My Favorite Decorating Advice Ever

I was looking at two of my favorite magazines the other day...

I mean, Country Living...what more can you say? The neutrals, the whites, the fabulous chippy furniture on every page. LOVE it.

But HGTV? Oh those colors! Bold, bright...I could never get enough.

Huh?

I've always known I have problems defining my "look." I have this split decorating personality and every time I redo a room, I teter between rustic, neutral and white, or grabbing my aqua and watermelon spray paint and going to town. I feel like the latter is more me, but man, when I hit an antique store, or see my Country Living magazine, I fall in love with that look all over again.

The good news is, these days, there are very few rules. My philosophy is if you love it, do it. If that means pairing an old vintage desk with a bright turquoise chair, go right ahead. I'll support you 100%.

The other good news is, there is a great piece of advice out there, aimed especially at people like myself: those who are torn between different looks (and also have a slight major obsession with switching things up a bit). I first heard it from my boyfriend favorite decorator, Nake Berkus. I have learned from him, that I should buy all my 'big' purchases in neutrals, that way I can switch up the little stuff when I want, and not be tied down to one particular look. I didn't always do this. When we first moved into our house, I fully embraced my love of color, and went bold everywhere. Red kitchen. Yellow family room. Blue couch. Green curtains. Patterned rugs in every room. There was a looottt of stuff going on. Fast forward a few years, and I hated it all. I felt stuck, since I couldn't change my big (aka most expensive) purchases at the time. Try brightening a dining room with a rug that's deep red, dark gold, green, and black. It ain't easy.

Since then, (and learning this tip from Nate) we went the slipcover route with our couches - we chose beige. We have seagrass and sisal rugs everywhere, and the walls are pretty safe. But safe doesn't have to equal boring, and this is what I've been learning. That's where the accessorizing comes in. I bring in the color in my pillows and lamps, mirrors and throws. Right now, my family room is Sherwin Williams Sea Salt, a gorgeous chameleon color that changes throughout the day from blue gray to blue green. And at the moment, I love pairing a bit of red in there, in my pillows, etc. I'm also playing with this army-ish green that I'm loving at the moment. But come summertime, I might want to swap coral for the red. Or maybe orange? Or maybe I'll go through one of those Country Living phases and want white everywhere. Not a problem, since the only red and green in there is in a pillow or two, and maybe a couple picture frames. It's all good. My split decorating personality will be happy with just a little bit of switching up, and even better, just a little bit of cash-o-la.

And as for the Sea Salt walls? I can't picture ever tiring of this delicious color. I've been a blue person my entire life - even as a kid, I had a blue room;). I love every shade and always have. I have even painted the backs of my bookcases a dark grey blue. While I love the idea of going neutral and playing up accessories, if you know you have always been a fan of a certain color, I say embrace it and get your color on! It can even sometimes act as your neutral, which is how I feel about it in my space.

I am so glad I've learned this piece of decorating advice from Nate, because knowing me, I'll be ready for some sort of switcheroo in no time, and since my big purchases are all neutral, I won't break the bank when the day comes;)

Goodness I love that man.