Home Style

I've been thinking about the contents of this post for a while, hoping to have answers before I wrote it, but it will probably still end up sounding a bit "everywhere." Remember my discussion about my blog style and style in general? Well thanks to an issue of Real Simple magazine passed down from my aunt to my mom to me, I have been curious about my (house) decorating style for the last few weeks. This particular issue contained a quiz that was supposed to help figure out your decorating style by circling pictures of things you like. I liked this concept since I'm so visual. Each picture had a letter by it, which corresponded with a style. My tally?
Sophisticated Classic: 5
Modern Graphic: 4
Cozy Casual: 5
Vintage Eclectic: 3

Uh... so I like everything?

The good news is I am "allowed" to have a blend of styles. I'm just not sure what to call it, or how it all blends together. Even a look at the dishes I own say a lot about my various style tastes:

I think this is the best way to describe my decorating style. And it honestly isn't too different from my clothing style, which I mostly consider to be "classic with a twist." And I considered my wedding "classic elegance with a modern twist." And really, the "cozy casual" part of my decorating sense I would consider classic in the Pottery Barn sense. I like elements of the classic sophisticated look that the magazine showed, but it not too much all at once, because it looked too formal to me. In my ideally decorated house, every room would be inviting in its own way, and it would have a mix of clean-line modern and more traditional styles. Just too much of one or the other for me is, well, just too much.

I decided to look around my house and take pictures of some of my favorite elements, to sort this together further. Here's what I have (don't forget to click for larger images)...

This is what I consider to be my favorite elements of the cozy casual and classic (but maybe not necessarily sophisticated) styles in my house. Funnily enough, out of all these things the only thing I chose was the vase on the right. The couch was passed down to us, as was the glass vase, and the frame was a wedding gift we did not register for. I like all these things, but there are other design elements in our house that I like that are completely different...

These are the modern elements that I chose that have the commonality of the modern "steel" look. But the first two items are more structured and clean lines, while the last is more curvy. I don't really know what this means. I know I like all three, though I have to say, the lamp is the one I love the most and had the most say in. The frame my mom got several years ago and the candlestick was another unregistered wedding gift.

I love fun details I guess, like these flowery pieces (and like my flowery vase and curvy lamp). The measuring spoons were actually a birthday gift from a friend, and I adore them. The to-do list was something I got from Target shortly after we got married. I'm going to be so sad when I run out of these and can't find anymore.

Again, I like the fun elements of these. The birds on the frame, the fun pears on the bowl (which was a gift), the unexpected orange office chair, and the polka-dotted mug. I don't want everything in my whole house to have this look, because then to me I guess it does not seem very grown-up or not even cozy and inviting, but I just love having accessories like these. Also, two of these things are in my office and two are in the kitchen, both which I have definitely created to be "fun" rooms. The living room is supposed to more cozy and inviting, and for the bedroom I am going for a serene and relaxing feel.

We got a lot of hand-me-down furniture, like the couch I showed you before, but these were a couple of pieces I picked out. The bookcase on the left I got a couple of years ago, and in case you can't tell, it curves out a little, just enough to make it more interesting than your average bookcase. Then the media tower I got shortly after we got married, and I just loved the curves on it that which, again, looked more interesting than any other media tower I saw (especially within my price range). I like that they're both dark colors, which I suppose makes them seem a little bit more classic or grown-up or something.

And look at third shelf on my bookcase. You see old-timey looking "books" (they're actually LOTR DVDs), the modern candle stick, a frame that's more the cozy casual style, and then a modern looking frame on top of books... I guess this is OK to mix up? I mean, I like it, and I thought I incorporated different styles effectively... hopefully. Eclectic is a style, so I suppose that's what I am. Not the vintage eclectic of the quiz, but a casual cozy/modern/classic eclectic.

So what do you guys think is your decorating style? What look or feel do you want for each room?