How To Take Your Home Decor to the Next Level

Our homes are our personal space, our safe haven at the end of a long hard day. I think we can all agree that the days have seems extra hard lately. We try to put a lot of attention into the way our home looks and feels but sometimes life just gets real. This isn’t a post about styling tips or latest trends. It’s about how to create your feeling and story of home no matter what style you like.

I still remember my first home. I was so proud to be grown up and living on my own… a little scared but proud. I wanted to decorate that place like the cover of Better Homes & Gardens! I wanted my home to be welcoming, on trend, and of course clutter free! I would go out and get the cutest throw pillows, wall art, and set the table so it looked like it was already for the next big meal that I likely wasn’t going to cook. But it looked good and that’s what mattered… then.

Fast forward several years, I’m married and have a baby! Things changed. Oh I still thought our home could be “picture perfect” just like the Pinterest posts I saved, but any parent knows, that is just not the reality of it. I would struggle to find my next style for our home. I still went out and bought those cute little wall sayings, those seasonal throw pillows, and I still set and decorated the table as if a holiday dinner was up and coming. But… I struggled.

First of all, I really didn’t know what my style was. I started doing DIY projects around the house to fix it up and quite frankly, I had no idea what I was doing. To me, it looked good enough and I was working so hard to create a safe and cozy home for my family.

Years later, I realized that all that store-bought decor wasn’t holding up and my style was changing. Those items were going “out of style” and I was on to the next trend.

A few years ago, I realized I was done filling our home with things that weren’t made to last, that looked cute for that season, but were too trendy to keep beyond that. Life had gotten busy, crazy, and I just wanted to keep close to the things that mattered the most to me.

How to Take Your Decor to the Next Level

How many times have we seen photos on Instagram and Pinterest and whether we realize it or not, we measure ourselves against that picture perfect kitchen, that cozy bedroom with the throw pillows placed perfectly on the bed? But real life isn’t like that. If it is, then someone please tell me how you keep it that way with kids and pets in the house! 🙂

Here are three tips to making your house feel like a home while you are working to determine what you like and what your style is.

Focus on those moments and memories that make you happiest in your life. I don’t mean having professional family photos made. I mean those photos from your cell phone of the candid moments in life.
Choose items that tell your story. That wall decor in the big box store that’s 40% off right now might be cute but does it really tell a story of you and your life? Choose photos and quotes that inspire you, encourage you, and uplift you at the end of that hardest day. There’s nothing wrong with a sign that says “Laundry” but for me, I need a little snarky line under that because that is my personality, especially when it comes to laundry.
Think of your favorite songs or verses that motivate you. Incorporate those in your home to tell your story and keep you going.

We all have that special keepsake box. The one that is full of those heartfelt notes and artwork that we keep stowed away under the bed or in a closet for safe-keeping. Every so often we drag it out and peruse through the contents of that box to reminisce about the “good ol’ days.”

The thing is, the good ol’ days are here now. They are what you make of them. For me, having my favorite memories and reminders of the people and things most important to me keeps our story going on and on.

It means not having to haul off last year’s decor to the Goodwill only to go buy something else to replace it. It means having a memorable story behind the pieces we hang on our walls or display on our shelves. Make your home your story and decorate your life with memories for a lifetime.

Here’s some more great tips to bringing more meaning to your home decor:

Use items that have been passed down through generations.
Let your personality show through in your decor
Choose or create pieces that have memorable moments behind them
Frame handwritten notes or have them transformed into a beautiful sign to last a lifetime.

All of these tips will help you create a home full of timeless pieces that will never go out of style.