When my husband and I moved in together to our first home back in 2011, it was a quick decision and we never had any conversations about what our decorating style would be and how we wanted our home to look. I will admit that there were a lot of perks to him not having much to say about anything that I chose. He lovingly beared with me while I discovered not only my personal style but also found a home style decor that works for me. I went through the phases of Buddha decor, the thrifting and so on. Bless this man, some of the things I brought into that house give me the same facial reaction as when you think “really?”
This time it feels really good to be making the home decor choices together, although admittedly there are times when I wish I could bend him to my will a little more because he is not about mid-century anything at all. Of course that means hair pin legs and most of the West Elm furniture is going to be a no from him. I find that our styles put together however, are very balanced between what is aesthetically on trend, functional and family friendly.
Picking out the living room furniture thankfully only took us two visits to the store, one in which the children wanted to run around and keep me in a continuous hot flash making sure they didn’t knock anything over. The set I had originally chosen was a leather that was too light to be tied into the hardwood and grey of the kitchen. We both agreed that we wanted leather because it would be easiest to maintain with our children and with the dogs, we learned that lesson last time, the dogs turned our previous couch into their personal dog bed and we all know how that ends up smelling. Casey had wanted to go with a light grey sectional that would have matched the kitchen beautifully, but reality check, I’d give our children less than a week to stain that. We went with a beautiful leather set that compliments the hardwood, reclines and has USB outlets, win all around.
With selecting the living room furniture we were then able to get a better feel for what our color choices were going to be. The exterior of the house is a perfect (in my not so humble opinion) we went with the white brick and black roof and accents. I am obsessed with it, every time I drive up or drive off I admire it but we didn’t want to keep everything black and white on the inside which is why we added in the grey and hardwood.
Knowing that I had to add in some color from there made me very nervous initially but the more that I opened up to realizing that this was an opportunity to get creative and I finally had the space to do it that nervousness has expanded into excitement! The most obvious source of inspiration for our family has always been nature, Tennessee is abundant in places to hike and find water that I wanted to use the black, white and grey as a base to invite in Mother Nature’s greens, coppers and creams to warm up the home.
Keeping that warmth in mind, I want our home to feel like the early fall days when the tobacco barns are producing the most magical smell, you feel safe and inspired by the crisp air, smoke and change.
We are still in the midst of unpacking our boxes, sorting through what still has a purpose and matches the vibe of the new home and donating anything that no longer has a use for us. I have been really surprised going through the boxes at just how much we have accumulated but also that we’ve outgrown. I used to do a lot of home goods shopping at places like TJ Maxx, Ross and Target and for as much as I enjoy going there to wander around and pick out cute things they don’t seem to be pieces that grow with me.
Together through the building of our home, my husband and I have communicated so much more across the board but one thing we were particularly clear about was that we didn’t want to fill the home with stuff just for the sake of decorating. We want to take the time to measure, which may sound silly but how many times do we find ourselves buying something thinking it will fit and then it doesn’t. We also spoke about not buying anything without sharing input and most importantly being intentional about what we were bringing in.
There is definitely room for trial and error, like the entry way rug. *sigh* A beautiful piece, matched the color perfectly but its made out of wool and at only a month in the house, the dogs have decided that its their backup dog bed. Lesson learned, it looks like washable rugs are going to be the best investment for our family.
As we continue to bring together the home and have it truly reflect our family one of the best things that we can do to honor the feeling of nature that we want to bring in is to make the most sustainable choices that we can. There are some things like living room or bed room furniture that won’t be sustainable choices due to the heavy price tag some of those items carry. However, maybe the most sustainable choices we can make are done by being patient and intentional. The less junk we bring in, the less we put out into the trash can or have to donate, eventually making its way to a land fill anyway.
We’re finding a lot of peace in the process of asking ourselves what do we want to tackle today? In spaces within where I would have felt impatient because every room is not yet perfectly curated, I now step back to ask the space what it wants to be and take my time to not only clear out the boxes but carefully choose the art that add value to the spaces within our home.
It’s been a joy to sit in this home and love it with its bare walls, still smelling of fresh paint.
A home, a reflection of the family that lives within it. With that in mind our home will not only reflect balance and nature but also feel like simple, intentional luxury, rich like an extraordinary cup of coffee, serene like watching your baby sleep in your arms and inspiring like the first rays of sunrise coming through the window inviting you to start your day with gratitude.
