It’s been a long time since I have shared a home decor post. The main reason for this is that I stopped purchasing things for our home for a while. I go through phases when I am really inspired but sometimes the “home decor budget” just isn’t there. It’s always been my opinion that decorating a house should be a process. This can be hard for me because I want it to be perfect right away. But it really is worth taking your time to get it right. When I shop for my home I want to make sure that I really love the piece. I prefer to buy quality pieces that will be able to transition for different design themes, seasons and even a different house down the road.

After this post where I shared a few photos of my home a few people reached out wanting to know “how to shop for your home”. I’ll give you a little back ground on how we ended up here and with this house. I graduated from college a year before Brian. During that year my parents graciously let me move back home to save up money for our first place. When we got married we moved into a townhouse that was a great first place, but it wasn’t our design esthetic. The walls were beige, the cabinets were dark brown and the granite was earth tones. I prefer cool tones so when it came time to buy furniture I purchased things that not only worked with the beige in our townhouse, but things that would work for a future home with grey tones.

Pottery Barn was my top choice for our large furniture pieces. I love the style of their pieces and find the price point to be reasonable for the quality. Since I was buying furniture with the thought of living in a different home in the future, my idea was to buy my main pieces (sofas, chairs, etc.) in a neutral color that would work in any room. I purchased a sectional, loveseat and dining room chairs all in the same microsuede fabric so that no matter which room they ended up in, everything would coordinate.

In our townhouse, the loveseat was in the family room not far from the breakfast nook, with the sectional upstairs in the game room. In our current house, the sectional lives in the great room with an adjacent open dining room. Using the same material made it so easy to transition.

Once you have a strong base, you can come in with accessories, smaller accent furniture and decor to add personality to your home. My design style would probably be considered traditional. I love a layered look with pieces that feel like they have been collected over time. There is an obvious appreciation for Chinoiserie throughout my home. You can see this in accents like my diptych panels, garden stools and my ever-growing ginger jar collection.

Decorating a home is a process. The first step is identifying your design style and purchasing the larger, necessary pieces that will be the base. This is where I recommend investing your money. Once you have a solid foundation then you can start to layer in the color and design. I try not to spend a lot on the accent pieces since I like to be able to change them out regularly.

Now that I have purchased all of the large pieces I needed, I am in the decorating phase. The next things on my list are more rugs to ground all of the different spaces. I am also fabric shopping for curtains which help tie all of the rooms together. Brian and I also love to collect art and are constantly looking for pieces that really speak to us.

I will share a separate post with some of my favorite places to shop for unique decor pieces. It takes time to collect all of the little personal touches. It is always my intention to love every piece that I bring into my home. I want things to have a memory or represent our personalities. After all, your home is a representation of who you are so it should be an extension of the things you love. xo Bryn