back in september i had the absolute pleasure of attending the
decorate book signing & speaking event at anthropologie.
holly becker, author of the book and blogger of one of my favorite reads
decor8, was such a delight to not only meet, but also listen to her speak on her tips for how to start decorating in your own home. below are the tips she shared (and the notes i took during the event) as well as photos from the event. enjoy!
1.
be your own client. sit down ask yourself the questions a designer would ask. make a list. holly shared the sentiment that, "you want a home to radiate you. the one place to express yourself and go all out. exercise your creativity."
2.
gather from different sources. create an inspiration board
throughout her talk, holly and her pal leslie (pictured), from the blog
a creative mint, built the gorgeous mood board (pictured above) for the group. one of my favorite take-aways from creating a mood board or book of inspiration is to not only gather the pictures and sources, but then to actually analyze them. ask yourself, "what do i like about this photo?" and "why am i drawn to it?" it might be
after asking those questions you realize that you keep picking out photos with white dining room tables or mismatched chairs or pink walls. it also makes the inspiration so much easier. instead of worrying about how to "get the look" you know
what about the look you liked and
that is much easier to "re-create" if you will.
3.
budget. enough said.
4.
draw a floorplan. (i love doing this! so fun to map it all out and re-arrange little pieces of furniture on paper.)
5.
find a jumping off point. find something you have a connection with and jump off!
this is a topic she spent some time going into. basically, go for what you love.
6.
set deadlines. (i could use some help with this one.)
7.
track your progress. it's fun to celebrate the wins! holly said something along this line, "if you get your home in order, you will be in order when you go into the world." i couldn't agree more. a happy home makes for a happy soul.
8. lastly,
mini mood boards. break it down in minature. for this one, leslie talked about taking all the different scraps or photos of inspiration and just paper clipping or taping them in a little journal. then you can take it with you shopping or just page through for inspiration. i picked up the
sweet briar notebooks from anthropologie to do just that.
a big thank you to holly for sharing her book, and to holly and leslie for their words, creativity, and time as well as the st. louis park anthropologie for graciously hosting. you always make me feel like i am in my home away from home and that night was even more special. :)
until next time,
S
