Ever since we went under contract on our house, I’ve been day dreaming about what I want the living area on the main floor to look like. It’s probably a little backwards, but since we weren’t moving in for a few weeks, I wanted to get the paint picked out first and then go back and choose the furniture. We decided when we moved into our apartment that we weren’t going to go crazy with decor since it was fairly small and we planned on moving to a house relatively quickly. It goes without saying that after more than four years of “renter’s white” walls and thrown together decor, I was pretty excited to get to put together a home where we love every element and where we feel comfortable. Hosting is a HUGE thing for me that I really feel like I missed out on when we lived in our apartment, so I’m excited to make this a welcoming space where people want to hang out!

Since I’ve never really had a home to decorate, I’ve never really developed my design style. So that’s kind of where I started. First, I looked at the pieces of furniture that I already owned. I then popped over to pinterest’s “home decor” section and made a board for anything that I thought had a similar style or included any photos that I found not only aesthetically pleasing, but photos of rooms that I’d like to live in or get inspiration from. Many of those had descriptions at the bottom which gave me an idea of what my style was – I found that “transitional” came up most often. I also completed a few quizzes to see how they lined up. Here are the ones I tried and the result I got:

I would also say that typing some of these words into pinterest helped as well. The main takeaways were colors, patterns, textures and shapes. I think it’s important to know how you want the room to feel. For me, relaxation and comfort are top priorities. I could walk into the biggest most beautifully designed homes, but if I can’t comfortably sit on the floor to pet the dog, it’s a no go for me. For example, I was originally hoping I could duplicate some of Joanna Gains’ style in our house, but the more that I ~~looked at~~ stalk her blog, the more I just don’t know if that’s me. Don’t get me wrong, the style is gorgeous and living there would be magazine worthy but it’s almost so perfect that it isn’t live-in-able (where is the TV, dog hair and iPhone charger?). I mean, Chloe would have to stay outside because there’s no way we could getting hair on everything. But in the midst of all my Joanna blog searching, I found this little nugget she wrote:

The one thing I say over and over is your home is a reflection of your heart, not someone else’s. I believe home should be a place where you are inspired, a place where you come alive, and a place you enjoy with your significant other and loved ones. Finding your design style starts with you; Not your neighbor, your best friend, or the beautiful magazine on your coffee table. It starts with what’s inside you.

I love that. So I made a collage.

It was the first one I’ve ever put together, with the help of Polyvore. If you’re not familiar, it’s a clothing and home decor website that lets you make collages based on items from all over the internet! I started with pieces similar to ones that I knew I was getting or already had – like the couch and wall color for example. Then I was able to branch off from there. Creating this really gave me a good idea of the room without buying each item. I’m not a huge fan of purchasing more items than I need and returning the rest, because I’m lazy, so this was so helpful and allowed me to pull the trigger on many of the items that we now own.

Technically, this is wallpaper, but I had found some wall art that brought in pops of the blue/green color while also bringing in a wood element.
Nomadic Desert Paint Color, which is already on the walls!
I was obsessed with these curtains, only to find out that they were clearanced out and are no longer sold in this color in the length that we would need.
I had actually purchased a different couch prior to making this board, but I was unable to find that couch on polyvore, so I used this one.
Another out of stock item, but I’m totally digging the trellis rug look and the pile on these makes the room look cozy.
I’d probably never spend $180 on a throw pillow, but if I did, it’d be this one.
I love the idea of the gold in this side table, but height wise, I think it might end up being a bit short.
These plants, only real.
Gray script chairs would help tie some of the wood and gray elements together.

Since I originally created this collage, we have made a few purchases, which I plan on sharing in a “progress” type post sometime soon. We definitely have enough in the room for it to be used as a living room, but I want to wait until the right pieces come along to finish it up!

Rome wasn’t built in a day, you know.

I’ll keep ya updated.

Upstairs Living Room Vision Board