), it can be terrifying. Creating and decorating comes from the soul, and it can be overwhelming. But there is one thing I know for certain - anyone can create a home decor style. All you do is fill your home with things you love! It doesn't need to come from a magazine, or some influencers account. Home decor comes from YOU! 

When we were on our journey to get rid of the farmhouse Hobby Lobby decor, we were overwhelmed with choices. I knew what I wanted in my head, but if you know me, you know I am ~exxtra~, I wanted champagne on a beer budget. I wanted Parisian chic at Target accessibility. Also, if you know me, you also know I am the most impatient person in the world. I wanted it all in my home, immediately! I wanted to snap my fingers and it be fabulous. This thought process led me to quite a few mistakes when designing - buying items that weren't great quality, crowding spaces, and buying just to buy and experiment with. After quite a few bumps in the road we landed in a home that was designed just for us. I look at my personal collection now and there is nothing I am willing to let go of - that is usually my indicator that I have developed something I truly love! 

Here are a few tried and true tips to creating a timeless home, true to you, and things we learned on the way! 

1. Don’t rush into it! Once you find a style you love, it’s normal to rush into it and go on a shopping spree, but trust me, don’t rush into this! Creating a collected home that’s true to you will only happen with time. One quality piece at a time. It's normal to be eager, and you learn a bunch when you buy and decorate with a variety of pieces, but at the end of the day you also waste a bunch of money. Plus, who has the liquid cash to buy 18 century French antiques to fill your home all at once? Enjoy the search. Savor it. 
2. On that note, only buy what truly speaks to you. Never buy something you feel “meh” about, only get the good stuff. You’ll feel better about those pieces being in your home forever! While you are on those hunts (not rushing) only buy pieces you love. Don't feel pressured to buy things because of a sale, or because you saw XYZ person has that item. Buy because YOU love it. Your home is your sanctuary, no one else's. If you like oddities - decorate with oddities!  Embrace who you truly are, and your home will thank you. If you buy what is "in", you will end up replacing them down the road. Save your cash and buy what you LOVE. 
3. Layer, layer, layer. This goes to all my brass lovers. Your whole house can’t be brass. I know, I know, that sentence is hard to swallow. It's even hard for me. But take my advice and mix in wood, stone, glass, books, and different textures to create a collected look! Breaking up tones is important to the design, and it will make your brass more appealing! Too much of a good thing does, unfortunately, exist. My favorite textures right now are brass (shocker), alabaster (another shocker), and wood (that one is actually a shocker). Wood is important to the overall design piece, but the good old solid wood, not the new stuff! 
4. Personal touches are so important to your home, and I am not talking about photos of family and friends (although you should definitely be doing that too). While I like to think I live in the Louvre, I don't. I live in a home that's lived in and loved. Messes, mail on the counter, dog toys scattered everywhere, and dishes in the sink. And we all know Doug loves his white boards and markers which is always on our fireplace mantle giving me anxiety. Love your home, design your home, but live in your home as well. Enjoy the chaos. If small clutter gives you as much anxiety as it gives me, get small boxes to put stuff in! We use our antique wooden boxes to store small chaos - super glue, scissors we always lose, markers, pens, chargers, you name it. All the chaos gets stored into a cute little antique box, where it gets to remain chaotic but out of sight. Now remembering which box is which and where your things are - that's an entirely different story (sorry Doug). 

At the end of the day - love your home. Do what makes you happy. Your home is your sanctuary, treat it as such!