Back to School with MSID- Week 3
Week 3 of Back to School with MSID - How to love your home in 30 days. This week we are jumping in feet first!
If you missed Week 1 and Week 2, I encourage you to catch up before reading any further.
Okay, let’s jump in!
Do you err on the side of caution when it comes to making design decisions? Are you one to play it safe when decorating your home?
This week we are going to talk about stepping out of our comfort zone to love our homes again.
I’m going to make a confession. I’ve had this little voice lately urging me to switch up my game. You all know how I gravitate to light and airy and that my overall personal style is definitely coastal. Well the little voice has been telling me it’s high time to get out of my comfort zone. Lately, when perusing the web, I’ve found myself attracted to more moodier spaces, especially those from across the pond!
The end of this month kicks off the One Room Challenge and I signed up for us to tackle our living room. And I must admit, I am feeling that this is the time to really push myself and do something completely different from what I have ever done in any of our past homes. Last week, I purchased two armchairs for the space and they are charcoal in color!! They are so dark that our black bunny and cat blends right into them. Knowing how I like flexibility in my decor, they are slipcovered so I do have the option of swapping out the slipcover if I tire of this darker tone but, I must admit I’m kinda loving it for fall and winter.
I really want to do cozy, moody, lots of layers and textures.
This will be our main tv room and to be honest, the room is only ever enjoyed in the evenings so it kinda makes sense to me that I push myself in this direction. However, I am nervous. As I create the mood boards for this space, I find myself waffling. I’ve done darker tones in the past but it would be different this time. I keep giving myself the pep talk to just do it. But, I feel I need permission to do this because it will be so different from my usual color palette. Then, Kenton, my voice of reason, reminded me to just have fun with it. This is our home. If I paint and we hate it, we can repaint. The chairs are slipcovered so replacing the slipcover would be a lot less expensive than replacing an entire pair of chairs.
The lesson is this. As we grow, our style will grow. Just because you’ve always done something a certain way doesn’t mean you can’t try something different.
BY PUSHING OURSELVES OUT OF OUR COMFORT ZONE, WE CAN LEARN TO FALL IN LOVE
WITH OUR HOMES ALL OVER AGAIN BY CREATING SPACES THAT ARE UNIQUELY YOU.
It’s so easy to see an image on Pinterest or on Social media, fall in love with it and copy it in your own home but, is that space really a reflection of you? I want you to push yourself and focus putting the “you” back into your home. I think when it comes to our homes and our decorating style, we can become complacent. We do what’s easy.
You know when you sit in the salon chair for a haircut and color? Days leading up to your appointment, you may daydream of a different hair color and/or a different style but, the moment you sit in the chair and the hairdresser approaches and asks , “Are we doing the usual?” You respond without thinking, “Yes, the usual please.” But what if, just once, you blurted out that you’re bored with the usual and you want to shake things up a bit and go for that different color or cut you’ve been daydreaming about.
The same thing can be said for our home.
Trying new things and getting out of your comfort zone can be such an exciting experience, and can spark a new-found love and appreciation for yourself and your home than you had before.
Let’s be real though. Sometimes you try something new and it’s a flop. In 2007 I painted the hallway in our seaside home yellow! (I can’t even believe I’m admitting that…ugh!) We did paint over it eventually but I had to get the idea of a bright and cheery hallway out of my system and I come to learn yellow was not the way to do it! Knowing what you don’t like is an essential part to figuring out what you DO like, and there’s no shame in re-routing and changing course, once you know better.
Paint is such an easy way for you to push yourself outside your comfort zone –to go against the grain for less than $60 and some time.
Sometimes I wonder if we’re sometimes afraid to paint the room because we haven’t seen it done before. Deep down, we have our own unique style, and I think the more we push ourselves out of the boundaries of comfort, the closer and closer we get to what truly represents us. What would happen if we ignored the trends, the “in-style” patterns, and safe colors we’ve seen done before. Listen to what you love and have always loved, pay attention to how your family interacts with your home, and carve out spaces uniquely qualified to make your home custom to you.
You’ve heard me say so many times before, you do not live in your home the way your neighbour, your friend or family member lives in their home. So I want you to think about pushing yourself outside your comfort zone, picking up that paint brush, tackling that DIY and start to create a home that reflects what you truly love- separate from anyone’s else’s opinion. I want you think about what this means for you.
