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??