Is your home a true reflection of YOU?

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Is your home a true reflection of YOU?

This is a topic that comes up

over and over 

when I help clients/friends

decorate their homes, 

so I thought it might

be a fun and possibly helpful 

post today.

Through the years,

clients will ask me to help them 

accessorize their home  

--- the best part of designing a space ---

to me it's like adding

the jewelry to your outfit!

From Susan's lovely blog: Romancing the Home

And probably the MOST

important advice I can give them

as we begin pulling together

collections of items,

is to OWN their look.

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By saying that I mean

that when you walk into 

 your finished room, 

you do not want to be able to identify 

the main source

of your collection. 

You can have a few new things,

tucked in here and there, 

but they should be in the minority.

Bunny Williams

While I LOVE to go into a Pottery Barn 

or Restoration Hardware store, for example --- 

where they employ some of 

THE most talented 

display professionals known to man  --- 

you don't want to go in

and buy the whole display. 

Don't do it! 

Don't do it! 

Don't do it!

As tempting as it may be.

PB's super clever stylists just make you want EVERYTHING! It's their job!

Instead maybe pick 

one or two 

key pieces and take them home 

and mix them with old things you have, 

or new "old" found treasures from 

flea markets, thrift or antique shops, 

auctions, estate sales, your basement, etc. 

This will give you a 

much more interesting look, 

one that is not "recognizable" 

or too commercial looking. 

Avoid comments from friends like:

"Hey, I saw all these items in 

(____fill in the blank any retail store name here __) 

last week, you've been doing a little 

 'shopping',  haven't you?!!"

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Create your own look.

Gorgeous image from bustleevents.blogspot.com

One of my clients once told me 

she had asked an interior designer

to come by and help her 

accessorize her lovely home.  

Well, apparently he walked in  

and told her she had 

way too many 

T.J. Maxx and Homegoods 

items in her home -- that it looked 

like one of their super stores.

Y   I   K   E   S

(Bold comment .... I would like to think 

I am a little more diplomatic than that!) 

But he was right. 

It did kind of look that way, unfortunately. 

The good news is that it doesn't anymore 

but this story has stuck in my head 

ever since I heard it. 

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Are you guilty of this?

If so, take that little scenario 

and keep it in the back of your mind

when accessorizing. It may help you 

when customizing your interior spaces. 

Truth is... it takes a little longer 

to do accessorize this way, 

and you won't get the 
immediate gratification 

of coming home with heavy shopping bags 

full of an instant vignette,  

but 
in the end 

you will be much happier with the results. 

And even better, 

you will have some 

great stories 

attached to each piece

 ---  priceless memories!

That's what I mean when I say....

"OWN your look".

So go dig into your storage spaces!

Dust off old things you may have stowed

away or forgotten.

Think out of the box, literally.

*   Take Grammy's silver sugar bowl

and use it to hold cotton balls on your vanity.

*   Take your father's spelling bee trophy 

and fill it with pencils at your desk. 

*  Take Uncle Ed's tackle box and use it to organize

your childrens craft supplies.

Try to look at things you already have 

with "usefulness" in mind.

It's a huge trend out there you know,

repurposing. 

And you can train your

eye to do it --- once you 

become consciously aware of it. 

And the more you do it

the better you get!

So go get into that attic/crawl space

THIS WEEKEND

and pull out some forgotten treasures. 

(Oh, I can just hear your poor husbands 

hauling things down from your storage areas this weekend,

 asking you to promise to never ever read that

#$%@*#  Polohouse blog again...!!!??!!)

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It's these kind of pieces

that will make your home yours. 

It will give your surroundings 

a sense of history and

will give guests a little insight 

into who YOU are.

Think aged patinas,

think weathered loved pieces.

Think provenance!

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When traveling, instead of buying 

a t-shirt buy a small trinket from an antique

or vintage shop. I guarantee that every time 

you see it displayed,

you will attach a memory 

of your visit to that destination, 

as opposed to your visit to a ---- mall!?!  

Make sense?

By George, I think we've got it!

From Joan's lovely blog: For the Love of a House

Own your look! 

Just to recap:

New + new + new = BAD

Vintage + antique + new + inherited = GOOD

Mix it up!

For what it's worth.....

that's my story and I'm stickin' to it.

Have a lovely weekend ~

Alison 

P.S.  If you do end up going "treasure" hunting, please apologize in advance to your hubbies for me, won't you?     :)