I lived with my grandma for most of my adolescence and young adulthood and she always had the most beautifully decorated homes. Her taste was so eclectic and it worked so well. I remember being very proud at how beautifully decorated her home was.
To be honest, I am not sure if it is technically called eclectic, I am very new to the decorating world. Novice at best. But I thought everything she had was a little bit different. One room was classic with beautiful china pieces. The other had beautiful brown zebra-esque type couches with wooden side tables and really thick plush curtains. The foyer was all hardwood floors with antique furniture. It might not sound so pretty on paper, but it all worked so well together and I liked it!
Part of my Grandma’s Lounge and Dining Room
As a younger person I didn’t comprehend the thoughts and feelings behind her home decor. It was much more of a superficial notion to me and adulation of my grandma! I am sure that if a psychologist were to delve into the depths of my mind and look at my taste now, it would be very obvious how my personal decorating style has been influenced.
Back in the day, I didn’t put much value into home decor and what decorating a house meant to me but, as a 39 year old woman – who recently lost all of her worldly possessions, and had to start from scratch – things mean a lot more to me now!
Let’s go a bit farther back!
As Children we don’t have any freedom to decorate a house. Unless you had really cool parents who let you do what you wanted, home decor was pretty much off limits. But, as we become adults, and begin to formulate what we like, we start experimenting in our own spaces, i.e. our bedrooms.
My son is a prime example of that. At only 6 years of age, he has commandeered 2 shelves on my bookcase! At first I allowed it as I thought it was really cute, and I wanted him to feel valued as a member of the household. (If you’ve ever been in my house you will in fact notice a few things here and there that have been added by my son. I think it’s so cute!)
One Of My Etagere Bookcases!
But, the Legos that are currently taking refuge on my beautiful, fancy looking bookcase, are starting to become an eyesore! And, he’s already been warned that his over flowing Legos will be placed somewhere else.
Don’t worry, we are going to make a super cool display box for all of his Legos and I just know he’s going to love building it with me. So be on the look out for a new fun video and blog post. I have never done any sort of DIY before but I am going to give it a go!
Anyway, I digress.
As a teenager I didn’t really care much to decorate my bedroom.
I had a lot of things going on in my life so I suppose decorating was not top on my priority list. And, even though decorating your room as a teenager is a way of self discovery – I had no bloody clue! Plus, in all honesty, I never really spent a lot of time in my room. Mostly I would sit and watch TV in the living room.
University in Manchester
Even at university when I moved into my dorm room, I didn’t put any effort into making it look nice. At one point I put a bunch of post cards with funny sayings on the wall, and then eventually some pictures, but that was it.
I vividly remember my roommates spending quite some time and effort into decorating their own living spaces. I liked the idea and wished I could do the same, but truth be known, I had no idea how or where to start.
Again I put up some pictures, but that was it.
But as I put them up, I realized I loved having those pictures on the wall. And I suppose now, while I think about it, that was probably the first time I actually started to think about what decorating or rather my visual surroundings meant to me.
Back to London
My mom passed away while I was at university and my sister and I found ourselves moving in with one of my aunts for a while. She had a beautiful house with 3 floors. The top floor had 2 rooms and all the kids were a little bit scared to be there as it was a little creepy. Anyway, she decided to decorate that entire floor for for the two of us.
I remember her asking me if I had any preference and what I wanted and I said that I’d like to have green and pink walls. The pink became more purple but it really worked. Later, I did a bit of research and learned that pink and green were very calming colors, and so that was what I wanted.
My time there is a bit hazy as I was grieving from the death of my mother, so I don’t remember if I put anything else on the walls, or any other decor around the room. But as I type, I am starting to forge a picture of how my decorating journey began. It is funny how something like that happens. All the little things that you do growing up can have such an influence on you in later years.
Going it alone!
In my mid 20s I rented a room in someone’s flat (apartment). She became a very good friend of mine. I was free to do what I wanted to my room but the rest of the house was hers. Understandably she had it decorated to her taste and I didn’t have any desire to really add or change anything, even to the room I was renting.
For most of my life I have lived in someone else’s home, and so never really got the opportunity to fully style a home. Nothing was ever really MINE. I was always a visitor holding up time and space until I moved again. So perhaps that is another reason why I never had the true desire to make things look pretty.
Leaving London for California!
When I moved to California to meet my sister and share an apartment with her, I was still very much a novice in the art of decorating a home. We got the bare essentials and that was it. Not much time, effort, or personal touch was put into the apartment, and certainly not into my room. I was almost 30 and didn’t even have a bedframe.
Our second apartment in California was a little better as we put up curtains, and I even bought a really cool credenza from Craigslist. But again I had no idea about anything else. How to decorate or anything. I was like a deer in headlights!
Miami here we come.
The next home that I lived in by myself was in South Beach Florida and I specifically wanted it already furnished so that I didn’t have to buy anything.
It wasn’t until I moved into my now husband’s home that I really started to pay more interest into decorating.
Moving into someone else’s home!
When I met my husband and moved into his house, he of course let me add my own little flair to it.
I put things on the walls, added rugs and curtains and a few other things, but I could never get it to look exactly how I wanted it to look. Maybe that was because of my inexperience, or maybe because the core space and style of the house had already been predetermined. Maybe it was because I was in fact – totally clueless – who knows.
But for all intents and purposes, I “shouldn’t’ have cared about how the house looked because I never really added any value to decorating before. I think it is pretty clear to me now, that I was finally starting to feel at home somewhere. To make my mark. To make something my own.
Me, 8 months pregnant!
As a new wife and mother I was trying to discover the new person I had become. Re-decorating the house and putting my own touch to it made me feel more ‘at home’ there. It would restore some of that independence and identity I felt I had lost entering into a brand new life and home.
For a long time in that house I made it my own – to the best of my ability.
A new house and a place I could finally turn into a home!
If you’ve read “Nightmare in Mold Town! Part 2” You would have read a tiny little bit about how we lost everything we ever owned.
For me, it was of course heartbreaking losing the house and all of our possessions.
Our Living Room
But, one of the most amazing things about losing everything is that you get to start again from the beginning!
Decorating a new home to my taste, shopping for new belongings, new clothes. How cool is that?
Telling you how much fun I have had shopping for new clothes, shoes, bags and makeup is an understatement!
But most importantly, I learned way more about myself and what I liked. I realized I was quite good at all this decorating stuff. I was able to decorate our newly rented home from a blank canvas and I LOVED it!
The more I decorate, the more I love it and the more passionate and creative I feel. It is like I have had this decorating bug waiting under the surface and now that it has been set free – the sky is the limit!
My Bedroom
I am learning so much about myself, who I am as a person, a woman and a mother. Who would have thought that a little thing like a faux Fig Tree would give me so much joy!!!!
I can’t wait to keep adding my mark and making my home a representation of me!
I am on a journey that is of course more than just decorating, but this is a big step in forging my identity and I am excited to see where it takes me!
It’s great how it just came to you when you had a blank canvas. Your bedroom looks lovely.
Thank you so much, Joan! I suppose I needed to see the potential first! 😘
I really enjoyed reading this and seeing your perspective throughout your teenage years and I love your bedroom, it’s gorgeous.
Thanks so much, Belinda! I’m so happy you enjoyed reading it! I love my bedroom, it brings me so much peace when I just sit there quietly looking around! ❤️
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