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DESIGN QUESTION: “What room in your house best reflects your personality? Explain why.”

This is a tough one for me. I have an Eclectic style and have different design styles reflected in different rooms of my house. My Living spaces (Living Room, Dining Room, & Kitchen) are what I like to call Transitional European Farmhouse. Whereas Farmhouse style is neutral color-wise, I’m someone who likes color, so my Farmhouse contributions in those spaces is my Dining Room table and some of the accessories I use.

My upstairs spaces are all over the place! The Loft, Hall Bath, and one of the Bedrooms have Southwestern style. I love the bold colors and patterns of this style and also collect Native American dolls, so I needed a place for those. And I love horses, so I have several prints of horses in the stairwell going upstairs.

Another Bedroom is what I call The Beach House. The furniture is all white with color accents of lime green, turquoise, and light purple. I also have black accents in that room, so if I change out the lamps and duvet cover on the daybed, it can pass for French Contemporary.

My office is the opposite of The Beach House. The accent colors are all the same, but the furniture is black, with a soft, foldable lime green chair – the kind kids use in dorms.

But the room that probably reflects my personality the MOST is my Main Bedroom. It is Moroccan-themed with lots of bright colors. It looks like a display from World Market or Pier One Imports. (Let’s just say that when I worked part-time for Pier One, all my pay went right back into the store!) The room is very colorful, Bohemian, eclectic, with lots of texture. I guess that’s how I would describe myself.

One of the more unique pieces in the room is a large, low chest made out of a crate from Mexico. It has storage inside, so it’s pretty cool. And I have mixed a lot of purple and orange. Yes. It works. Some of you may be afraid to try unusual color combinations. Purple and Orange are known as Secondary Hues on a color wheel, so they do work together if you know how to combine them. (But more on that later this year when I launch my Color In Your Home digital course!)

The bottom line is that you might prefer one particular design style or have a combination of a few. I believe our living spaces should be a reflection of who we are personally and that being “matchy-matchy” doesn’t always have to be something to which we have to aspire. (However, those of you who have a very Traditional design style will definitely be attracted to this and to have equal balance in the placement of your furniture.)

We are all unique. And our design style in our homes should reflect that. It is our place of respite from the outside world. So instead of being in the mindset of, “I’d better choose colors that will be more neutral, because if I choose to sell my house one day I’ll want to appeal to as many buyers as I can.”

But YOU are the one living in the house – not some future buyer. You can cross that bridge if and when you come to it. You are special, so just do you!

I HATE WHITE KITCHENS

Is it just me, or is there anyone else out there who hates white kitchens?

I mean, every time you turn on HGTV and watch a program where people are house hunting, the first thing the female says is, “And I want a white kitchen. I HAVE to have my white kitchen!!!” Did this woman ever clean a white kitchen? Does this woman have children? Does this woman have pets? Does this woman EVEN COOK? Or does she just want a white kitchen as a status symbol to show her friends because she thinks that’s the latest thing?  As someone who has been in the design industry and keeps up with industry trends, sorry to tell you – but white kitchens are going away.

I understand that design is subjective, and you like what you like. But seriously, do you think the way the kitchen looks after the Property Brothers have just staged your home and you’re seeing it for the first time, is the way the house is going to look after the cameras go away and you’re actually living in the house?

I remember when my grandparents bought a beautiful new house that had a white kitchen with light beechwood cabinets. The counters were white, and the floor was white. A white kitchen does make the room look larger, and maybe that’s where the trend started. And it does look shiny and bright when it’s brand new. But a room needs to have function as well as form. And white kitchens are EXTREMELY difficult to keep looking clean and new.

During that time, my grandparents were in their 80’s and had no kids or pets (unless you count my uncle….). The arthritis in my grandmother’s hands was pretty bad during her later years, so my grandpa had to do the cooking and cleanup. You might say Grandpa was a little OCD. This was a man who believed in wearing out the carpeting evenly, so when he would go up or down the stairs, he would alternate walking on the outer part of the carpeted stairs instead of walking up the center because he didn’t want the center to look worn out too quickly. (Okay, so maybe he was a LOT OCD!)

I remember him and my uncle, OCD Jr., constantly wiping up crumbs from the counter and floor because they were visible all the time against the white background. They said they would never have done that again if they had known.

But ultimately, what makes a house a home is the love you put into it. And the little touches that reflect who you are as a family. Don’t get something just because it’s a trend or because you think you will be the envy of all your friends. Trends change. Style has cycles that come and go. The only reason to buy into a trend is if you plan on selling in a few years and want to get your money back by having the latest and greatest. And even when a trend cycles back decades later, there is still a new spin put on it that makes it look different than before.

So, if you understand the newness vs. the reality of what it means to have a white kitchen, and you still really want one, get a white kitchen. But I still hate them…

But I think it’s all about relationships, so the color of your kitchen won’t matter if there’s not family and friends gathering there. So, make some good food, create new memories, and nurture those relationships.  As they say, “The way to someone’s heart is through their stomach.”