Finding Style

[MamaM]

I realized what my problem was- I had too much of nothing and not enough of cohesive and something special. I had a french tray, with beach shells, an organic burlap lampshade, generic pictures, including old Hollywoood and everybody had that picture at some point. Rid myself of the hot pink too. I love hot pink but realized I can't live with it, and colors of every sort. My "ecclectic" look wasn't working. I don't like matchy matchy either but I finally worked out of the new curtains I purchased and I can say, the house looks more pulled together and chic. I was going to do the whole beachy vibe thing but I wasn't working with the Texas Country style of the home. Sorta of a simple down country home. I am moving into a rust, mellow yellow, pop of turquoise and red colors. Think Modern Country Chic- stripped down, no chotskies, no clutter, larger art with some metals and neutrals (black/brown furniture) to ground everything. I am REALLY liking this. My style and the feeling I wanted to invoke was always there. I just had to push past the clutter and crazy mix of everything. I still love the beach and I will save that style for when I find that little cottage by the water. :cool:

[Zoebird]

That's cool.

I finally was able to make my house work when I embraced the beige! The walls are a light beige (rice cake). The floors are beige. And, the curtains (provided) are creamy-beige. I prefer a white-white-white palate. LOL I was frustrated for so long!

Then, I embraced the beige! I decided that I could still do tone-on-tone. . . it would just be variations on beige. I have wood, metal (silver/gunmetal color), and beige. There are some pops of grass green and sea-torquoise. I have drift wood and mirrors. I have a chalk board, I'm going to put it up in our kitchen (it's a found, framed calk board!).

Everyone walks in and tells me how open, calm, and comfortable it is. How it looks so lovely and stylish. LOL I laugh because, honestly, I would never go for this color palate. But, hey, it's working. :) And, I don't have to make expensive changes.

[SteveinMN]

I never went for "stylish" (well, nothing "trendy") but I wanted to do something in this mid-70s ranch to better reflect my style. The same color paint throughout the house, except for the master bedroom, tying together the avocado-colored bathroom tile with the dark wood in the rest of the house. The same carpet throughout the house, except for the master bedroom (and the kitchen). Moved a couple of wall cabinets and such to open things up. And, at 1100 square feet, the place looks so much bigger than other, larger houses I've seen. It looks cohesive -- though the master bedroom looks different because I wanted it to be different -- a calmer oasis in the house. I still don't like the dark wood. But it's better-integrated so it's not as jarring to the eye as it used to be. It just takes a single overarching goal and a willingness to think about how you get to there from where you are.