Over the past few months since starting my Facebook page for this little blog, it has been so fun getting messages, emails and questions from so many of you. One of the questions that I have been asked the most is how I found my own personal decorating style for our home. And to be honest, I had to think about it a little bit. For me, it’s something that happened naturally, but I definitely HAVE a method, I had just never thought of it before the questions from all of you were asked to me. So after looking back and searching through old idea books, Pinterest and blog posts, here is what I’ve come up with! My hope in sharing this is that if you are struggling with finding your decorating style that this can be a place for you to have a jump start to making your home a beautiful, one-of-a-kind, joyful place for you and your family to enjoy.

1. Take a look at what you already have

Stand in each of the rooms in your house and look around. What do your rooms feel like? What do they say about you? Does what’s in your home make you happy or feel comfortable? Sometimes, the things we have decorated with in our homes are things we like or think are pretty, they just need to be decluttered or rearranged to give the rooms a facelift or add some change. Other times, we may find ourselves giving a stiff upper lip curl to the things hanging on our walls or sitting on the shelves. If what you have in your home doesn’t make you smile, chances are it shouldn’t be there. Or it just needs to be painted a different color 🙂

Grab a box and start going through things. Pack away things you don’t like and would like to give away or try and sell, place things that you may want to try and give a DIY facelift to and keep out the things that you want to keep using. Sifting through what you have is the BEST place to start when redecorating your home, especially when on a budget.

2. Grab your Pinterest account and go crazy!

That’s right, I just gave you permission 🙂 Make separate boards for each of your rooms or holidays you are wanting to decorate for and start picking out things you like. As time goes on, certain trends, colors, themes and styles will emerge and it will be so much easier to see what you are drawn to. While we were building our house, I did this and I was blown away at how easy it was for me to pick out what I wanted and how I wanted our home to feel. It made decorating and dreaming about our home fun! This is something that can’t be rushed, so take your time finding images and how-to’s that make you smile. Finding a few simple commonalities or accent pieces will make your decorating that much less complicated.

3. Be old fashioned – get a binder and tear out pictures that you like

Not a Pinterest junkie? Get a binder full of clear envelope dividers and start tearing. For the styles I’m drawn to, Southern Living, Better Homes and Gardens and vintage cook books were the things that I went to to first to get ideas. Like Pinterest, similar trends will come out of the wood work and you will be able to clearly see what style you like. I still have my binder from when we first started dreaming about our farmhouse and it has been so fun to go back through it and see what we chose for our home.

4. Get your husband and kids involved

Something that we ladies don’t often think about when decorating is asking for our husbands opinion or thinking if it will make our kids happy, too. As much as we usually make the décor decisions, it’s important to ask if it makes them feel like home, too. Even ask your husband his opinion on basic color schemes and themes. For the kids, incorporating decorative baskets for their toys, fun child-friendly holiday décor and furniture that is comfortable for them is key to making them feel at home. My girls LOVE our seasonal tree that we change ornaments and lights out for and decorations that sparkle. Decorating our home can bring so much joy and comfort to our families, involve them, too!

5. Take samples and go shopping

After finding out general ideas of what you like, pick up a few fabric swatches, paint samples and your Pinterest account or binder and go shopping. Hit up stores like Hobby Lobby, Home Goods, local décor stores, antique stores, Target and Wal-Mart and find things that fit your newly recognized style. There is something about the feeling you get when you find “that” piece. For my house, I have three pieces that I feel set the tone for the style of my house: my dining room lantern chandelier, the antique barn pantry door and the cow bust (Bernice) on my hood above the stove. Find that piece that makes your heart pitter patter and get all over it!

6. Find different blog sites you love and keep getting ideas

As seasons and trends change, it’s easy to allow your own personal decorating style to grow stagnant. Following other blogs whose style you connect with helps keep your decorative juices flowing and gives you ideas on how to up-cycle what you already have. It’s ok for your style to change and evolve over time, just ALWAYS make sure that you don’t choose something for your home just because it is “in style,” because, “in style” won’t always make you happy or feel like home.

What makes your heart happy will be the only thing that makes you feel that way. At home.