Amateur of Design: An Ongoing Personal Journey (update part 3).

Hello Lovelies,

Shown above: my FAVORITE apartment therapy house tour, ever! Liz Fabry's Well-Edited Half of a Durham Duplex House Tour

Remember my personal journey through the world of design as an amateur? (You might to read here for a quick reminder).

So I wanted to tell you lovelies that I am doing this month's Style Cure, as hosted by the Apartement Therapy blog. One of the first assignmernts of the Cure is to fill out our personal style form (see link here). Actually,  using pinboards for the last few years helped me determine my own personal style quite easily. As i have stated on this blog before, here is what I am personally drawn to:

"My inspiration is mostly gathered here.  This main pinboard helps me define my style, a little "industriel", a little "wunderkammer" with a "masculine flair" twist, thogh none of these decor style pinboards are really realistic nor affordable. It's about dreaming (which is a necessary function, too).

Image above: In a petite living room, pairing a sofa boasting a sleek design and a low profile with a large artwork and a statement-making light fixture will give the room a bold sense of personality. Image source: here.

My general home decor pinboard presentation goes like this, and this sums it all up:

"

#10: Home Decor - general inspiration

my personal style tends to: Wunderkammer, Masculine Flair, Warm Industrial, Belgian Greys. I also love to use Botanical Charts and insect drawings as home decor.

And of course, I amdrawn to simple clean lines as shoiwn in Japanese and Scandinavian or Shakers' interiors.

To sum it up, i guess i really like it bold & dramtic, with a strong sense of personal style. (image below is from this post on the sfgirlbybay popular design blog).

Before actually starting to decorate, decluttering is in order. How timely! This month's ZenHabits simplicty challenge is all about decluttering your life!

Here is the ZH plan: zenhabits.net/declutter

"Decluttering" could mean a lot of different things to me, from getting rid of too many belongings, not-useful-to-me material things but also getting rid of unnecessary assignments that burden my day or even better yet, toxic relationships that simply bring me down.

what about you lovelies? What does "decluttering" mean to you?

-Alix.


Oh! and I almost forgot to mention I am also back on instagram with this August 2013 photo-a-day challenge,vie the ideas room blog:

I guess I am alive and well and bursting with new projects! Right? Right-O!

Reflections on "What Makes a House a Home?"

Hello Lovelies!

 image source via

There are many ways to make a house feel more lived-in and cozy. I love this advice: "Surround yourself with happy memories", found here at the Whole Living website, and illustrated by the above picture. I also like this advice: "Get cuddly accents", found here, as illustrated below:

Today, I'll publish another (!) excellent excerpt from the May 18th 2013 GON newsletter, because YES, it is that good and I highly recommend you subscribe to it! This short article deals exactly with the important question of "What Makes a House a Home?"

Excerpt:

***

"My friend's 7 year-old son, Jack, is a very outspoken and fun child. His new thing is to point at beautiful and big houses and declare that's the kind of house he wants to live in.

The other day, his mom reminded him that the size of a house doesn't necessarily make it a loving home. That it's the people living inside a house that make it special.

While he may be too young yet to understand the message of her statement, I wasn't...it was a GREAT mind jogger for me.

I love organizing and decorating homes. I enjoy watching HGTV, reading home improvement magazines, and scanning the latest ideas on Pinterest.

BUT a home doesn't mean spending lots of money on redesigning a space or buying the most expensive furniture. A home is a place we and our children can go to for comfort and security.

Fortunately, we can create that space by investing our time and energy with the people that matter to us the most.

I hope you have a wonderful week and make sure to enjoy the individuals that comprise your life!"

***

 

image source: Fi & Livvy's Cozy Home


Newsletter excerpt: (c) Copyright 2013 by Maria Gracia, Get Organized Now!

* Copyright, contact and reprint information:
http://www.getorganizednow.com/contact.html

* To subscribe, visit:
http://www.getorganizednow.com/free-ezine.html  


In closing:

photo source: World of Interios, via

You can find a lot of visual inspiration through commented slideshows about lovely, cozy and lived-in homes here:
at AT (cozification article)
at RS (5 ways to create a cozy home)
at Whole Living (13 ways to a cozy up at home)  
I also love the home inspiration posts by Jane, at her lovely "Ill seen, Ill Said" blog.


Enjoy your home!

-Naomi of TeaButterfly.