Cohesive Design Made Easy
Hey y'all, thanks for stopping by! It's been a while since I've posted because life has been full. And it's not that I haven't had time, it's just that I never want this endeavor to come before loving those around me well, and that's just meant night after night of saving this post for later. Anyways, I'm finally getting around to it! (Ironically, I sprained my ankle pretty bad last night and ended up at urgent care and then our littlest babe was diagnosed with RSV today. Not sure how tonight feels like the right time? But for some reason, it does.) So, here you go friends...
From time to time I have someone tell me they aren't sure how to go about decorating a room or their house. I am by no means professionally trained in this area, so my advice is very simple: find an inspiration piece! And do the best you can with what you have!
But first, if you legitimately don't enjoy the hunt for the perfect item or the challenge of creating a cohesive design, and you don't mind having a room that isn't uniquely you, then find a product line you like. An Example would be Hearth and Hand at Target. If you like the look of Joanna Gaines' designs and style, then just furnish your home or room with those items. One of my favorite lines, that I actually don't have anything from, but like the look of, is the Novagratz line. So, just spend enough time on Pinterest, and eventually you will click on an item that will be part of a line or collection and there you have it, an easy way to cohesively decorate and furnish your space.
That being said, there are a few down sides to this approach.
Your final product is likely to look just like something off of Pinterest. This is only an issue if that bothers you. If you have never minded having what everyone else has or don't really have a desire to have a space that uniquely reflects you and your family, then this approach is probably the simplest. If you need help finding a line or collection that matches your style/taste, let me know! I'd be super happy to help you with that.
This approach is not always cost effective. If you are on a small budget, this is going to be overwhelming. The collections I mentioned are actually on the affordable side, and even then our family just cannot justify spending that much on home decor in this season of life. If you can, that is great and I am genuinely happy for you! We can't though, and I'm not sad about it because this approach wouldn't work for me, anyways.
There's not very much room for creativity with this approach. That's the biggest reason this doesn't work for our family. I love using my creative "muscle" and this doesn't leave much room for that, because someone else has already done the work for you. Plus, the spaces I see and love on Pinterest and in real life are spaces that have a layered, collected, and authentic look. These spaces often take a while to create.(So if you want the look immediately and the other drawbacks aren't an issue for you, then this really could be the best option for you!)
The other easy way to tackle decorating and furnishing a space is to find an inspiration piece. For some people, this may be a texture, a shape, a style, or color scheme. I am a color person to my core. Colors and color combos literally cause an emotional response for me. So, my big inspiration pieces always revolve around the colors. Here are some examples of each type of inspiration:
Texture: A pillow, a basket, a quilt, or maybe even wallpaper
Shape: A couch, a table, a dresser, a large mirror, or a bench
Style: A Pinterest image, a collection of products, a brand (you can use these as inspiration without getting everything from that place exclusively or even at all), or design style (mid-century modern, modern, rustic, farmhouse, etc.)
Color Scheme: A towel, a card, a pillow, a rug, an art piece, a book
For me, I have no shortage of inspiration pieces. I can't tell you how many times I've picked up a bright, colorful children's book and instantly thought of how I could design the boy's room around it. My challenge is to not recreate our spaces on a whim just because I came across something that gave me a vision for a space. (Thankfully, our budget keeps that always dreaming, spontaneous side of me in check.)
So, to help you get what I mean, I'll use the kitchen from our old house as an example. First, let's appreciate the before and after! This was the best decision ever to renovate this kitchen. It wasn't easy, but it was worth it.
Now, for the inspiration piece:
I was never actually able to find this tea towel, from Uncommon Goods, in stock. But I saw it one day on Pinterest and just knew this was how I wanted my kitchen to feel.
When I was in my kitchen, I wanted to feel the way this tea towel made me feel. When I look at this, I feel cheerful, awake, refreshed, and calm, yet energized. (Told you, color person to my core!) So, I kid you not, this is how I chose what decor and finishes to bring into my kitchen, I held them next to this picture. If it went along with the picture, I knew it would help make a cohesive space. If it clashed or took away from the picture, I knew it wasn't what I wanted. Here are some more kitchen pictures for you to get the idea.
Hopefully when you look at our kitchen (which I definitely, officially started to super miss while working on this post) you see a bright, cohesive space. It's not matchy matchy, but it goes together. Having the inspiration piece took away the stress of trying to decide if something would go in the kitchen or not. I realized while typing this that in a way, our current home still reflects that inspiration piece. But that's another post, for another day, sweet friends.
So now I'm curious, do you have an inspiration piece??