Thursday, July 3, 2014

TBT: Living Room Summer 2012

Hi everyone,

I decided to do a little Turn Back Thursday and take a look at our living room a few years back.  Interestingly, many things have stayed the same.


I still have most of the accessories, although they have been moved here, there, and everywhere many times over.  I still have the curtains panels - still love them every single day!


The sofa and settee have stayed the same - they were brand spankin' new in these pictures.  I still love them every day also!  I was pretty scared about going from a neutral, solid color sofa and loveseat to a very colorful and multi patterned grouping.  But I don't for one minute regret it - it makes me happy every time I walk into the room!


The seagrass baskets have moved off into storage land, along with the chair.  We also replaced the berber carpet with gorgeous laminate (yes, laminate can be gorgeous!) shortly after this picture was taken.  Another change that has occurred, our sweet, little Barker - shown lounging above - passed in April of this year.  We miss him terribly, but are grateful for his years of faithful friendship!

Anyway, in a house where things seem to change a lot, I am actually shocked at how much has stayed the same in this room. Of course, the pillows and accessories revolve and evolve constantly, but I am so happy that the key pieces -the pieces that can't easily be changed - are still making my heart go pitty pat.  For many years prior to this, I was not decorating true to my taste - I had a purple phase, a sage phase, a turquoise flirtation - trying to convince my self that this was more "in," more the latest and the greatest.  But those looks weren't me. Not. At. All.  In fact, for awhile I was in a decorating drought.  A slump.  Decorating my home, being in my home was no longer fun.  That's when I had an epiphany and told myself to be honest in my decorating and in my style. I chose the colors and things that I was attracted to. For me and for my family.  Not someone else.  And suddenly, it was fun to decorate again! My house was energized and had personality again.  The creativity was kick started  and the thing I loved to do - decorating my home - had fallen back into my lap.

So lesson learned: be true to your style, your color palette, etc.  Be open to new additions, but only if YOU like them - not because it is what every one else is doing or what is being shown in the magazines.  If you stay true to what you love, you will have no problem infusing a vitality and current sensibility to your style.
Trust me!!!

Thanks for stopping by,
Jane

7 comments:

  1. I love color as you can see by my previous posts - especially red. I really like the color pallet that you have now and everything seems to work well together. I also have not changed the big pieces, just pillows, lamps, pictures, etc. I tend to keep things that I like forever - just move them around.
    Have a great fun 4th of July.
    Mary

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  2. I agree 100%~ decorate with what makes you happy and what you love to look at and you will love your space! I am sorry about your kitty. It's always sad to lose a friend. I hope that you enjoy the weekend in your lovely home and ps...I love all that red!! ;)

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  3. You are so right..I know when I decorate using things I love and walk into my space it makes me smile.
    Sorry to hear about the loss of your sweet kitty. Thanks for visiting my blog.
    Julie

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  5. I am so sorry about your kitty, the setting won't look the same without that pretty soul...I know the loss...love your colors and thanks for sharing your space...

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  6. Jane, I did a post kind of like this awhile back because I've done the same thing before. Tried to go more neutral in our new house because so many other people are. It just didn't feel right though. Had to bring my colors back and now we are both happy. I love seeing your touches of red and yes, I love your patterned couch too!!

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  7. GOOD FOR YOU!!!!!!!!!!! We built this house almost 2 years ago and EVERYTHING is white! I am so NOT a white person. I love color too. I have been ANTSY to PAINT my walls and it will be started in the fall. I love your colors too. Thanks so much for your visit!!!!!

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