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Have you ever walked into someone’s home and realized that their home décor actually does reflect them? Their personality? Their quirky habits? Their comfortableness? For many of us out home is our safe, comfy place where we can leave our outside world troubles at the doorstep and walk into a space that we’ve created to reflect us.

My mom loved real estate, and she loved design and décor. So much so that almost every weekend when I was a child our Saturday outing was actually going and touring open houses. We went to open houses in our neighborhood, in the neighborhood next to us, across town, you get the picture. My mom was always looking at how people decorated, how their houses were arranged. She took these ideas into every new home she was in, having my dad knock down walls, build other, paint, wall paper, and much more.

What struck me though was how some houses were decorated in what I call flavor of the year décor and design. They looked beautiful, but told you nothing about who actually lived in the house beyond the errant photograph that was in a décor appropriate frame. Then there were the other houses, the ones that I found most interesting. It was as if every piece of art, stick of furniture, mirror on the wall was carefully chosen because it was something the owners loved and wanted to surround themselves with. Those houses were a true reflection of their owners, and you felt you got a glimpse into their rich lives when you went through them. It’s that kind of house I want to live in, don’t you?

So here are a few tips to making sure your house reflects you.

Figure Out What Your Actually Like

Okay, so this may sound self evident, but, it’s a little trickier than you would think at first glance. A lot of times we pick up décor and design tips from magazines, the latest trend and just the culture in general. It’s how avocado green and pukie yellow ended up dominating the houses in the 70s. I mean they actually manufactures refrigerators and ovens in those colors. Make sure you that you are responding on some level to everything you want to bring into your home. Sometimes this is a little difficult because of money challenges, but even with hand me down furniture, we can still put a table runner that makes our heart happy on the family table, or put the funky art we bought for almost nothing at an estate sale on the wall that makes us smile every time we look at it. Basically, make sure you pay attention to how your heart feels when you’re on you design and décor journey, and try to only add things to your home that make your heart smile.

Don’t Follow Trends Unless Your Really, Really Like Them

This is a bit difficult because we are absorbers of culture and we really do tend to lean towards what we’ve taken in. It’s actually a scientific fact that we do this, check out and article about it here.  I mean really, look at the Stanley cup thing that’s going on. A bulky cup, that tips over easily and spills everywhere is the go to it item to have that’s causing people to rush into Target to get the Valentines edition. If I could figure out to do a side eye emoji here I would. No shade to you if you really love your Stanley mug, but my question to you would be do YOU really like your Stanley mug?  Anyway, that’s a little bit of  walk around the neighborhood to say this, each of us needs to figure out whether or not we’re decorating because of a trend we’ve absorbed and assume we like, as opposed to actually liking it. I go back to the avocado green and pukie yellow because even though I’m pretty sure not everyone liked it who decorated with it, there were actually people who did like it.

Always Choose What Makes You Happy

That warm, happy feeling when you see that creepy, cute frog trinket? Or, that unusual piece chip and dip dish that you find in a small shop while you’re on vacation and you know you can’t live without it? Those are the feelings you should be paying attention to when you’re decorating your home, or wherever space you call home. Sometimes you’ll get that feeling when you see the perfect cat painting, or even a great photo or your own cats. Turn that into a canvas print. Hang it on the wall. It will make you smile pretty much every time you walk past it.

Don’t Be Embarrassed

Let’s face it, much of the reason why we don’t follow that happy feeling when choosing home decor items is because it make us a little bit vulnerable. We know, there’s always going to be that person in our lives whether it be friend or family who’s a bit of a, should I say blurter? Who will give you their opinion on your home and your home décor and design even if you didn’t ask for it.

I have a shower curtain that I bought from World Market when I first moved into my home. I love it, it’s multicolored and makes me happy every time I go into the bathroom, which at this age and stage is more than I’d like to admit. 😊 Anyway, I have a dear friend who is a blurter, and is amazing at home decorating and the first thing she said when she saw the shower curtain was that it didn’t match the bathroom rug. I didn’t say anything because I know her words come from a good space, but I did wonder for quite awhile if she was right. I would actually go into my bathroom and make up reasons why they did match up, and they do in general color scheme if not style. Id di this for while before I realized, it didn’t make any real difference whether they did or not. It’s my bathroom, I love the shower curtain and the rug, and that’s all there is to it.

We need to own our own tastes and preferences and as long as we’re not being offensive to guests – that’s a whole other topic – there’s no reason why our homes shouldn’t reflect who we are. After all they really are a reflection of ourselves. Let’s make sure we surround ourselves with those items that will stand the test of time in making us happy no matter what anyone else thinks.