Blogging... Our Home Decor Style And How It Rarely Changes

We loved Rebecca's post yesterday on What Makes You Smile In Your Home. We have plenty that makes us smile but we started thinking about how things in our home rarely change. We've been here for almost three years and haven't changed much (except a roommate). We are definitely the type of personality that loves wearing the same type of clothing every day (to clarify; same type, not same clothes). We have also noticed that we aren't alone in that category. Many people in the public eye never stray from a uniform. Take Michael Kors for instance. Same black jacket every single week on Project Runway. While we welcome change in our lives we started to wonder, is it important for our apartment decor to change with our lives?

Our look is definitely an eclectic mix consisting of vintage finds. To make our decor choices even more charming, lighting has always taken on a personality of its own in our space. Whether it be the actual lights that we have had since day one or the moody, soft lighting we love to create.

These two yellow stools are just a few of the many things that we've always had in our apartment. We can't imagine parting with them (not only are they giving off the vintage vibe we love, they're colorful and scored at a thrift store). Plus they're perfect for seating extra guests when we have a big group over for dinner.

We have four of these vintage chairs, all painted robin's egg blue. We can't imagine if we ever moved, not wanting to keep them this fun and chic color.

Since we love our eclectic, vintage style (and can't imagine changing our ways) does that matter? We always have been a creature of habit but if we love our style and decor, is it okay to keep it the same? Does your apartment "wear a uniform" like ours or is it always changing?

Related Home Decor Posts

Comments (12)

I think the key is knowing whether your decor is consistent because it remains relevant to your life, or whether it is something you're clinging to out of fear or worry. I mean, it seems that the real question becomes whether your relationship to the things in your home is healthy. If your home is a place you love to be, where you are both comfortable exactly as you are and safe to explore who you want to become, then why would you change it?

Lizzapearl, extremely well stated.

I completely redesigned my home over the past 12 months and it was an overdue change [2 years post-divorce, 15 years post-college, 6 years post-relocation to another state]. I made styling choices that reflect my matured taste and different priorities. For example, I sold grandma's dining table with two leaves. It seated 12, but 99% of the time, I only need to seat 2. I pared down to a pedestal table for 4 and it is one of the top-5 best decisions I've made.

Somone made a comment on a bedding post that one's style choice would be a flash-in-the-pan from one year to the next. When you're 20, that may be true. Now that I'm 40 my tastes tend to be more stable and I'm making purchases that I hope will be with me for several decades or more.

Changing your home style every year would be slavery to design trends and fads, and a reflection of poor judgement about one's own taste.

I think it all boils down to a tasty, "Know thyself and to thine own self be true".

Kors wears the same outfit for continuity, not because it's his entire wardrobe.

But do you have an eclectic vintage style because you want to? Or are you hanging on to old stuff because it's what you can afford and you might as go on with it?

If you won the lottery, would you stick with all your old favorites? While I wouldn't run amok at Restoration Hardware, I know I've got things that I've hung on to because I can't afford to replace them.

Who you are at 28 isn't always the person you are at 43.

I don't think that just because you don't change anything, it means you're stuck in a rut. You like it, keep it the way it is. Don't clog a lot of landfills because you feel you 'should' change something, or because of a trend. Of course it's ok to keep it the same!

I'm still transitioning from filling the list of "Things I Need but Don't Have" to buying things that really fit my style. My tastes have stayed essentially the same since HS, though, so it's easier than it might be. Thankfully, my Victorian writing desk fits just fine with my clean-lined couch and penchant for Asian stools.

I think as long as you're keeping things because you love them, you're fine. I hope to die with that desk and chair still in my home because they're beautiful and make me happy. I like to update accessories on occasion but the essential character of my home stays the same.

I was stunned to hear that a couple I knew bought all new stuff when they bought a new home -- not because none of their previous belongings fit/worked in their new home, but because she said, "isn't that just when you do when get a aother home?" and althought it was formed at a question it was clearly a statement about what she thought was fact. "Everyone does it, that's just how it's done."

everything looks better with a kitty on it.

Have to admit, too, that I am getting a little fed up with the "I found it in a thrift store so it must be great" mentality. But I do love those stools.

I think the fact that they are still with you speaks to their multi-function, their flexibility. But guess what? You can buy stuff that does that in new furniture stores, too! ;)

I'm 45 and still have many things I got right out of college. What's gone by the wayside are the cheap "filler" furnishings -- the particleboard bookshelves, the crappy make-do couch, etc. I replaced them with better pieces as I was able to. But the antique Shaker chair (my first "real" antiques purchase), the textiles I bought in Central America, the paintings by friends, my grandmother's china -- all those things are still here. They're what make it "home."

I think a truly great home has heirloom quality pieces in it. I love it when you enter a home and it looks like they've spent years collecting pieces and building a look that suits them. It actually really bothers me when I see a place that looks like it was furnished in a single shopping spree.