Question #2: “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!
