A few days ago Astrid started this post on the forum about home decor and her move toward minimalism, which got me thinking about how my own style journey has developed hand in hand with my interior-design-in-an-apartment-on-a-budget style. Here is the original thread:

http://youlookfab.com/welookfa.....minimalism

My response was long enough that I decided I wanted to preserve it in my blog for posterity:

"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!"

I've included a couple detail shots of my favorite alcoves at home that I think illustrates my point. Based on my clothing style, I think you'll see me in the details here.

#1: My desk, with colorful glass items up on top, and a carefully arranged miscellaneous collection of teacups, candles, frames, boxes, patterned pencils, a tape dispenser shaped like a bright red high heeled Mary Jane, and other doodads that I decided I'd most enjoy looking at while typing. My Griffin and Sabine books are on the bottom shelf to the right of my monitor. Just out of the right hand frame of my photo on the floor by my desk is a tall glass vase filled with pebbles and tall twisted wicker branches. When I look to the right of my desk I see our large floor length windows overlooking the courtyard and this small mirror with a tea candle sconce.

#2: My reading nook behind the couch (the short bookcase houses some of my collection) with my sister's and grandmother's artwork on the wall. Out in the hallway across from our bedroom we have two tall bookshelves housing most of my collection, flanked by picture frames or little objects. My favorite: a framed, letter pressed "birthday card" from my sister (I blurred my last name on purpose) and in front, dueling action figures. We have my Jane Austen, quill in hand, fending off B's Penny Arcade action figure that I will call the "FF2K: Pulp" figure (he has another official, ruder name that a bit of Googling easily reveals.) I also tucked away some colorful boxes and a bowl with nice hardcover books under our TV in the entertainment unit.

You can see a larger view of some of the rooms in our home here, shortly after we had just unpacked. It still looks pretty similar today, with the addition of some new furniture (including a better, bigger couch that is still chocolate brown suede.)

http://pencilskirtlife.lookfab.....-new-space