Monday, March 6, 2017

Home Decorating Secrets

I have some great home decorating secrets and tips to share with you today.  I think it's important to think about decorating your home as more of a marathon than a sprint.  Slowly add things you love instead of buying anything you can get your hands on to fill the space. 

My Home Decorating Secrets & Tips:
Let everyone have a say in decorating a space or compromise when decorating
Set a budget & be smart about where you spend your money
Only buy things you love
Figure out your style and go with it
Do what you love not what is trendy

I've learned things about myself and my decorating preferences after decorating six different homes.  It has take a bit of time to figure out the style we love best, the types of things we really enjoy and where we want to spend our money.  You'll be happiest in your home when you personalize your space based on your style preferences verse what is trendy at the time.  So do some soul searching and define your style before you invest a lot of money in decorating your home.


I know that we LOVE...


COLOR
I really like neutral walls, bold colors/patterns and pops of color throughout the house.  I know that all white and all neutral is super popular, but it just isn't me.  I love mixing neutrals and bold colors.  I've found that I'm much happier with our decor when I mix the two.

A MIX OF OLD AND NEW
Our home is decorated with a mix of old and new things.  We've purchased new furniture and mixed it in with antiques.  We have Kevin's childhood bedroom furniture in Olive's room, a sewing machine table from my grandma and a rocking chair from my great grandma in my family room, vintage quilts, new sofa, new master bedroom furniture and a few IKEA pieces all mixed together.  There are thing we are saving up to buy (kitchen table, new TV, rugs), but for now we're okay with how thing are.

PATTERNS
I love florals, texture, geometric prints, stripes and polka-dots.  It's fun to find ways to add them to a room for a big impact.  I like to have a few patterns in each room and it's best to find patterns that work well together.

SENTIMENTAL THINGS
We have items passed down from family member, special collections, items we've picked up when we are traveling and things that I really love to decorate my home with.  It makes me happy to see a picture we picked up on a beach vacation or to use dishes from someone special.  I'd much rather my home slowly fill up with sentimental things rather than buying tons of stuff at TJ Maxx to fill my space.  I don't mind some of that, but I'd prefer more sentimental favorites.

KNOWING WHAT TO SPLURGE ON
We splurge on big ticket items and try to find bargains on the other things.  So we have or will be splurging on things like a couch, TV, curtains. window treatments, kitchen table and rugs.  Then we try to save money on wall decor, lamps, paint, etc.


What are your home decorating secrets??
What things do you love in your home?

I thought I would give you a little tour of some special things around our house.


Dish Collection:
I started collecting sets of dessert plates and they are one of my favorite collections.  I've been given some as gifts and it makes me so happy to serve food on pretty plates.  I picked up the white floral dishes when we were on a trip to Savannah and now they remind me of that fun trip.  

I only have a few guidelines for my collection - pretty patterns, bold colors, vintage or new and I like to have at least 4 in each set.  My goal is to end up with beautiful plates to mix and match.
    
Red border plates are from The Pioneer Woman, 
White Floral plates are from Anthro a few years ago, 
Navy striped plates are Kate Spade 
Polka-dot plates are from BB&B.

KITCHEN:

This floral print is from World Market several years ago.  I instantly fell in love and it has found a place in every one of our home since Salt Lake City.  Kevin bought me this IKEA bookcase for a birthday one year and I was so proud of him for building it for me.  We've used it so many different ways.  On top of the bookshelf are jars from some of my favorite people.  The red cookie jar was my Grandma's cookie jar, the tall green canister was a gift from my sister and the green candy jar was my Mamaws.  When she passed away we were each able to pick out a few things to keep.  I remember getting candy out of that jar every time we'd go to her house so I'm thankful to have gotten to keep her candy jar.


FAMILY ROOM:

This is a table set up in our family room.  Kevin got this table for me for my birthday one year.  I have loved it for years.  The silver lamp was a wedding gift, the green chest was the container we collected all of our wedding cards in at our reception, the green lantern and baskets are from TJ Maxx, the gold candlestick was something we found at the house when we moved in. 


FLETCHER'S ROOM:
 The dresser was mine when I was a baby, I DIY'd the chalkboard, the orange stand is a vintage bread stand and lots of sweet gifts from friends and family.  The giraffe print is from TJ Maxx and the vintage baby powder was a gift from Kevin because it's called Fletcher Baby Powder with Olive oil.  Kevin surprised me with it when I was pregnant with Olive and knew I'd love it since it had both of our kid's names on it.


Our sugar scoop was a souvenir from Key West.  I picked it up when our cruise ship docked there for the day and it makes me think of key lime pie, tropical weather and our adventures every time I scoop sugar. 


This small gallery wall combines a few of my favorites things.  A vintage Indiana plate, a thrifted strawberry needlework piece, home sweet home picture from an art show in Salt Lake and a J for Jordan.  No family heirlooms, just things I love.


Do you decorate with sentimental things, mostly new things??

15 comments:

  1. Love your tips! I am the same way about decorating. We do neautral walls and then I had tons of color in other ways.

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  2. I decorate with things I love and bold colors and patterns. I do like some trendy things but they aren't in our home just yet. Maybe when we move on day I'll take the time to add a bit of fun to our decor but for now, I love it the way it is.

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  3. I love this post and adore your plate collection and gallery wall! xo - Brenda // ChattingOverChocolate.com

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  4. Great tips Whitney. I have really found that my tastes have change a lot over the past several years. I used to love bold colors but now I am dreaming of all things simple with random pops of color. Can't wait to start over in a new house.... well.... kind of.

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  5. I feel like my style has changed quite a bit over the years. 10 years ago I was very much into the "country" theme. Lots of plaids etc. Now, not so much. I love trendy look, but I also love the simple farmhouse look. All of your tips are great!

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  6. Thanks for these tips! I have the hardest time decorating my house. We've been there nearly 5 years and I still haven't done it.

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  7. Great tips! I loved the tour - you have such a knack for creating those cozy little vignettes in your home. My style is very sentimental and my home has been decorated in the marathon method as well. I love picking up things here and there that speak to me - I certainly don't have a set style and rarely follow trends with my decorating. I just fill my home with the things I love and it seems to work out. :) I think my favorite picture from this post is your gallery wall at the end. Love those pieces!!!

    Whitney @ Come Home For Comfort

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  8. Love all your tips, Whitney! I love seeing glimpses into your beautiful home :-) You've done a great job mixing old and new - I think that makes a home feel so interesting and curated. I love collecting milk glass vessels. I use them as serving dishes and pencil holder or even with a tea light - they glow beautifully. Oh! I really want one of those rainbow wooden scoops - LOVE that!

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  9. So, so, so cute! I love the scoop! I need to think of getting something like that when we're in Mexico next!

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  10. I definitely agree it's good to know what to splurge on. Furniture and items that will be used for a long time, we generally try to spend a little more on, and then save in the areas of home decor and accessorizing. Great tips!

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  11. I loved reading this post...especially since I am constantly thinking how I want to decorate our new home in North Carolina! Like you, we will not be able to get everything exactly how we want it the minute we move in. We plan to take our time and be very thoughtful about our purchases. This is deafly going to be hard for me as I am the type of person that wants everything done right away. But… After renting our homes for the last eight years… I know I can be patient since we will be in our home for a very long time!! Love how you have decorated your home with pieces that have lots of meaning AND color!! 😊 Hope you have a great week friend!

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  12. Yes, my home decorating has been a marathon too! I love the idea of having a varied collection of dessert plates. Like you, I have a lot of sentimental pieces scattered throughout my home. It is fun to think of family just by seeing different pieces!

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  13. I'm a neutral loving girl with pops of bright colors. I also love white porcelain pieces. I also have a thing for crosses. I also love to decorate with books. I like keeping important documents in decorative boxes. Even my mail goes into a decorative box so I don't have to look at the clutter. I also picked up this decorative tip-hang pictures at your eye level instead of the typical higher up look.I love your dishes!

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  14. I love the tips. I'm more of a neutral colors/farmhouse style with an accent color. I have a teal color as an accent color for my towels/décor in the kitchen, and yellows/reds/grays for the bedroom, but that's as far as I have gotten. I love going to antique stores to find hidden treasures.

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  15. I love your taste! I love neutral/light colors for my main scheme, but then pops of pattern spread throughout the house!

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I LOVE hearing from you!! Thanks for taking the time to leave sweet comments; I enjoy reading every one of them.