Decorating Your Space: Who Cares About What Other People Think

I remember when I first got my own place, years back, that I was obsessed with it looking grown up and stylish and up to date. There was so much pressure on what shade of beige my walls should be, what kind of tile, granite, carpet, wood, all of those things. And I am aware some people are completely in to all of these things and love choosing them. But I remember thinking...Cream, mocha, beige, sand...what looked "classy"? What was not cheesy? Am I doing this right? This is all actually boring, but I don't want to f*ck it up...

This is not my house....but you get the drift.

Then there was a point where sage green was the thing. Everyone had a sage green room. After that (or maybe it was before) there was the famous burgundy wall. Just one lone wall--no one would commit to a whole room, but we all had a burgundy wall with some wrought iron sconces and little ball candles.

Nothing wrong with this look...but again, you get the drift.

Anyway, there is nothing wrong with any of those colors or choices, just like there is nothing wrong with the chevron patterns of a year back, or all of the yellow/grey now. I am just glad tufted benches are back-- I love anything tufted and velvet, and I don't know if that is cool or not and I don't care. It is nearly played out because of the overstock in Home Goods, but oh well.


What I am realizing through the years is that I am the person who spends the most time in my home. I am here all of the damn time. I don't have enough visitors to where I should care if everything looks like a show room. I like quirky things, I like a lot of color, I like certain knick knacks, flea market finds, stacks of books everywhere. It has to feel good to ME. It has to smell good. I like fresh flowers,

I always get peonies--well, in May I do

Some of my flea market finds

I like to make sure Disneyland music is playing, or the Beach Boys, or show tunes, or the Bee Gees or whatever I want. I will listen to the soundtracks of Mary Poppins, The Sound of Music and Annie on any given day, and I have been known to listen to certain Christmas Carols in the middle of summer. It just has to feel joyous to me.

If someone visits me, they are coming into my world. I have mismatched English teacups, tin plaid camping mugs from the 50s and different cocktail napkins for every season. What I am saying to you folks, is that you should make your place into the happiest spot, not just the most upgraded. Don't just live in a space that is purely modeled for resale value or to be on trend. Bring those little pieces of beauty and love into your homes, your apartments, or even just your rooms. That is my bossy little speech for the evening!

XOXO

Amy