source: joka2000
This week we’re talking about simplifying family life. Tune in all week for strategies and tips for every area of life, and if you’re looking for more in-depth resources, be sure to check out the Huge Simplify Family Life eBook Sale!
Ideally, your house is your haven — a place where you can be yourself, feel safe and know you’re home.
Part of creating a home that feels this way is embracing your own style rather than living by someone else’s rules. And there are lots of rules. Curtains should be hung at a certain height. Don’t use dark paint colors. Create balance. Et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.
But here’s the thing — the people making up those rules? They don’t live in your home!
Before we had kids, I spent a couple of years in real estate at the height of the housing bubble. During this time, one of our clients was an upper middle class couple who had very particular ideas about what they wanted in a home. As we looked at house after house and discussed the pros and cons of each as well as the costs to update them and the potential appreciation in value, the husband said something I’ve never forgotten. He said, “This isn’t an investment. It’s our home.”
When I was a teenager, my dad decided to paint the master bedroom in his house forest green. He added lots of white accents to brighten it up, but honestly, I still didn’t like it. But you know what? My stepmom and he did. In fact, they loved it! And that’s really all that matters.
Simplify your home by creating a haven for your family that reflects your style, whatever that may be:
Take Risks
Taking risks in your home doesn’t mean spending a ton of money. In a lot of cases, it’s exactly the opposite. It’s using a picnic table in your kitchen. It’s painting wood instead of refinishing it.
Over the past few months, The Nester has been talking a lot about taking risks in your home, and today she has a full linky dedicated to letting other bloggers show off the risks they’ve taken!
If you’re afraid to step outside of the norm and take some risks, browse through those posts and give yourself permission to take risks and embrace your style!
Accept Imperfection
So often we get caught up in wanting everything to be just perfect. We feel like our home should look like the ones in home decor magazines or on HGTV, but that’s just not realistic unless you have an unlimited supply of money and no one actually living in your house.
Instead of shooting for perfection, look for ways to embrace your style and make your home beautiful that still fit within your budget and make your home livable for your family. Last week, Myra shared these great knock-off decor projects, and while they might not be perfect replicas of their brand name counterparts, they’re beautiful anyway!
It’s Just Paint
I’m always surprised by the number of people who live in stark white homes because they’re afraid to paint.
Our curent home has a lot of white (or white-looking) walls because that’s our style, but in our first condo, we painted an accent wall in each room with an eye-popping color. Yellow in the sunroom, bright red in the family room, lime green in the office, hot pink in the master bathroom (hey, we were newlyweds and I really wanted it to be pink), blue in the master bedroom and a deep charcoal in the guest bathroom. In our next home, we used earthy tones — a deep eggplant in the guest room, a deep red in the kitchen, etc.
I loved the way both places looked, but even if it hadn’t turned out the way we hoped, all it would have taken was a few more coats of paint to cover it up.
Don’t be afraid to paint. Color can have a huge impact and make your home truly feel like home! It’s just paint, and you can change it later if you don’t like it.
Only Keep Things You Love
While our home decor is fairly minimalist, I don’t think there’s a right or wrong way to decorate. However, if you are overwhelmed by the number of knickknacks and want to simplify your decor, take a hard look at each and every item in your home and only keep those things that you love. If it doesn’t make you smile to see it, then you shouldn’t have to dust it! Get rid of the things that are part of your decor “just because” and keep the ones that you love.
Does embracing your style and taking risk come easy for you, or do you struggle with feeling like you need to follow the rules?
