Inspiration: Home Design

from pinterest

This year marked three years of living in San Francisco, and it's been the longest time I've spent in the same apartment. Someone recently asked my husband and me if we were indeed still in the same spot, and we said, "yea, same place, but we did just rearrange our living room furniture, so it feels kinda new!" It really is the little things, sometimes. 

I've loved interior design since I was a kid but also had limited ways in practicing it. A few throw pillows here, an accent wall there - generally things a young adult on a tight budget would do. (This post on home decor to get rid of by your 30s actually came out on my 30th birthday, and my husband and I had a laugh reading it.) Being a little more settled now has allowed us to spend our time and effort on building a home, albeit in the confines of a city apartment that we probably don't spend enough time in. All the more reason to have it look like we want it to (within reason), so that we can fully appreciate times when we can be homebodies.

Our apartment is pretty open-plan, so you can walk in and see most of the place right away. Originally we floated the couch to create more of an entry-way, but it also closed off the room a bit. By switching up the positions of the couch and a chair/ottoman that had been against the wall, we changed the flow of the room. I know, deep thoughts, right? I can't point to one single photo that led me to consider this layout, but that's not how inspiration needs to work, at least not on me. Here, a few rooms that speak to my influences...

from pinterest

I like the patterns and layers in the living room above and how cozy it seems. Natural elements like wood are sturdy and timeless, also qualities I value in a home. We decided to get real wood furniture, and it hasn't done us wrong. Plus, I've been collecting patterned textiles from past travels, and travel is something I value in life. (I will never forget the night my dad helped me 'upholster' my dining chairs by stapling some printed fabric I'd bought in Nairobi two years earlier (and lugged from Kenya to NJ to DC to CA) onto my antique shop mahogany chairs. The chairs and fabric have found their home and that is in my kitchen.) We also use other textiles, from Central America and from Phish concerts, around the apartment.

from pinterest

A big part of me admires clean minimalist spaces like the one above even though I know I couldn't maintain one. What I like about the room above is the natural light and airy feeling. It's also got a nice mix of mid-century wooden pieces and comfortable looking upholstery. We have a very similar mirror in our place, but it hangs by the front door so I can check if I have anything in my teeth before going out in public. Form and function, ladies and gentleman.

from sfgirlbybay

Since moving into this apartment I've been hoarding plants. In previous apartments I would have one or two, but now they line our windowsill, sit on tables, and as of this summer, hang in front of the windows:  

a personal photo!

That purple guy above came from some friends' cuttings that we brought home and rooted last summer; he grew so big we decided he should just hang like so. Most of the other plants I bought at hardware and gardening stores, but a couple succulents I did propagate myself (took way longer than I thought it would, though); one succulent is even from my wedding two years ago. Plants make a HUGE difference and are one of my favorite 'accessories' for a room. I would love something large and dramatic like a fiddle leaf fig, but I definitely don't have room for that. 

So it's probably evident my decor choices come from all over. One thing I never wanted to do was to buy furniture as a full set or all from one store/designer. I'm sure at one point this was the trendy/accepted thing to do, just as blogs now show a lot of the same trends in home decor. It could be much easier to just rip off an existing image completely, but I want my place to look like a home, not a showroom or catalog or even a basic blog. As they say on The Financial Diet, "You should never envy someone who could just fill their apartment with expensive pieces, because anyone can do that." (I still envy the Hearsts a little, though.)

As much as I love reading decor and design blogs, I think the biggest takeaway for me is to just enjoy them and be inspired by them in general, but to design with your own place specifically in mind. After all, it's your home, you have to live in it.