May & the Wild Roses

As I've mentioned before, some of my favorite types of flowers are the uncultivated kind...  wild flowers & "weeds."  May is one of the best times of the year at our house because the wild roses that litter our yard & climb up the surrounding trees have gone crazy!!!  Below is a picture of a huge patch of roses behind our property that goes 20+ feet high.  (Sorry, bad pic but they're the little white things all over the green  ;)

The wild roses smell so perfect:  sweet & the teensiest bit tangy...  I seriously can't get enough. 

I love having this untamed beauty that I don't have to take care of.  My only job is cutting the roses to bring inside with my little helper... 

He loves the smell too...

I love the simple relaxed feeling they bring to our table...

And, although I know we all have different beliefs & different religions, I thought anyone could appreciate the beauty of the wild roses next to the antique Madonna on our mantle.  I found her at an antiques shop in Leesburg, Virginia.  For Catholics, May is "Mary's Month" and many of the Churches have "May Crowning" Ceremonies.  It was one of my favorite times in gradeschool because the 8th grade girls would all get to wear pretty dresses and one of them would put a crown of roses on a Mary statue in our Church.  (Sadly, when I finally got to 8th grade after 8 years of waiting, we didn't get to do it... they switched it to 2nd graders- go figure! :)  But now my family has its own Madonna, and Christian & I had so much fun carrying out the tradition yesterday morning:

...I've been moving the kitchen table roses from room to room with me because they smell so good.  I need to get back out there & cut more!

Hope everyone's having an awesome week & enjoying spring!!!  Any special Springtime traditions in your family?

xoxo,

lauren

Be Thankful For: The Democratization of Decorating

Years ago it was much harder for the average person to have a stylish home. Curtains were handmade because off-the-rack-sources didn't exist. Furniture was painstakingly purchased and lots of people went without. Those who did have curtains & custom upholstery made, went a little nutty with the matching because they could. I remember happily helping my mom as a kid decorate our living room in perfectly coordinated fabrics below:

As much as we might roll our eyes at Pottery Barn or Ballard Designs, they really have helped to democratize decorating for the masses. They brought affordable (more affordable) style into people's homes. I remember browsing Ballard Catalogs as a teenager and wishing I could have a grand formal home with topiaries & (reproduction but I didn't know it) paintings of Greek columns and just wanting everything in there. (Thankfully, both Ballard Designs & I have changed our styles a bit since then!- see pic below :)

But for those homes that didn't subscribe to design magazines (like mine) the catalogs were IT. I poured over those catalogs the way I pour over design magazines today. I tore out pages (and still have some- I need to find them & scan them in for a post) for my inspiration files on my teenage bedroom decor: Pottery Barn, Ikea & Ballard. Whether the design was "good" or "bad" is irrelevant: the important thing is that they reached lots of homes & got people thinking about their spaces & how they could affordably improve them.

And in the 10 years since I was tearing out their pages for files, the general population has become so much more design-savvy & the catalogs have managed to keep up & help us get here. (And so many more have arrived on the main scene: Wisteria, Crate & Barrel, Williams Sonoma Home, RH to name a few... And of course Target & Bed Bath & Beyond & Linens N Things too.) (glass ball lamp from Target below)

I won't even get into cost or quality and I don't even necessarily shop at all of these stores, but what amazes me is how far they've brought us design-wise. Good design used to be something generally reserved for those with money. Of course when people made purchases they tried to shop wisely & make their spaces as beautiful/ functional as they could (and many of them did), but the variety of sources was just so much more limited than it is today & it was just that much harder to do so. Today, you can go to Ikea & a bunch of thrift stores & create a beautiful space without spending an arm and a leg. Take my bedroom (pic below) for example: You couldn't do this before. We're now at a point where even in the very early stages of decorating ( & for lots of young people who are just starting out) we can have a beautiful look. With craigslist (sending old purchases out & even bringing new ones in) we can upgrade our spaces as we go along.

With the onslaught of home-decorating shows on channels like HGTV, the average person is just so much more exposed to design than he/ she used to be. (To be honest, I don't have cable & really only like a VERY VERY small number of the design shows out there because I think the design is so gaaaaaah on so many of them) BUT still- most of the time, spaces are improved & by watching the shows people begin to develop an eye for design. We can figure out & assess what we like and don't like. Learn budget-friendly tips & tricks. Just getting more EXPOSURE to design in general has made the average person so much more design-savvy.

And let's not forget magazines like Domino or Cottage Living who featured beautiful affordable spaces. Neither of them were able to get to a very ripe age, but I still have hope that there's a good one out there waiting to be born. (Or maybe exists & I don't know about it?!!! ) But magazines like these got us thinking. They got us realizing that we could do what the people in those gorgeous pictures were doing: creating a beautiful home on a budget. (HINT! HINT if anybody in the mag industry is out there!! We're STARVING for a magazine like these!!!! ) (Now I know many of the rooms featured were WAY out of my budget, but the ideas themselves could easily be used for someone on my budget which is what I loved. For example, you could subsitute Home Depot's custom jute roman shades ($25) for a custom set ($250) and still have "the look.")

And don't even get me started on blogs. New ones are popping up daily (I wish I could stop time just to read all of my favorite blogs- there are so many now!) and there are so many creative people out there showing how to live beautifully & affordably & making good design super-accessible. They inspire us to think outside the box & make our homes our own. (Thanksgiving Table below by Eddie Ross)

I will admit: I LOVE custom pieces & fabrics & do believe they can often make or break a room. My LR curtains, chairs & sofa were all done in fabrics I chose. BUT when it came to my accessories & casegoods, I went with thrift store & ebay finds, antiques, & less expensive catalog items. (Now these aren't guidelines for everyone- you might fall in love with the perfect dining room table from a designer showroom & maybe that's your LOVE.) But my point is that through dissecting room after room in catalogs, design magazines, and blogs, I was able to figure out how budget decorating would work for me in my space: Where it was I wanted to save and where it was I needed a splurge in order to get my look.

In catalogs, I saw what I liked (functional, pretty, clean spaces with some nice pieces) & disliked (sometimes a lack of character, layers, individuality) & took what I thought was the best from them & did the same thing with magazines. (Now think about it really quickly, because I'm not knocking the catalogue companies- when you are staging a home for sale- you make the space look pretty & nice, but you DEPERSONALIZE it in order to sell it. You remove personal items like photos & crazy artwork & wall effects that might not appeal to everyone... Well, catalogues are doing the same thing. Their job is ulitimately to sell and if they personalize spaces too much, they won't appeal to the masses, which is what they need to do to sell the most amount of goods. So it makes sense that we might often feel that a showroom or catalog room isn't a "real'' space or something to aspire to.) Anyway, with magazines, I dissected what I loved about them & eventually developed my own (ever-evolving!) style. I figured out how to get looks I loved for less. (image below from cococozy)

I started out as design-clueless as anyone. (I always loved decorating & rearranging my room as a little girl but Laura Ashley was pretty much the extent of my decorating- below, but mine was much worse.) Good style develops over time, and thanks to aqll of the readily available tools: catalogs & blogs & shows & design magazines, it's more attainable than ever these days to achieve it in our own spaces.

So, along with everything good in my life- my family, my friends, my faith, my health, my home, my business, my time, YOU- I'm thankful for accessible design this Thanksgiving. (Don't worry- I won't say that at the Thankgiving table- I would totally get looks for that one! ha!) How about you?

Have a Happy Thanksgiving!!!!

xoxo,

lauren

***update*** Janell brought up a really great point in the comments (#2) that this whole thing has also created more pros and challenges on the flip side, often for working with designers. It's awesome for designers to get such style-savvy clients (we love it!!) but it can also be difficult because some of the expectations created by these shows are unrealistic. If you decide not to "do it yourself" & elect to hire a designer (which can save you a lot of money in time & mistakes) there will of course be fees for your designer's services & those services should still hold as much value as they used to.

I have met with clients who want "design on a dime"-type designing but what they might not initially realize when contacting me is that the space will not take me any less time or effort or ingenuity to create (often more!) and so my fees for a designing like this can cost even more than my fees for sourcing a room of a more sizable budget. (This is because sourcing for discount items, fleamarketing, thrifting, etc. takes WAY more time than it would on a standard design. These design shows have crews of people providing free labor-often the biggest expense- and sourcing budget items & designing for FREE... The man-hours that go into creating these spaces costs money in real life. If they were to add up all of these true labor costs, the spaces would cost WAY more than "a dime.") I always try to make sure my designs fit within a client's budget but that budget of course has to allow for my fee... Because as much as I love doing this- we have to eat!! :)

SO- my thoughts are that the exposure & accessibility to all of this design is great for us all, but that in the end what it all comes down to is being able to put it together in a beautiful, functional way- by yourself or with help- whichever way works best for you!

Living With Less

(room above by Chaffee Braithwaite) I was so excited to see our kitchen renovation on Design * Sponge and one of the reader's comments really got me thinking. The reader wondered about our losing storage space when we tore down the upper cabinets & replaced them with shelving.

(image above from channel4.com)

It hasn't been a problem for us & I actually have a ton of storage space for what we have (we have a pantry for our food & miscellaneous appliances & a large sideboard in the dining room for servingware & sets of china and our wine & most of our hangs from the wall) but it did get me thinking that there are things that we've gotten rid of or don't buy simply because I don't want my kitchen filled to the brim... and that maybe if I did have all of those things, this kitchen wouldn't work for me... Things like specialty appliances & gadgets that we would rarely use. We really just don't have these. (We have a blender, a toaster & a mixer & even one of those "set it and forget it" rotisseries... but we never opened the fondue set we got as a wedding gift, I borrow my mom's crockpot when needed, we don't drink coffee so the coffeemaker stays in storage until guests come and we have very few kitchen gadgets.)

Sure I'd love to have all of these things at my fingertips, but cramming my kitchen full of the latest & greatest and the "just in case" items would make my life more cluttered on a daily basis, and it's not worth it to me. I'd rather do without the amazing fondue we would make once a year... or make it on the stovetop instead and put it on a pretty bowl..

Living like this doesn't come easily to me & we have to purge constantly as I've said before. We have a cabinet in our laundry room with "giveaways" that we have to empty about once a month or so. Stuff just wants to sneak into your house! It's crazy!! We accumulate and have to fight off incoming-stuff daily or find places for it: coupons in the mail to restaurants we'll probably never use, mail-mail-mail!, paper clutter, cardboard boxes from packages, little notes & lists, purchases we decide to return, and somehow toys are always finding their way into our home... BUT, on top of fighting off incoming clutter, I think it's important to not have a lot of stuff in the first place. (room below, Susan Ferrier, House Beautiful)

What I mean by "a lot" is also very subjective. To the extreme minimalist, "living with less" might mean living with clothes and a few dishes and furniture, but to someone like me, "living with less" means having only what I need and love... and this includes lots of books & decorative accessories & dishware ;) The important thing is keeping what you need and use and love- whatever it may be- and then ditching the rest.

OK- OK -- I have a confession to make: I have hoarded some things from my childhood: I've saved all of my Barbies in case we have a little girl and am waiting for the day when we can play with them (she WILL love Barbies ;) ;) and also some of my stuffed animals and toys that are still in good condition. This may sound weird or cheap but we give them to Christian for birthdays & gifts because to him, they're new and it makes me so happy to see him playing with my old toys. (He loves them & so many of them are better than the new plastic toys!) (image below from vintagetoys.blogspot.com)

Ok, but back to "living with less": It's freeing and you honestly have more time when you live with less. (image below from Nate Berkus) We spend enough time as it is cleaning up our own messes: laundry, dishes, toys, and the 3 bibs that my dog drags into the dining room EVERY DAY arggg, but nothing makes me more frustrated than trying to find a place for something I didn't really want in the first place. So why let that stuff stay in my house? I don't. Living with less is a constant process and battle, but one I find very-worth fighting.

"Keep and seek only what you love and your home will be truly yours."

xoxo,
lauren



So how about you? Do you try to "live with less?" And what is "living with less" to you?

My first blog

It's been a year now (and 189 posts)since I started writing Pure Style Home. (I'm not good with anniversaries, so it's a week or 2 late.) But I thought it would be fun to share with you my first post, which I called my first "blog" at the time. I really don't even remember why I started writing... I guess stumbled across a blog (I can't remember which) & have always loved writing so I just decided to start writing, never thinking anyone but my grandmother & mother-in-law would ever read it.



We were living in my parents' basement at the time, having just sold our own townhome for a huge loss and at first I didn't share this with readers. (Well I really didn't have any readers to share it with... but at the point when no one's reading, you just sort of pretend you are writing for people ;) Anyway, I was embarrassed that we lived in my parents' basement until one day it just hit me that life happens. People do what they have to do to get places and we were living in a basement so we could get a new house. I shared it with readers and got some amazing support and advice.



I think it was then that I really opened up on my blog and realized how kind & caring you all were. It's been an awesome experience and I've made so many friends here. I've learned so much & many of you have influenced my style along the way. I feel like I've met a few mentors (I don't think they know it ;) and I've found that in general, the people of blogworld are generous, caring & open about sharing knowledge & ideas. It's a wonderful community & I'm so glad to have joined. One of my very first commenters was the lovely Camila of High-Heeled Foot in the Door & she really explained to me how things were done and has been there for me ever since.



I've gained a lot of confidence from writing this blog & having others believe in me... My business has come a long way in just one short year and I owe much of it to this blog & readers. (I hope to be thinking the same thing next year! :) Thank you so much for reading and here is my very first post... (bear with it! ;)





--------------------------OCTOBER 7, 2008---9:44 AM----------------





(A room in progress... a lake house for my dad I'm currently working on just to give you an idea of my work.)





So here I am, writing my first blog. Hmmm... I'm not really even quite sure what a blog is so here goes. First, I should say that there will probably be lots of typos & I apologize.



Here's a bit about me: I'm a 26 year old wife, mom & interior designer. My husband's a high school English teacher & the most involved dad ever. He's always doing those random sweet things & in general, just makes my life better & easier.



On that note- the easy life. The simple life. I guess that's what I wanted this blog to be about. I try to impart the "pure style" philosophy into every aspect of life. It's taking pleasure in the little things & simplifying your life... making it beautiful. Home is really important to me. I believe the way we design our homes really determines how our life is going to play out in that house. Does your house make you smile when you walk in the door or does it make you cringe? Is your home pretty & organized & easy to live in or full of mess & clutter & unfinished tasks?

Photo by Trio Giovan from Cottage Living

I think when our homes are set up so we can live easily in them, we have more time to be with the people we love & to do the things we really care about. If we surround ourselves in an environment that relaxes us & works with us, we'll be happier.



Now, I am the definition of a "mess." When my husband & I first met in college & I was struggling to pull out my dining card from my super-packed & unorganized wallet, he handed the dining guy his card & had him swipe it for me and shook his head at me, "You're such a mess." I was shocked. I had never really thought of myself that way- I always wanted to be one of those really composed-looking people. You know- they have a little clutches & always look good- hair in place, makeup, great clothes. I call them "groomers" because as I've gotten older, I've realized it doesn't come naturally. Yes, the tendency to groom may come naturally, but the grooming itself, they have to work at it. They have to "groom." (And I'm not talking about those really naturally beautiful people. Beautiful people can be groomers or normal people.) I want to be one of them.

clutch by fredala

But my husband (actually, "Guy I'd just met in Creative Writing Class" at the time) made me realize what I truly was. An organized mess. A mess trying not to be a mess. Because I loved organization & cleaning out other people's junk drawers & rearranging their rooms. I could always find something eventually. Everything did have a place even if it wasn't always in its place. I realized I'm one of those people who naturally inflicts chaos into a room- I try on a bunch of clothes & throw them all on the chair when I'm finished. I work really hard to get something in working order & then I go & screw it all up!



It was good to face reality. Once I realized that I was truly a mess & couldn't change my innate habits, I became much more organized & life became simpler. I started thinking in terms of my handicap: "Because I'm such a mess, I always lose my car keys, so I need a place to put them." And Voila! I stopped losing my cars keys! (Most of the time.) And the trick to putting the clothes back in the closet lies in having a closet with extra space (empty hangers!) so it's not such a daunting task to try to fit the clothes back in. (This means constantly clearing out the stuff I don't wear & switching out my wardrobes seasonally because I unfortunately don't have a large closet.)

Photo from canada.com

I remember my best friend had been asked about her toothpaste tube on a job interview & of course she answered with what they were looking for: "When I'm finished using it, I flatten out the bottom part & fold it." That little toothpaste analogy really rings true with me- I forget about the toothpaste tube for a few days & then when it startes to get really gooped at the bottom & wrinkled & messed up, I fix it.



And I realized that this is how I handle a lot of aspects of my life. So I started putting little "spillovers" or "boobytraps" into the way I organize my life. The huge bottom drawer in my closet (an elfa drawer cart) has become the spot where I toss the things I have worn or tried on that aren't dirty. When it starts to get really full, then I empty it & start over. When my wallet starts to feel full, it gets cleaned out. (Would you believe it's actually a little clutch that my mom gave me that gets thrown into whatever bag I need for the day- diaper bag, work bag, pretty purse, etc.) So I've gotten to know myself & I now have little systems set into place to keep my messes at bay.

I see I'm rambling. I'll just really quickly say that I have an adorable one year-old & having him has, of course, really changed so much in our lives, but we really try to stay the same. He's such a flexible, sweet little guy & the 3 of us have so much fun together. But our time is so insanely valuable now. We've found the only way to keep things good is to become more scheduled- even going as far as to scheduling in "nothing to do" time.



I'm passionate about what I do- decorating & designing homes- & really think that it spills over into every aspect of life. The only way for us to keep things running long smoothly is to keep things simple, beautiful, organized and fun.



For now, I think the purpose of this blog is to write about trying to have that "pure style home" & being real about who we are to get that home. Putting booby traps in our organizational planning to stop fighting how we really live. And beautiful things, of course. (Not necessarily expensive, because I love a good thrift-store find. But right & easy & very "you.")

$15 chandelier I found at a thrift store: I painted it in a silverleaf & strung it with crystals found online. (I repaint it whenever a new mood strikes me- it's white now but I think it'll be going black for Halloween!)

-----------------------------------THE END ------



So that was it! haha my first post! As you can see, I wasn't even really sure what a blog was at the time. My blog has evolved with me & as time went on, I gained the confidence to share some of my work & own home with you all. I must say though, I still agree: Simple - Happy - Beautiful --- is what a home should be. We can all get our homes there & have fun in the process and that's what I've tried to make this blog about: sometimes you'll see organizational posts (simple), sometimes you'll see cheesy personal posts with my family (happy) and other times you'll see design-related posts (Beautiful) but I always try to keep the idea of living this way in mind when I post. I share our often unglamorous & (sometimes unsuccessful!!) DIY projects to show how crazy it can be to get to "simple" and "beautiful" but also to show how "happy" and fun (albeit exhausting) getting there can be.



Anyway, thanks everyone so much for reading and bearing with me. You're the best & I can't tell you how happy hearing from you all makes me. Hope you enjoyed this little trip down memory lane...



xoxo,

lauren

The Struggle: Minimal or "curiosity shop"

So, I always have this struggle within me when doing my own home: Do I want minimal or do I want that "curiosity shop" feeling?? I'm hoping writing this post & checking out some pics will help me get to a decision. The minimal I'm talking about isn't necessarily modern, but an open, airy look.

And the "collected"/ Alice & Wonderland look I'm thinking of is more like this fun, quirky space(Domino):

What got me thinking on this was that an anon left me a comment yesterday saying she/ he didn't like my bookshelf and that this "cluttered" look was exactly what homeowners were trying to avoid. (ouch! ;) But I have to say sometimes I WANT that cozy, collected, crazy-layered feeling in a space... (my bookshelf below)

But I think an entire room like this would drive me crazy... I like that the "clutter" is contained in 1 area... I do redo my accessories all the time but since Baby 2 is on the way, I know the way I do the house right now will determine how it's going to look for about another 10+ months or so... (3 months till baby comes & then I know I won't have any time for much major reaccessorizing for about 6 months.) I'm hoping there's someway I can get both feelings in my house & am going to attempt it. Love this warm, collected space nate Berkus did:

But I just really do I love them both. I think that in the Fall, & Winter, I'm more drawn to the warmer feeling of the heavily layered, collected quirky spaces , and in the warmer months, I'm in the mood for open & minimal. (like this Nate Berkus room below)

The "collected" rooms have this great sense of age to me... and are a bit more English in feeling like this room by Celerie Kemble. They always make me want to lay down & read a book...

I love being in a room full of interesting things where your curious eye gets to keep going & going... The pieces are smaller & there's more going on...

My grandparents' house is like this & there's always been so much to look at and take in. I've always loved this wall of family photographs that my grandmother did. It's hard to tell but there is a soft creamy-beigey damask wallpaper behind the photos:

But then how simple & understated is this??? (Nate Berkus) Just so relaxing & calming...

Our bedroom is a sea of white & texture... The only other colors besides white are wood & metal tones. And I love it in there because there's no thinking... just relaxing & rest for the eye. And the view outside is paramount:

I guess when pointing out these spaces it make me realize that I really just need to dig & figure out how I want to feel in a certain room. The room I'm debating right now is my living room. And I think the problem is, I want to feel BOTH ways!!! hahahah argggg I love the sculptural simplicity & natural-feeling of Nina Griscom's home (below). The base of my living room is similar to this in feeling...

And also this: (minus the AMAZING chairs!!! :)

But it's starting to get a little brisk outside & I'm craving some STUFF!!!! On my walls, on my shelves, on my sofa!!! A soft throw to curl up with on every spot in the house!!! I can very easilly handle the throw blankets, pillows & shelves (I've already got my cozy bookshelf in there - ready for a fire & reading!!!! oh wait... my fireplace is fake!!! haha oh well, i can pretend.) but it's the WALLS I really need to figure out right now... With the sleep-deprived blur that I know is on its way, I will need to keep my artwork in one place for a while. In my living room, I've got windows all along one whole wall...

And I did my huge blow up of an etching on the blank wall in the dining room (below) .... Both of those are very clean, airy, large-scaled & simple.

So it's up to that last wall... the wall the mantle is on... (pic taken when we first moved in... now we have HW floors and an area rug, totally different furniture, lighting, chairs on the way... so there's a lot more going on...) But with THAT WALL- what to do -what to do?

How do I want it to feel?!!! Do I want a jumble of paintings & prints & interesting things I've collected over the years? Or do I want simple, clean? maybe a mirror with sconces and a few balanced drawings? So far the only thing with the "curiosity" feeling I love is my bookshelf. I can easily do clean & simple on my tabletops or mantle and switch them out with a full hodge-podge of personal finds, but I need to make a decision on this mantle wall!! I know nothing is permanent (and how crazy this sounds) but 10+ months sounds like a long time to me!!! I just need to think on the feeling I want in there... for now ;) Any thoughts?

How about you? Do you struggle with this? Alek of From the Right Bank to the Left Coast just did a post posing this question & showing her inspiration from both sides... I'd love to hear!!

xoxo,

lauren

and also- about negative comments. I got my first one yesterday and it stung! (it was -I think -as politely put as the commenter could have said it & don't think she/ he was trying to be hurtful at all.) And I do I know that when we create blogs we're really putting ourselves out there, but I do consider you all friends and feel really comfortable posting here... What I write here is as much for me as for you... This isn't a hard-core interior design blog. It's like an inspiration journal where I work things out & get creative & share what I'm going through with those who want to join in.

And I really put myself out on a limb when posting photos from my home. From now on, I'd really appreciate that instead of leaving negative comments, people just refrain from saying anything at all. (And I'm not talking about design debates, point of views, etc... We can ALWAYS disagree or share different point of views- I had a lot of fun with the last debate.) I know how sensitive this sounds but I just don't want negativity in this space of mine that I share with you all. I post unfinished spaces & work in progress and small DIY projects and if I feel like everything has to be perfect on here, then it really stifles my creativity & willingness to share what I'm doing on my home on here. When I'm in a design magazine and my work is published for a all to critque, I can take it, but THIS is my happy spot. ;) ;) (hahaha I WISH!!!) Anyway, thanks so much & I really do hope you can understand!!!

xoxo

How to "Upgrade" Decorate

When you're just starting out in a space that you plan on redesigning or decorating from scratch, there's what I call "Damage Control" to be done. (pic below is a before of my aunt's house, who I helped/ advised during her redecoration.)

These are the obvious things that need to be done and that can be done fairly quickly & fairly cheaply. Things like: painting, tearing up carpet to reveal pre-existing hardwood floors, replacing 80s window treatments or rugs with up-to-dateones, replacing an ugly chandelier, ditching outdated accessories, finding a solution for the worn sofa, creating a focal point, etc. Basically getting rid of anything that disgusts you (yes, strong word, but we know how it can be) and can be fixed easily. (In my aunt's room below, I helped her pick out the sofa- the "before" was taken just after the sofa arrived... the old one was a worn patterned piece- advised on a new rug and recommended she purchase some pillows and curtains with colors from the rugs in them and of course came over and rearranged & reaccessorized using what she already had.)

Now, most of us have what we truly want and what we can actually afford. There are items that we just simply have to save up for, but if we waited until we could actually afford them, our room would look terrible until then. (For example, with the 80s window treatments... If you left them in your room, the space would remain dated no matter what you did. Maybe you can't afford the custom lined linen beauties you want, but you can pick up something more inexpensive from a place like West Elm or Ikea until you can afford your "dream curtains.") Basically you plan on upgrading later. .)

A lot of us can't afford what we want right now but there's no reason our places should suffer style-wise. It's almost always possible to "get the look" for less. We may want the original Saarineen tulip table but if we use a knock-off with good lines, we can still have the same look for less. Eventually, if it's still bothering you, when you can afford the real thing, sell the old piece and buy the "dream item." (The blog Copy Cat Chic recreates looks for less and she's awesome at it!!! I get inspired every time I'm there, so check it out if you're looking for less expensive alternatives.)

(above is the real saarinen tulip table and below is my vintage ebay knock-off)

There are places to save and there are places to splurge. Some things you just might not be okay with skimping on and that's SO important too. If you have some high-quality basic pieces, then your stand-in cheapies will get pulled up to another level and look awesome. We hear it all the time: "A mix of high & low." Big ticket items like sofas and tables can often be expensive to replace, so these are often items I like to splurge on (relative term I know-- I STILL craigslist it haha!) or get right the first time so I don't have to rebuy. (below is a quick pic of my very-unfinshed living room right now --sorry, Christian did the photo styling for this one! toy trucks!!-- the sofa is a Lee Industries sofa (so OUT of my price range) that I found on craigslist & had reupholstered in green velvet... It's a high-quality basic piece that we'll have for a long time. (It's our splurge.) My $30 tool box coffee table looks okay with it for now and I can upgrade it later when the time's right.)

Lighting can also take spaces to another level of beautiful. Splurges here give you a lot of bang for your buck... But there are also some great sources for more inexpensive stylish lighting... It's toally up to you as to what you splurge & save on. We each prioritize differently. (image below from here)

We all have our own things that we wouldn't skimp on. Figure out which items those are and buy high-quality/ buy your dream item up front. Then figure out which items you can upgrade later. We're doing this a LOT right now. I want my house to feel great when I walk in the door, but I can't afford everything I want. I sewed my own curtains and am using all off-the-rack roman shades. (white cotton from Sears and matchstick from Home Depot. I ADORE custom roman shades. LOVE LOVE LOVE them. My clients always get them... but I will have to wait. We need the privacy now and custom shades just aren't in the budget and I'm okay with it because they'll be a great upgrade in the future. :) (hahahah can you just see me twitching & talking to myself right now, "Calm yourself, they'll be upgraded in the future." hahahah)

(image above from Cote de Texas and image below of the Sears shades in our bedroom.)

All of this comes down to being okay with a home that's constantly changing. I think most of us bloggers & readers realize that we're never truly "finished" with our homes. If we were, it would begin to feel stagnant and let's be honest, we decorate because we love it!! ... And I don't mean going out and buying new chairs one month and a new sofa the next, I mean little things: switching out pillows & accents, rearranging and pulling furniture from one room into another, picking up a beautiful vase you find on sale, just keeping it fresh. (Just like a wardrobe... buy some good basic pieces and then accessorize and flush out and keep updated) Allotting a small & very realistic decorating budget to yourself. (Oh please husbands! don't hate me! ;)

Here's my list of things to be upgraded: bedroom curtains, roman shades throughout house, end tables, club chairs, kitchen island, appliances & countertops, coffee table, DR chairs, carpet, doors and hardware, trim, windows, SO MANY aspects of my bathrooms!!! (keeping the green fiberglass shower and hiding it with a curtain until we can afford to redo it, etc.) and much- much more...


So, what are your thoughts on upgrading vs. waiting? Do you have anything you plan on upgrading in the future?

xoxo,

lauren