Why Can't I Have the Home That I Want?

I've been looking around my house thinking, "I'm tired of this stuff." Do you ever feel that way about your home? I am very grateful for everything I have, that's not what I mean. I am just growing tired of looking at the same stuff year after year. I need a change, ya know?

My home, every room (except for G's, which is "Ballerina pink" and the baby blue spare room I chose not to repaint once we moved in) is decorated in autumnal colors...red, ochre, deep plum, sage green, rust, and it has been for over 10 years. On one hand, it feels good to walk through each room and there be a "flow" of sorts. There's no startling surprises. The living room is a mossy green with red accents, which flows to the kitchen and dining area which is painted a rust color with plum, ochre, red and green accents, which takes you to the bathroom which is red and beige. And even my bedroom is "Fall" inspired. The walls are painted a muted pumpkin and my linens are a deep plum. Every room sort of looks like the next (learned that trick from Martha Stewart). I like the coziness of the darker colors. Fall has always been my favorite season, so it's no wonder I've gravitated toward and stuck to that color palette.

But on the other hand, I just want to lighten everything up around my home. I think I'm feeling this way because of the "lightening up" that's been happening in my soul over the past couple years. God has really been working on me, purging the stuff inside that just needed to go once and for all and I feel so much lighter because of it! So, I'm feeling the need to live in that aesthetic.

One of my very favorite decorators is Rachel Ashwell, the creator of "Shabby Chic." I love her use of pastels, creams, beiges, and whites. I love how her style looks messy and put together at the same time. The paint could be chipping off of the bedroom dressing table, but the articles on the table are so carefully picked and effortlessly placed that it all becomes a sort of unpretentious thing of decorator beauty...paint chips fall where they may.

So I was thinking, "Why can't I have the house I want?" And I was immediately bombarded with the very reason why. The truth is, I don't have the budget for a makeover in every room of the house. It would take a great deal of "moolah" to achieve the look that I want. Or would it?

Exactly. I don't think it would either! The point of the "Shabby Chic" look is to not fuss with it too much. Find the items in your color palette and in the "Shabby" aesthetic and just start putting it together. And as I looked around at my house, I stated seeing lots of potential; furniture that could be painted her signature cream, pillows that could be recovered, sofas that would look dreamy with an old faded quilt thrown over, ceramics that could be spray painted or decopaged, and of course walls that could just use a good coat of pastel paint.  And how does the saying go? If you can dream it, you can do it!

I want to go with beachy colors in my home; light blues, turquoise, sand, cream, white, light green. Not a "beach theme," just the ease and serenity of the "beachy" color palette. So, with one project, one can of paint, one piece of furniture, one wall at a time, redoing pretty much the entire house shouldn't break the bank. Paint is cheap! And a can of spray paint is even cheaper!

I'll be sure to keep you posted on my progress. Until then, here are some inspiration pics I found online.

Pics taken from the blog, "House of Turquoise" and from various Rachel Ashwell resources.