How I Found My Style Sundays- Design Dreams by Anne

Hi, my name is Anne and you can find me over at Design Dreams by Anne. I was thrilled to be included in Pamela's "How I Found my Style" series, particularly since it seems I've only just found my style! These days I'm embracing all things farmhouse in a big way.

I've owned a number of houses and I have to say that my style has changed with each move, partly due to the style and age of the homes and partly due to my love of rustic and vintage decor. My current home has two parts, the original which was built in the 1930s still has much of the old style trim and doors. The new addition which houses the bedrooms and a second bathroom was built in 2009. I moved here in 2010 and promptly began the work of putting my stamp all over the place.

I built and installed the shutters on my house and painted everything in either white, aqua, tan or off-white.  PS this is an old view of the front of my house, I'm about to reveal a brand new front landing and deck! Over the first two years that I lived here, I grew to love painted furniture, butcher block, shutters, second-hand furniture and beadboard panelling.  Once I began blogging, my eyes were really opened to the world of farmhouse decor and now I love it! My new dining room:

My newly renovated kitchen:

My newly renovated mudroom/laundry/bathroom:

Um, yep, I really, really love aqua.  And renovating apparently. Pamela has asked me to choose my most treasured find, this is very difficult for me since I am always picking up fabulous things from online buy & sell pages, yard sales, second hand shops, friends and our local dump (we have a building at the dump where you can leave things that are in decent condition for others to use). I'd have to say that my current favourite find is my $100 solid wood hutch that I converted from 1980s style to a farmhouse classic.

But all those old doors & shutters that I keep dragging home are a very close second...

The more I surround myself with things that I've fallen in love with, the happier I am in my home. If I had only one piece of advice to give about decorating, it's that you should only choose things that you truly love to decorate with.  Your home is your refuge, fill it with the things that appeal most to you instead of following trends or listening to decorating "rules" - but then I am a bit of a rebel, I love to break rules!! Thanks for having me Pamela and thank you all for spending a few minutes of your day with me. Have a happy week!

Anne I have been enjoying watching you find your style. Your kitchen turned out fabulous ad well worth all your hard work. Thank you for joining us today.