Astrid, I love those inspiration pictures. So clean BUT comfortable, not stark at all. I could see curling up in a chair with a good book and feeling at home. Just gorgeous and clean.
My personal style and my home decor preferences developed hand in hand, I think. And part of that reason is that around the time I was reading YLF, I had recently graduated from college. However, I lived at home with my parents for several years, so while I was starting to explore and then hone my wardrobe, ideas about how I wanted my own physical space to look were marinating in my mind for years before I finally moved out on my own. By that time I knew just how I wanted my tiny apartment to be decorated, and I loved it.
My home style and my wardrobe style are similar, but there are differences. For example, I have a lot of chocolate brown wood and suede furniture in my home - not a color that I wear very often. Some of the bright colors in my home - spiced orange, apple green, pale turquoise - are lighter and less saturated or rich than the colors I typically wear.
But I still would bet that you could step into my home and see how my preferences for decor translate into what I wear. I try to bring light in where I can - small mirrors on the walls, flameless candles that I can turn on with the click of a button, fabric-covered lamps that give out a soft and warm light. You'll see my love for patterns (though they tend to be more organic than geometric) and there is definitely a large dollop of whimsy in what I accessorize with. The colors are bright and cheerful. I like to display knicknacks that I find beautiful or that are sentimental, but I've learned to be more sparse and choosy in what I display. I want my belongings to look like they harmonize and belong together, but I don't want them to look stiff or merely display-like. I actually use those teacups, the Gurgle Pot, the high-heel-shaped tape dispenser, and those Vera Bradley pencils over my desk. I reference those cookbooks that flank the picture frames in my dining room. I try to build in little alcoves for some of my prettier hardcover books - on my desk, under the TV, on a small shelf behind the couch with the curly bamboo plants on the top shelf. I want my space to look approachable and lived-in, but cultured and not messy or stuffed to the brim. It's kind of a careful, organized clutter, if that makes sense!
Anyway, thanks for letting me think out loud about this. Perhaps I'll have to blog about this topic one of these days.
