In my work with Beauty for Ash I focus primarily on organization; however, I thoroughly enjoy the design and decor elements as well! Adding beauty to a newly organized space proves to be a great outlet for my artistic side. And while I haven’t done much design with BfA, I’ve done it plenty in my own home! For the past seventeen years my home has served as my playground to practice and learn about the world of design. I’ve just about redesigned every room in my house, one small step at a time. Everything from a major overhaul of the downstairs to incorporate a new office space, to replacing every single door handle and knob in the entire house because that rusty yellow gold had to go! By door handle number ten I knew my husband truly loved me. 🙂
For years I’ve had a running list of my big ideas and each year I’ve tried to accomplish one. This year we redesigned our upstairs to accommodate the needs of our family for this season of life, and next year my hope is to finally tackle the kitchen cabinets which are in dire need of a paint job! After seventeen years the list has gotten smaller but I’m still dreaming up new ideas all the time! As my husband has discovered, it’s basically a never ending list…
Without realizing it, my slow and steady renovations throughout my home have pretty much all ended up tying together in a Farmhouse style. I love the more natural elements and the nostalgic feel of this style. I don’t know how happy I would be in an actual working farmhouse but I’m more than happy to live in a slightly more accommodating and less high maintenance version of one!
If I could give one piece of advice about designing your home it would be to do it in such a way that it expresses who you and your family are: what you value, where you’ve been, what you love in life. In the world of design you’ll find out fast that so much of it is personal preference, not hard and fast rules. And if you follow the trends you’ll be spending lots of money chasing their rapid pace; not to mention, many of them may have nothing to do with who you are, or what you love. My advice, don’t worry about the trends and don’t get caught up in too many rules, make your home work for you and your family both functionally and design wise.
I’m not saying there aren’t any design rules that are worth paying attention to, because there are some, but by in-large your preferences matter more. Afterall, you are the one who has to live in your house, not some elitist designer! This is coming from someone who chose forest green for my fence color and decided to put an interior window in my dining room.
Practice and play around and create a space that you want to come home to every day.