THAT House.

I have to start this off by saying that I love my house. I really do. It is very much "me" in every room, and I feel as though it has a very defined style, that was created on a fairly modest budget. I think my favorite thing about our home is that it's very playful, as well as inviting and friendly. It's also a bit loud,  a bit over patterned, and somewhat predictable. It's the last three things that I find my self constantly questioning. 

The problem lies, where most problems lie, in our ability to access so much imagery in such a short amount of time. As soon as the caulk was dry on our new kitchen tile, I had already found myself lost in Pinterest questioning one of 1,000 other tiles that I could have chosen instead. Sometimes I just get so confused and overwhelmed by the whole thing, and then I have to remember it's supposed to be about what I like, and not what some designer who is trained in actual design does. Which, in the end, all I really need to remember is that I AM NOT A DESIGNER! I feel like I should have this tattooed inside my eyelids, so every time I see some amazing spread on a blog or a magazine, I can remind myself that we are just super ordinary people, and most of those images that are in magazines are heavily edited, heavily styled, and are photographed by actual photographers... in good light. Not to mention, and most were designed my actual designers. (there's always that)

Where most people have body envy when they see a model or celebrity, I have pattern mixing envy. For real. This is why, I was so excited to see the cover piece in this month's Elle Decor. Just like the woman reading shape magazine, who sees her exact figure staring back at her (which should be shown in a dozen different sizes (don't even get me started on this one) I saw this home in Morocco, that pretty much validated (in my mind) any and every design decision that I have ever made. Of course, it houses actual designers, and owners of a tile company (my dream) but so much of it encapsulated everything I had ever wanted for our home, and after seeing it I have such a different view of my own space. It's like I've seen it through the eyes of someone else and I'm falling back in love all over again. Almost like an ex- boyfriend.  

The stripes, the stars, the insane amount of pattern, the over sized art, all of it  speaks to me. And while this is on a whole different level, I feel like our place has such a similar vibe, that I can now relax a little bit and just enjoy this space I have created. Sure, there are always going to be design dilemmas, and there are some additions that I want to make here and there, but ultimately the bulk of this home is finished, and instead of questioning all my decisions, I've decided to be proud of them. Even the not so perfect DIY pieces that I give the side eye to every day. Live and learn, right? 

Now, back to THAT house. You guys, is this not everything? I think this living room is one of the best things I have ever seen. My husband thinks the furniture looks incredibly uncomfortable, but I think he's crazy. It's probably so old it feels like butter. Oh, and those portraits, and the lighting. I mean...

This room is equal parts crazy and awesome. As in crazy awesome. 

That blue claw foot tub slays me. There is no doubt in our next home I am going to tile up the wall. The dramatic effect is beyond. 

I'm not sure how I feel about this exact tile around the fireplace, but I'm pretty sure that blanket and zebra caftan beyond make up for it. Let's just say I wouldn't kick it out of bed for eating crackers. 

Did I mention stripes. And chevron. And tile. This honestly leaves me speechless and will forever live in my dreams. 

Oh, and that's just our perfect kid's room.... don't worry about it! All I can think about when I see this room is WHY I didn't put this exact tile in the boy's room when we had our floors redone a few months back. WHHHHYYYYYYYYYYY? (oops, I forgot I wasn't questioning everything) This one is definitely going somewhere, anywhere, in our next home. 

Seeing all these elements together, along with reminding myself that we have all we could ever want (and more than we could ever need) has really confirmed for me that you just have to go with your gut when it comes to designing your own space. If you choose things you don't love, just because you see 100 Pins that have it, in the end your home is just going to look like it belongs to someone else. I feel like the personal touches are really what makes a house a home, and for us that just might mean there is a little more chevron than would traditionally be considered acceptable. Okay, a lot more, but hey, as far as I'm concerned, you can never have too much of a good thing!