Thursday, August 24, 2006

Combo Decorating Styles

I love getting a peek into other peoples' lives. Now I get paid for seeing how they live in their homes. One of my favorite questions to ask homeowners is "How would you describe your style?".

I get a variety of answer but I always smile when they give me combination answers such as "I am traditional with an eclectic mix". I don't like houses to have one specifically labeled style. I think the home's style looks more authentic when it grows and develops. I think, therefore, the homeowners are more interesting if they mix it up and let the style develop as they do.

One of the best phrases a client gave me was describing her decorating style as 'Mixture of Pottery Barn and Fisher-Price".

I personally would describe my style as American Mission with Paper mountains (usually those mountains are just mole hills but the editing and revisions of my book due next week - they mounds are growing)

How would you creatively and honesty described your home's style? I would love to hear about it.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

My style....Traditional with washable textures(scotch gaurd is my friend), wipable accents(who cares about color is it semi gloss and easy to clean?! chalk boards are our friends too) with natural light( again windows are washable and blinds are wipable and my three monkeys have knocked over 2 lamps already! LOL)
Cute entry!! Can't wait for the book!

Anonymous said...

Thanks, Julie for sending me the newsletters! Just last night I had some girlfriends over for the first time. One of them asked me about my decorating style, and I told her I don't think I really have a "style." For instance, my living/dining rooms have leather seating, glass tables and wood blinds! I think wood floors would complete the "look" for me, whatever that look is. I love colors, but I shy away from busy patterns. My family room contains muted browns, beiges and sage greens, so I added two striped pillows with orange in them, and I can't wait to have a photo I came across in a magazine duplicated into an oil painting -- the photo is of a Japanese landscape with green, red & black -- just the colors I need to give this room a kick! If I had to describe my style, I think it would be Modern, because that's what appeals to me. I love Contemporary looks, the clean lines, the sharp edges, but it always looks cold to me. I love the look of modern kitchens but they always seem dark to me. I would not be opposed to a country kitchen at all as long as I was able to mix some Modern in with it, whether it was the color, appliances or accessories, AND as long as the rest of the house wasn't Country! So it depends on what the room is for, how I want to feel when I'm in that room. But it must have some color, that's for sure. Thanks for letting me express myself!

Anonymous said...

I'd say that my house is a mixture of Norman Rockwell and The Dick Van Dyke Show. I like the warmth and cozy feel I get from color, textures, patterns, and layering. On the other hand I strive to achieve this feel without a hint of clutter. I love the clean lines of the 1960s and I have been collecting retro for many years. It is all in how you "put it together" that makes it work.