You may have noticed that our house is a constant work in progress.
My mom is always telling me that the way to decorate is all at once. Sit down, figure out what you want to do with your space, and put it all together in one fell swoop, so that you achieve…
you know…
coherence.
But that’s just not me. Besides the fact that decorating an entire house all at once requires a serious outlay of cash…it’s just not really my style. Like I said in this JITH video way back when, it’s important to me that my home decor be a collection of things that remind me of the people and places I love the most; I’m always going to be happier with a coffee table that comes with a story than one that comes from Pottery Barn.
My house isn’t perfect by any means – my living room in particular is constantly changing – but I love it. And a big part of the reason why I love it is that I can stand in virtually any room, look around, and tell a story about each and every thing that I see.
That said, even thrift-store and flea-market furniture can get pricey, so even when you’re on the hunt for one-of-a-kind pieces…it’s still best to have at least a vague idea of what you’re looking for, so you don’t end up dragging things home only to discover that your new purchase has thrown everything else in the space out of whack.
So.
Remember how I was going on and on about how I use Polyvore for everything?
Well, here’s one more thing I use it for: creating inspiration boards to help me make better decor decisions.
Here’s our sunroom “before”, right when we moved in last summer.
Initially I threw a little bistro table set covered with an antique tablecloth in here and used it as a kitchenette…but we ended up not really using it much; the table just really became an unattractive catchall for coats and grocery bags. Then we bought our new couch, and while we were in the process of carrying the old couch through the sunroom and out to Kendrick’s studio I realized that it fit perfectly into the space below our picture window.
So I decided to move the bistro set to our front porch and experiment with the idea of having a mini second living room.
When I took a step back to look at the sunroom with the couch in it, though…it felt like something was missing, but I wasn’t sure quite what.
Next stop: Polyvore. I started playing around with the elements that I already had and knew I wanted to keep – our brown couch, our faux Eames rocker, and the hot-pink-and-gold deer head that Kendrick bought me for Christmas to match the white one that presides over our living room…
And came up with this (a rug would be a good addition, but this room doubles as the dog corral from time to time, and rugs and my dogs do not mix).
One trip to HomeGoods later…
And there we go.
I mean, it’s sort of weird (Kendrick came home that night, took one look, and said “…Are we constructing a shrine to the Deer Gods?”)…but I like it! I’m sure it’ll keep evolving over time, but for now it makes a really lovely spot to sit with a cup of coffee and watch the dogs play in the backyard.
(That’s the Coney Island poster we picked up on this trip and my much-adored Anthropologie key hook).
Virgil approves.
Pictured: Pier 1 Abbie sofa, Chinatown lantern, HomeGoods table and planters, faux Eames rocker, faux peonies in upside-down antique silver drum, White Faux Taxidermy deer head.
