My style is what? The Lived in Look

Defining your style can be a frustrating task.  Especially, when you are untrained and maybe, just slightly ignorant of what all the specific terms may imply.  So how do you go about doing it? I don't know?

I really have not had a good answer to what my "style" is.  I am certainly not modern, I may be a bit Traditional but, am I contemporary? I don't really know, so I am making up my own term, in the vein of Shabby Chic.  A term that describes the essence of what I try to achieve when I decorate a room.  I am calling it the "Lived in Look". 

In a nutshell, the "Lived in Look" is what I am hoping to acheive in my home.  A look that is easy and personal, that looks like it has happened over a period of time.   I am hoping to do this over 2 years vs. 10.  And, because I don't have a lot of money, I am having to be very creative, which helps in the over all result.  In theory this can be adapted to any basic style, but since I am talking about my house and what I am doing, it is going to lean towards more of a farmhouse style, but you can take the principle and do them your way.  That's what makes it fabulous! After all, who knows what you like better than you?

So, how is it done?  How do I do it?  These are some of the things I consider when putting together a space...

• What colors are my colors?
• What needs to stay and what can eventually go?
• What is the general feel I hope to have?
• What are the things I love and use?

I will admit, that when I start a project, most people will say I do things backwards.  And I may not totally disagree with them, but there are reasons why I do them.

1. I pick paint color before fabrics (I know, sin number 1)
2. I don't worry about resale value.  (caveat...Unless I am going to be selling in a few years and I don't go too crazy)
3. Not everything needs to follow the trends 
4. Shop your home first.
5. Embrace what you like.

I find the homes I am drawn are the ones that are easy and welcoming.  Homes that have a sense of who the owners are.  They are not staged or pretentious.  They are the spaces that reflect the genuine interests of the inhabitants not the interests of Pottery Barn.  It looks like they have been lived in and loved for many years.

Here are some examples I consider to fall into this look.

source

Most importantly, the Lived in Look should never be taken too seriously.  Life is far too short for that.

In writing my little blog, about my process in decorating, I have discovered that I really don't ever expect a room to be "completed".  Instead, I see steps being taken in an ever evolving look to a home. Sometimes things may be more complete than others, but it is always the space where we live.  I don't know about you, but I don't have the money to be re-doing my space every 2-5 years, as I would want.  So, I have discovered a way that I am able to constantly change it up, and I would like to share that with you.  It is just what I do and really what my blog is about.

In this series of posts that I am calling the Lived in Look (The result of the 11 pages), I will be talking about all the crazy ideas I have about pulling a space together and why I do them.  You may agree with me, or you may just think I am off my rocker, but this is what I do.

Next time I will be talking about "Core Colors".  What they are and how to embrace them.  Hope to see you there.

-Laurie