Pulling Your Home Together When You're Not a Stylist

As a newly wed in a small home, I had my house pretty much decked out to the nines. It wasn't so hard to decorate a small space with no kids and therefore, no toys. Then last year when we moved from a small house to one that was literally twice as big, I panicked a bit once the boxes were unpacked and I realized my furniture didn't come close to filling the space. And then once I had furniture that did, it just looked cold and uninviting. Over the past 10 months my home has finally started coming together, but I definitely had some help! I want to talk to you about two great resources for styling, organizing, and decorating your home! (PS - The library is SUCH a great resource if you don't want to have them permanently.)

1. Homebody by Joanna Gaines

This book is really not just about pretty pictures, even though it definitely has the feel of a coffee table book. Jo has a lot of insight into putting a room together and layering pieces. One of my favorite things is how she constantly comes back to the point that it isn't just about looking good, but that the room should tell the story of the people who live there. It's pretty inspiring reading the words on the page, because it does make it feel doable. Using your own knick-knacks, photos, mementos, and keepsakes keeps you from running out and buying a bunch on on trend decor to make the Pinterest perfect house. Before her days on HGTV she posted a lot on her blog. Here is one of my favorite articles on decorating a mantle. Because of her, with my own fireplace mantle, shelves, and bookcases I have started looking at color, height, and layering a lot differently!


2. Syled by Emily Henderson

This book was one I picked up from my local library, and I'm so glad I did. It was similar to Homebody in that it encouraged building a space that makes sense for you and your family. It was probably even more hands on and full of usable tips than Joanna's book. There is even a style quiz for you to figure out what your most prominent style love is! But because I love y'all, here's the link to take it online! The book is filled with pretty spaces, kitschy spaces, unique spaces.... it's really inspiring! It actually inspired me to reorganize the bottom of my cube shelving that I was using for toys and it looks SO much better now. The toys on the bottom half don't overwhelm the pretty top half quite as much anymore.

One of the biggest takeaways from both books is to start removing clutter. This is NOT a strength of mine, but it is something I've been thinking a lot about recently! I'm hoping to make some good changes over the next year, especially as we welcome a new little one NEXT MONTH. EEK!

xoxo, Love.Haight