How I Found My Style Sundays- Mystery Guest

It has been two years since I started "How I Found My Style Sundays" and can you believe that I have not yet shared how I found my style!? I know, pretty crazy.

Spring Porch

So welcome to our home! Our current home is our third.  We spent 5 years in our first home and I was a new wife, a new mommy and trying to find just what my style was or if I even had a style. Back then I leaned towards anything nautical and beachy. After living in Baton Rouge for two years I grew to love all things french and decided that was the direction I wanted to go.

 We moved back to Texas and I started on my mission to transform our home into French Country. I chose darker, rich colors for the walls and warm tones for everything. 

Living Room
After about two years I decided that our home felt like we were living in a cave with all the dark colors and lower ceiling heights. Our Baton Rouge home had 14 foot ceilings and oh how we miss those. Anyways, I went on a mission to lighten and brighten things up. The walls went from SW Whole Wheat to Olympic One Classic Khaki. What a difference just changing the paint color made!

Laundry Room
Once the lighten and brighten up project began I started seeing myself bringing in more pieces that leaned towards a farmhouse feel. 

Kitchen
Our kitchen makeover 2 years ago pretty much solidified my style. I call it French Farmhouse with a vintage flare. 

I love things that tend to have a little fru fru and bling to them but then also a simplistic side. I am a sucker for vintage pieces like the old bread box and porcelain cow bank I found last summer while antiquing in Atlanta.

Dining Room
Now that I have a solid direction for our home I am slowly transforming each space.

Master Bedroom
Some of the farmhouses touches we have made thru out our home include simple things like planking our bedroom wall and fireplace. A lot of times it is the simplest and smallest things that make the greatest impact in a space.

My most treasured items in our home are not things I have bought or found. They are old pictures of loved ones that I enjoy displaying. 

They are pieces passed down to me from relatives like a rolling pin that was Mr. Front Porch's grand mothers and an old milk can that my grandfather had. Those are the items that I hold most dearly.

As far as tips and tricks for having a beautiful home and finding your style, my best advice is to utilize sites such as Pinterest, blogs and magazines. I started a binder some 13 years ago that I would place all my inspiration pics that I tore out from magazines. I still have that binder from back then and the funny thing is is that if I looked thru it I would have realized my style all along! The pictures I saved back then are just like the ones I Pin and save today.
Once you find your style do not be afraid to let it evolve and grow, possibly in a totally different direction. 

DIY Crossbuck Wainscoting
Also do not be afraid to tackle DIY projects head on! If it means teaching yourself how to use a miter saw like I did last spring then by all means you put on those safety glasses and get that project done! You can do anything you set your mind to do. Mr. Front Porch and I never would have imagined almost 6 years ago that we would have tore up flooring and laid down new or ripped out our kitchen back splash and created a new stove top hood but we did and we have never regretted one moment of it.

Chalk Painted Fabric Chair
You do not have to spend a lot of money to achieve the look you want. Look for pieces that are similar to what you are looking for and then transform them into what you want. I can not tell you how many pieces in our home I have purchased second hand and made into beauties and they cost a fraction of what they would have new.

And even though I am a huge fan of repurposing and buying things second hand I also believe that some things you just have to splurge on to pull a space together like the custom toile Euro Shams I had made for our master bedroom. It may require saving some but in the end it will be well worth it.

When shopping do not just buy something because it is the latest trend. Look at it and ask yourself "Is this something I will regret not buying and wish I would have?". If you say no then put it back on the shelf. If you are not sure bring it home and if it is still sitting in the shopping bag days later take it back! Also go thru what you already own and decide on what you want to keep and what you want to get rid of. Ask yourself if it is something you would buy today. If yes keep it. If the answer is no then sell it or pass it on to somebody who would love it in their own home. 

My most important tip is to not worry about what other people think of your home! I had a neighbor once who came over and looked around at our home. She point blank asked me what it was I was trying to accomplish after seeing issues of Coastal Living on our coffee table and other beach items on display. She went on to tell me how her mother was a designer in Florida and that even the vacuum marks had to be in the same direction or it was just not the right way to do things. I can not tell you how many years those comments held me back from enjoying our home and how much those comments held me back from enjoying having friends and family over. I was always worried our home was not good enough. Please please please do NOT let somebody do that to you! As long as your home is filled with love and things that make you happy then that is all that matters!

Thank you for visiting is listening to How I Found My Style! As I mentioned earlier, I have been doing "How I Found My Style Sundays" now for two years now. It has been a weekly feature and I am grateful for all those who have stopped by to visit and share with us their style. I am going to be taking a little break from it but do not fear it will not be going away completely. I have decided that "How I Found My Style Sundays" will continue but just on a monthly basis. I will be inviting bloggers over to share their style the second Sunday of every month so if you are a blogger and interested in participating be sure to contact me.

Tomorrow stop back by for the faux brick wall reveal!