Secrets of Your Home's Style

I'm really digging the HGTV interior design show Secrets From A Stylist - the host, Emily, comes up with a couple's two unique style profiles and then combines them in one redecorated living space. So, for example, the woman's style diagnostic is "Hollywood Regency" and the man is "Vintage Country Club." Voila, their combined style is.... "Hollywood Country Club." Kinda fun. Anyway, I like the show because I've always liked to design with themes in mind as well. What's my style these days? Well, I'm a jeans and t-shirt mom, but I like to glam it up with sparkly, trendy accessories. I like Nantucket cottages, Adirondack camps, Craftsman homes, California plein air paintings, and urban retro looks from the 60s. I like objects around me that tell stories. I've always vaguely thought of it as urban country, but I'm going to revise that to "Ladies Who Lodge."

So here are pictures of three items I own that illustrate this look. The first is my dining room light pendant shade - it looks like an abstract design, but it's actually a wraparound photo of birch trees. It reminds me of my family's cabin in northern Michigan. The next is a sweet metal peacock wall hanging I picked up at an estate sale in Glendale - the house was awesome, it looked like a time capsule from 1968. I'm especially fond of this because we had a wild peacock in our yard a few years ago and the kids were thrilled about it. Finally, the last one is a pencil drawing I found at an antique store that was going out of business last week here in Monrovia (80% off and it's signed by Del Gish - I'm having Antique Roadshow fantasies that it's an original like these). It's just very woodsy, and is a reflection for me of the San Gabriel mountains in my backyard.

So my style may not be your style -- I doubt it is -- but we all do have our own unique style profile and I think it's super fun and useful to take a few minutes to think about what that is exactly for you. Maybe it's Classic American Abroad... Croatian Seaside... Manhattan Gothic. Whatever it is, it's a great way to guide your choices and edit the things you already have to create a house that feels styled like you.

What are the secrets of your style? Drop me a note, I'd love to know what you have going on.