apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

my home philosophy is that homes are meant to be lived in, and possessions are just "things" even when expensive. I never buy anything I don't intend for people to use. I think it's silly. I grew up in a home in which none of the kids could sit in the living room because that's where all the "good" (read: expensive) stuff was lol . I use my good stuff daily, and teach our son how to respect our home and our belongings...he's two years old and hasn't broken any china yet...meanwhile Dad has chipped three plates lol

I grew up in a home where the good stuff was used too, even if on occasion with everyday stuff well, every day so if it gets chipped, no biggie but we were all taught to respect everything and take care of it, no matter expensive or not.

But in my own apt, my philosophy is first off develop a style that is YOU and thus the things you LOVE and then look at your space critically and place items so they have cohesion and not appear haphazard/cluttered but yet feels comfortable and easy to be in, read, lived in.

And then when at night or on dark gloomy days, turn on some lights so the place feels welcoming, nothing worse than a well kept up home but it feels cold and uninviting due to the lack of light on a gloomy day.

Similar to abc123, my home is very much lived-in. We use our good plates everyday and eat at the dining room table. Our space is also very child friendly. My daughter's books are in the livingroom next to ours on the bookshelf, her toys are also there in baskets on the floor. I want my home to be warm and friendly, not precious and staged.

My home philosophy is to be flexible and open to change. I want my home to be warm and inviting at the same time I'm a cheapskate - I never spend beyond my means, and furniture and other possessions are not the most important things in my life, they're just things which can be changed/moved every so often. I also use new paint to refresh the look of my home maybe once every 3 or 4 years and it really brightens things up. Some of the best things I own are thrift stores finds and I periodically take a mental inventory to decide what needs to be given away to reduce clutter and to make way for new decor. And I hope that what I give away will be someone else's treasure for awhile too.

Our home philosophy is transitional. We own all the things we need, but don't love all the things we own. Knowing that in a few years we might have a very large move, we purchase only things we really love. Knowing that the less we buy for this place the more we have to purchase a home in the future keeps our spending low. Finally I like things to have character as our dorm-apartment completely lacks any.

My husband and I just bought a home (in escrow), so I guess you could say my philosophy is just beginning to take form in terms of 'real' as opposed to college style furniture and such things (much like the previous comment).

As an aside... where o where can I find this dining room table? It is incredibly beautiful.

Good god I love that table!

I agree with not having anything that you don't actually use - especially furniture wise. It's pretty much ridiculous.

I just want to decorate my home to make me feel comfortable and happy (as well as the fiance) - if I decorated it how anyone else I can think of who might visit would have, I would constantly be unhappy.

i read every design blog and magazine out there but my philosophy is then to forget everything that i just read. there are a million trends that i love and featured home that i love and love to look at but the best compliment i can receive is when someone walks into my house and says "your home is so you!"

Beautiful table. Anyone know where from?