interiordesign – Designing Goldilocks

What’s your interior-design style?

Do you know your interior-design style? Or better yet, do you have a design style?

Or maybe you don’t have a design style but want to aspire to one.

I can relate with you.

Glitz and glamour

When I planned the style for my new home, I envisioned Hollywood Regency.

The glamorous lifestyle from Southern California, circa 1920s through 1950s. Think movie stars sipping cocktails in luxurious loungewear. The style is opulent and rich.

My love for this style started several years ago when I discovered the Hayworth Collection at Pier 1 Imports, smoky mirrored furniture pieces that pack a stark punch in my living room and master bedroom.

Rich textures and bold colors round out the look with black-and-white striped rugs, throws and accent pieces.

Declutter

But as time has gone on, I’ve evolved into a mix of Hollywood Regency and Minimalist. I still love the glitz and glamour of the furniture, but I have held back on flashy wall mirrors and velvet finishes.

Besides a few crystal pieces I keep in a curio cabinet, the decor items I go for now are faux plants to add some nature to the mix. Some green to the sea of grey. I have found affordable plants at Target and have had fun setting them around the house.

Find your style

But back to my original questions. How would you find your style? Well, it’s easier than you think.

Let’s start with furniture and home-decor stores that sell the items you’re drawn to. If you said Ikea, your style may be Scandinavian. Simple and functional furniture pieces.

If you said Ethan Allen, you may be modern or contemporary. Heavy wood or metal furniture, matching rugs and throw pillows, and sensible artwork.

If you said Pottery Barn, you may be coastal. Tall lanterns on the porch and patio. A sea foam color palette. Nautical decorations.

If you shop online at Wayfair, Bohemian may be your style. Colorful area rugs, furry throw pillows and white-upholstered sofas.

Other ways to find your style include flipping through design magazines or replicating the sets you see in movies or on TV shows.

If you have friends or family members whose styles rock, you may resonate with one of their themes.

And while decor is all about the visual, it also should be about the feeling. In other words, how do you want to feel in your home? If you say relaxed, Zen could be your vibe.

This and that

But to be honest, homeowners these days are gravitating toward a mix of styles. I rarely see a staunch French Country or a true Modern in real life. These looks only exist on TV or in magazines.

This may be because most everyone I know cannot afford to execute one style from floor to ceiling. The main components of a look may be there, such as stainless steel appliances and exposed ductwork for the Industrial loft.

But the sofa, dining table and artwork may be contemporary pieces from the popular furniture warehouse down the street.

If you’re following my instagram account, @designing_goldilocks, you’ll notice that my account name is Farmhouse Glam.

I came up with that name because the exterior of my house resembles a farmhouse, which happened to be the elevation the builder pre-selected for the lot I chose. But the interior of my house has the glam furniture from Pier 1.

Farmhouse craze

While farmhouse ends at my front door, the farmhouse style is arguably the most popular design style today. Think white kitchen cabinetry, shiplapped walls and wooden signs with comforting messages like, “Blessed,” and “Home Sweet Home.”

The style is light and bright with virtually every flat surface decked out with hydrangeas in vases, stacks of books, and baskets upon baskets. Farmhouse homes are cozy and inviting with the upkeep to match.

So what design style are you?

I’ve provided you a lot to think about. Whether you know your style or not, interior design is always evolving. Like me, you start with one vision and morph into a mix of them. Or maybe you’re one style through and through. But whatever it is, the discovery phase can be as fun as the execution.

My interior design style is Hollywood Regency with minimalist finishes. Photo by Cindy Hernandez

Anxiously Goldilocks

I’m sitting here, thinking about what to write.

The news is playing on the TV.

States across the country are instituting curfews – Arizona being one of them – and preparing for more destruction tonight and in the days ahead.

I’m tired.

I stayed up past midnight last night. I couldn’t peel myself away from the news. And yet, I haven’t stopped all day. I keep busying myself with mundane things.

I placed a grocery delivery for today. Paid bills. Put said groceries away. Prepped fruits and vegetables for the week. Cleaned out the refrigerator.

I made scalloped potatoes from scratch. I never make scalloped potatoes. I put a load of laundry in the washer.

I gave the kitchen sink a good scrubbing.

I wiped down the kitchen counters.

I’m writing this blog post even though I already had a post scheduled for today. I’m not sure what I want to say but I feel I should say something.

I texted my parents and asked if they needed anything before the curfew went into effect. Anything to help. Anything to keep myself busy. Anything to feel that I’m helping others. Taking care of the ones I love. Making a difference.

Even as I write this post, I have gotten up twice to serve scalloped potatoes to John. I’m finding busy work within my busy work.

This weekend marks 1 year in the new house, and this is not how I expected the occasion to go. This is not how I expected 2020 to go.

John and I followed news of the coronavirus late last year and knew it would eventually surface in America. But we didn’t know to what extent nor did we anticipate self-quarantines and stay-at-home orders.

We happily obliged. John falls into the high-risk category due to underlying health conditions. We didn’t leave the house for 2 weeks in March.

Even now we only leave the house when necessary. And when we do, we wear masks and gloves. We use hand sanitizer and wash our hands repeatedly. We wipe down surfaces. We have turned our bar room into a makeshift receiving room for deliveries.

I’m anxious by nature. And the launch of this blog couldn’t have come at a better time. It gives me an outlet to channel all of this energy.

I believe that is why I enjoy interior decorating so much. It keeps me occupied. It allows me to create order and to minimize chaos. It helps me to feel I have some control in a world where I have absolutely none.

The new house couldn’t have come at a better time either. Because there is so much to decorate and organize. So many plans to make. Even if those plans never come to fruition.

In fact, John and I reflected on the past year this morning. We talked about the things we thought we would have done. Like hosting family and friends more. Now we wonder if we’ll ever be given the chance.

But we are happy to have the house and each other. We couldn’t imagine living alone in our respective condos during the quarantine.

Nor could we imagine living alone with riots and destruction happening around us. And now this curfew.

We will happily oblige. John and I are homebodies by nature. We don’t understand the appeal of running around town for the sake of running around town.

Nor did we understand the reopening of the state in early May when cases of the coronavirus and related deaths were going up. So we made the decision to limit our time in public for the rest of the month and take a wait-and-see approach.

And now businesses are being ordered to close early because of the riots. And the virus has an increased chance of spreading because of the crowds.

But just as I said in my post, “Paralyzing Goldilocks,” March 26, 2020, staying at home by choice and staying at home to save your life are two very different realities.

My anxiety was at an all-time high over the coronavirus. And just when I was starting to accept a new normal, the riots begin.

I’m still not sure if I said anything in this post – but thank you for reading – other than to capture my thoughts at this particular moment in time.

What will the country look like when I wake up tomorrow? What will my state look like? My town? My neighborhood?

Because as we all know, the landscape is changing by the hour.

How do you pick an area rug?

I’m stumped.

I need an area rug in the living room, and I don’t know which way to go.

I want something with a pattern and some color, but I don’t want the design to be so busy that it draws the eye downward.

The main purpose of this rug is to extend the life of the carpet, particularly the high-traffic areas on each side of the sofa and the sliver between the sofa and the ottoman.

The main colors in the room are grey and silver, which some would argue provide no real color at all. The walls, ottoman and throw pillows are brown. In accent pieces, I have black-and-white stripes and the green-leaf motif.

I thought about going with the popular black-and-white striped rug, but I’m afraid the room is too monochromatic already. I’m drawn to green, but given the leaf motif throughout the room, a green rug might be too predictable.

I could play it safe with brown. But if I’m going to spend the time and money on a rug, shouldn’t it add some pizzazz to the room?

Now you see my dilemma.

What are your thoughts? Check out the living room in the photo below and offer your ideas in the comments section.

This room needs an area rug that adds color without being the focal point. Photo by Cindy Hernandez

My design blog is for you

Are you a Mom with no juice left at the end of the busy day to create a soothing space for yourself?

This blog’s for you.

Are you a career woman who doesn’t want to spend the weekend making more decisions, especially on trivial matters like flowers and succulents?

This blog’s for you.

Are you just design inept?

This blog’s for you. And for anyone you know who may have said yes to any of these questions.

I get it. Decorating your house is stressful. It’s time consuming. There are so many choices, and you don’t know where to begin.

Wallpaper or paint? And if paint, what color paint? And what about the finishes? Flat. Satin. Gloss. High-Gloss.

The decisions are seemingly endless. The process is so tedious, it can make you want to throw in the towel. But are they monogrammed towels? And what about thread count? And I haven’t even mentioned the cost.

I’ve had no formal interior design training. Nor have I worked in the design world. But I’ve owned homes, new and used, and know a thing or two about picking out furniture, settling on colors, choosing artwork, and organizing spaces.

And I have done all of this on a budget. Because I believe interior design and home decor do not have to be expensive to make your home pretty and comfortable.

Don’t get me wrong. If you want to spend one-grand on a club chair, be my guest. My house holds a few pricier items, too. But only because I wanted to spend that kind of money, not because I thought I had to spend that kind of money.

On my blog, you will learn the reasoning behind the design choices I’ve made for my home that you can replicate in yours. I share budget friendly decor options and explain why I splurged on pieces to round out a look.

If the posts don’t address the design challenges you’re facing, reach out to me on my contact page or leave a question in the comments section. You might find your dilemma is the topic of my next design post.

My blog is for the busy, exhausted or uninspired, so send me a design question. Photo by John Hooks

Design with an open mind

Sometimes the house dictates the decor.

Take color, for instance.

Blue is my favorite color, and dominated my design choices in terms of color for years at my condo.

Dinnerware: Dansk Blue Mesa.

Master bathroom accessories: Tommy Hilfiger Elizabeth Anne.

Kitchen motif: Sunflowers with a blue backdrop.

But blue does not work well in the new house. The color that does work?

Green, which comes as a big surprise to me because green is my least favorite color behind pink. But I like it.

It could be that green complements the brown walls and cabinetry. Think tree trunks and leaves. It could be that the house has tons of natural light. Think sunshine and vegetation.

I could have gone with blue if I wanted to. The living room and master bedroom suites are grey and silver, both of which are cool colors. The blue would have fallen in line on the color palette.

But that’s just it. The silver, grey and blue do not provide a colorful range. Once I opened my mind to green, and saw the life it breathed into the decor, my love for the color grew like ivy. Now it’s the color I gravitate to.

Fortunately, the interior decor world is ruled by indoor trees, succulents and fig leaves.