eclectic cottage contemporary

That, in a nutshell is how I describe my decorating style. Eclectic, cottage, and contemporary. Doing the design inspiration board was an enlightening and fun process. Interestingly enough, I found a consistentency with what I liked two years ago and what Iam drawn to now. In late spring of 2006, I began pulling pages out of magazines that depicted spaces I could see Chris and I living in. We had just started our house search, and as a first time home buyer, I was ready to express my creativity. By April we had found it. This house was the perfect combo: lots of space, just the right amount of updating needed, and a great price. So, I divided a binder into each room to be decorated, drew preliminary floor plans on graph paper and put my precious magazine cut outs into platstic sleeves. Cozy, cool, and put together living spaces dominated all of my picks. I started noticing the same elements popping up: earthy texture, warm neutrals, mixes of aqua, chocolate and pumpkin hues, white trim, classic furniture and modern art, interesting light fixtures and fabric with great patterns. Oh, and bamboo blinds. So, I set to work picking my paint colors, and Chris and I painted the house before we moved in... big mistake. While the palette was tight and looked great on 2x3 swatches, I could never have conceived of how the light would change throughout the day in each space, and how we would ultimately end up using each room. In short, a month after we moved in, I repainted four of our seven rooms and am still comtemplating what color to repaint the master bedroom. (New home buyers take note here.) Most of the inspiration rooms from my binder are still what I aspire to create. These dreams do not come true overnight, especially if you are on a budget. I do it in stages, which is good because some little things change, and it is easy to get exhausted if all you ever think about is your project list. Take a look at these photos of my design board to get a better sense for my personal aesthetic and let me know how it relates to yours. I really encourage all of you to embark on the design board or binder idea; homeowners and apartment dwellers alike. In the long run, it will help you not only define your decorating style, but save you the expense of purchasing items that might be a good deal, but don't actually say "home" to you.