In the Trenches featuring Kristy, aka Vintage Pleasure

Happy Wednesday budget decorators!

I’m glad to be back with another “In the Trenches” interview today. To be honest, this interview was scheduled to go live well over two weeks ago, but my crazy offline life really threw a wrench in my online plans. For that I offer my sincerest apology to you, my dearest readers, and to Kristy, who has been waiting so patiently to see her interview go live!

I ran across photos of Kristy’s home while browsing for inspiration for baby Elizabeth’s nursery and was immediately charmed by every photo! I could rave on and on about how I’m ready to move in any time she offers an invitation, but instead I’ll keep my introduction brief and let you discover the lovely Kristy and her home for yourself…

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Let’s start off by finding out more about you… I know you’re an extremely creative stay at home mom of four. How would you describe your decorating style?

I live just on the outskirts of Manchester,UK in an Edwardian house that needed total renovation from new bathrooms to complete redecoration. Partly due to financial necessity I have become addicted to thrifting, but I must admit that I just love vintage pieces so much. I love the history and the integrity they hold. I would say that my decorating style is definitely ecclectic. I am too much of a vintage loving pack-rat to stick to any one style or era for decor. I want my home to look like it has evolved rather than been staged and I really don’t like matchy matchy things. Any imperfections would drive me mad!

One of the things I love about your home is the way you intermingle vintage pieces with more modern/contemporary pieces. I think if I tried to do that, my home would just end up looking like a hodge podge of mess; your home, however, feels so pulled together and charming. How do you manage to create that balance?

I try only to buy things that I really love or make me smile. I think the best decor advice I was given was to always buy things you love when you see them. Don’t worry about where they will go. Eventually you will find a home for them. Don’t be scared to live with something for a while and move it around until it feels right. That’s the joy of many thrifted pieces as they really are affordable. I love the juxtaposition of a vintage piece next to a hopefully modern classic. Like my edwardian armchairs next to my glass coffee table. I love vintage pieces or modern pieces but I really don’t like modern pieces pretending to be vintage.

I also try to keep in mind certain colours for each room. So for example my kitchen is based around the colours of my collection of 1940’s china (that we use everyday by the way)- pastel pink, yellow, green, and blue against a white background. The same way a lot of people feel you should always have an element of black in a room, I always include a little red. It’s a colour that really lifts my mood even in very small doses.

I have to admit that while exploring your Flickr photos, I became completely fascinated by the images from your inspiration books. Will you tell us a little bit about them? How/why did you start them and how do they assist you in designing your home? (And just for my own curiousity, are they made from altered books? I noticed type written words in the background of several pages…)

My inspiration books are one of my most valuable decorating tools. I love interior magazines but got really fed up having to flick through them to find the images I wanted. I decided to start a scrap book of torn out photos. As I tend to look for a vintage option before a new one I picked up a couple of old household encyclopedia for a pound in a charity shop. I ripped out about half of the pages (otherwise it gets too thick to close) and kept any interesting pages. I just stick my torn images directly onto the pages and build them up randomly. It is so good to be able to flick through them and they really highlight exactly what I like. Themes and colours emerge naturally and keep me focused.

What would you say has been your greatest challenge decorating your home so far? Is this a challenge that you’ve conquered? If so, will you share how you managed the challenge? If not, do you have any ideas about how you’ll tackle this challenge?

Most rooms have had to go back to bare brick so I guess the biggest challenge has been raising a family in a building site! My girls are a dab hand at avoiding pots of paint and the odd tool lying around. Specifically though I think that the kitchen renovation was the most major undertaking. It had been heavily remodelled between the 60’s and the 80’s and had been stripped of all its character. It was just a box with ugly units and dark appliances. We reinstated the chimney breast and restored the doors and windows back to their original positions. The ceiling was also raised to it’s original level. Even the floor had to be taken up and relaid.

To keep my sanity I insisted on keeping my dishwasher plumbed in throughout the whole renovation. It caused many raised eyebrows from tradesmen but helped me so much. I did have a very clear idea in my head of how I wanted the room to feel but was flexible about how to achieve that. The best advice I can give when tackling such a big job is to research and plan then plan some more. Shop around as there is always a more economical alternative. Always try and see the funny side of any catastrophies (of which we had many!).

Another thing that I love about your home is how family friendly it is. You’ve managed to create a place that looks comfortable for everyone, male/female, adult and child. What tips can you share on how to create an attractive yet comfortable family home?

I am constantly juggling the balance of aesthetics versus practicality. To create a family home that really works, storage has to be your top priority. If the storage looks good then you are halfway there. Everything needs to have a place. I utilise lots of baskets and boxes. You can never have too many!

Ours is not a show home, it’s a family home that really has to work hard for us. My personal taste has to be blended with the rest of the family especially my aspiring minimalist husband. He doesn’t always have the first choice but he always has the last word and gets to say what stays or goes. It’s important not to fall into the trap of compromising each individual taste too much. If you do, then you end up with pieces that nobody really loves. I have my own little corners that are just mine and hubby has a few statement pieces that he loves too. The girls get to input lots of ideas in their own spaces and I love to display their artwork alongside those purchased elsewhere. It gives them a sense of belonging and adds a relaxed feel to schemes.

I know that you are a very crafty lady and have recently begun an etsy shop to sell your creations. Do you find that your crafting interests influence your design of your home? If so, in what ways? Are there areas of your home where you can see the colors or style have definitely been influenced or inspired by your crafting interests/style?

I think that my home is more heavily influenced by the creativeness of others. By all the fantastic artwork available through etsy especially. Also through seeing other peoples homes in blogs and on Flickr. My mind is always sparked by other peoples decor ideas and how I can interprete them in my own way.

Finally, if you were asked to share 3 tips with someone who was just starting off decorating their home on a budget, what would you say?

1. Always buy what you love and if you can’t find it in your price bracket then wait. You’ll either save up for it or an affordable alternative will turn up.
2. Regularily check out your local charity/thrift shops, car-boots, yard sales, freecycle etc. It always amazes me just what people are willing to give away.
3.Look at as many decor images as you can so that you can work out what you like and, just as importantly, don’t like. It will help define your own style. That way you are less likely to buy things you really don’t like or need.

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As usual, I had a really hard time narrowing down the choices of photos to accompany the interview, so you HAVE to go visit Flickr to see more of Kristy’s beautiful home! You can also visit her blog, Vintage Pleasure, to learn more about this sweet lady, her family, and all her great bargain hunting finds. Kristy, I can’t thank you enough for sharing your home with my readers or for being so patient to see this post go live!

Until next time - Shauntelle

Inspiration Friday: Room to Relax

Hello my Friday Lovelies!

Today was an amazingly beautiful day in Atlanta. The weather was perfect - sunny, warm, with just a hint of a breeze. I just wanted to curl up in a hammock somewhere and lie in the sun. Which gave me the inspiration for today’s posts… rooms that look perfect for curling up and relaxing.

From Coastal Living:

From Pottery Barn:

From Crate and Barrel:

Hope you have a great and relaxing weekend!

xoxo - Shauntelle

Out of Hiding with a Plan!

Ta-da! I’m back! Did you miss me? I certainly missed you all so much! The world is just not right when I’m not living and breathing design. So I decided today that the only way for me to start to put my world back together is to get back to the things that I love. Which definitely includes this blog and being able to interact with all of you.

So I’m back. Thank you to everyone who sent such sweet notes to let me know you were thinking of me. My personal life is still a bit upside down and there’s a good chance it will be for a while. But there are positives for me to focus on, including a second job interview next week for a position that seems like a really good fit. (So keep putting out good thoughts/prayers/vibey-vibes for me, okay? Interview is next Tuesday at 8:30am eastern time… I bought THE CUTEST SUIT EVER. The kind of suit that says “you have to hire this woman, she’s really got her stuff together!” Not that packaging is everything, but in marketing, it always helps!)

Even though I hadn’t been posting, I’ve been thinking a lot about A Beautiful Abode. You know I’ve wanted to start a magazine version. Originally the plan was to make a downloadable version but after getting more input, I’ve decided that I’m going to go with a monthly webzine. I’m going to launch it in July… that means I really, really, really, really… REALLY need ya’lls input to tell me what kinds of features you’d like to see. I know you like the interviews and peeks into other decorators’ homes… but what else? Tell me, tell me!!! I want the A Beautiful Abode magazine to be your favorite place to turn to when it comes to finding budget decorating inspiration and in order to make that dream come true, I need to know what you want.

The blog will become part of the magazine; I can’t give it up because I’m addicted to the interaction with everyone! Between now and the launch of the webzine, I’ll figure out a new posting schedule. Right now, I think I’ll be posting three times a week in the evenings, to prepare myself for going back to working full-time during the day… I feel like that will be a reasonable schedule, but we’ll have to see. I really hope you will bear with me during this transition. Life is funny; just when we feel like we have things down pat and under control, something happens and everything changes… makes you realize how precious every good moment is and how it’s not about control, but just enjoying every moment that you can. That’s my plan with A Beautiful Abode… to focus less on trying to meet a perfect publishing schedule and more on providing posts that we all can enjoy.

I WILL be back tomorrow for Inspiration Friday… until then, hug your loved ones and feel this big KISS coming from Atlanta out to all of you everywhere!

xoxo - Shauntelle

A Quick Note…

Hi ya’ll! I wanted to pop in and tell you that I’ve been MIA this week because I’m dealing with a family emergency. I will have a new “In the Trenches” interview posted tomorrow, so don’t worry, you won’t miss out on your weekly budget decorating inspiration. But posts might be a little light the next week or so because I’m managing our crisis and also job hunting. Any well wishes you want to send this way are definitely welcomed!

See ya tomorrow!

Shauntelle

In the Trenches featuring Kasmira of What I Wore 2day

Happy Wednesday budget decorators!

It feels like we haven’t had an “In the Trenches” interview in ages, doesn’t it? I’m particulary happy to bring this one to you because it features a woman who has been inspiring me for over a year.

Ever since I started A Beautiful Abode, one of the ideas floating in the back of my head was to do a series of interviews focused on how creative people draw inspiration from their creative passions to assist them in decorating their homes. I think a lot of people are afraid to tackle decorating their homes because they don’t trust their own judgement, and I believe that learning how to draw inspiration from areas that you feel confident in (like fashion or gardening or photography, for instance) is one way to overcome that obstacle. Our feature for today, Kasmira, was first on my dream list of potential candidates to start this series.

Kasmira owns the blog What I Wore 2day which gives you a glimpse into her daily work wardrobe. While I have visited a number of other fashion blogs, I continually return to Kasmira’s blog again and again, inspired by her creative use of texture, color, and layering. I couldn’t help but wonder if her home would reflect this same aesthetic… Read on, to find out the answer to that question.

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I have been an avid reader of your blog, What I Wore 2day, for the past year or so. It’s so fascinating to me that there’s this whole area of blogging devoted to documenting your daily clothing choices. How did you get involved with this community and what led you to start your blog?

I started What I Wore Today (the number “2″ is only in the URL because whatiworetoday was already taken at blogspot), after searching for blogs like it. I wanted to see what other people wore every day. The only blog I found was Allie’s What’s My Wardrobe Today. I started my blog with the hopes that I’d get other people to contribute to it, too. Eventually, I began to find other sites like mine, as well as communities like Shoutfit and Flickr’s Wardrobe Remix. After seeing that the community niche was taken, I repurposed my blog to feature only myself (with occasional guests).

After admiring your wardrobe for so long, I wasn’t surprised to find myself completely enamored with photos of your home on flickr. How would you describe your design style in your home? Do you feel that this style also reflects your wardrobe style?

I’d call my home’s style lush exotic. I love the styles of Morocco, Thailand, India, and Indonesia. I’ve got elements from other non-Western cultures as well, like Japanese and Korean, but I limited them because I find the designs are relatively sparse and “cold.”

I wouldn’t call my wardrobe style exotic, although I do have a few souvenir clothing items. You could call it “lush,” though. I love to combine color, texture, patterns, and layers to create a result that is almost overwhelming.

One of the reasons that I keep coming back to peek into your daily wardrobe is that I admire your creative use of color and texture. Most of us (and this definitely includes me), are too scared to play with color, pattern, or texture like that in our clothes or our homes. Will you share with us what inspires you and how you learned to develop an eye for this? Do you have any tips for how we can also develop this skill further in our own wardrobes and homes?

I’ve learned a lot from books, magazines, and, surprisingly, retail. The best, free inspiration is to window shop clothing and home stores. Even some restaurants have amazing interiors. A day of window shopping usually leaves me inspired to go home and try a new outfit or grouping of home accessories.

Another thing that I admire is how you restyle items in your wardrobe by dyeing, embellishing, and/or altering them. Is this DIY attitude also reflected in your home? And if so, will you share with us a few of your favorite projects?

When it comes to DIY, I have a lot of ideas, but not so much skill! My creations aren’t perfect, but I consider them a learning experience. I made roman shades for our dining room by carefully following the directions in a book (http://cinticapecod.blogspot.com/2005/02/mission-roman-shades-completed.html). I got a little crazy when I made a bedskirt out of a sari with no directions at all (http://cinticapecod.blogspot.com/2005/03/sari-bedding.html). And then there is a whole list of projects in my head that I have yet to start!

I know one fear that has held me back in the past with both decorating my home and pulling together my wardrobe is a fear of getting it wrong. Does this fear ever strike you and if so, how do you over come it?

One of the reason I have such a long list of unstarted home projects is fear that I’ll screw it up. We’ve all had our failures. I’ve thrown out entire batches of cookie dough and tossed messed up bird houses in the trash. I find the best way to conquer uncertainty is to ask myself “what’s the worst that could happen.” This is even more fun with a partner because you soon find yourselves imagining ridiculous scenarios, laughing, and wondering what it was that scared you in the first place! With home projects, the worst that could usually happen is that you lose money - either through waste or paying someone to fix your mistakes. If you’re prepared to face the worst, you’ll find your fear is minimized.

With clothing choices, really, what is the worst that could happen? Someone laughs at you? You’re counseled by Human Resources? Some random teenagers ask if you’re a hooker? (Yes, that happened to me!) And if the worst does happen, it is only one day of your life. There are plenty yet to come in which you make a safe outfit choice. Live a little!

I’ve found that as I started to understand my personal clothing style better, I’ve also had an easier time developing my decorating style. Is this something that you’ve experienced as well? And if so, do you have any suggestions for how a person can use their favorite wardrobe pieces as a jumping off point for decorating their homes?

Decorating, and gardening, helped me develop my creative and artistic talents. Eventually, that artistic bent leaked into my wardrobe as well. I consider my house, garden, and body as canvases for personal expression.

Wardrobes and home decorating can have a lot in common, both good and bad. If you love to wear purple, you’d probably love a purple wall! And if you tend to collect piles of junk on the kitchen counters, you’ve probably got unused and unwanted items in your closet as well.

I’d advise people to consider what it is they love about a favorite item in their closet and then think about how they could bring that element into their decorating. For instance, perhaps you simply adore your red, cashmere sweater. What is it that speaks to you? The color? The texture? The fact that your husband gave it to you? Once you identify that element, you can bring it into your space as well.

As you know, A Beautiful Abode is really dedicated to providing inspirations and tips for creating a beautiful home on a tight budget… we’d love if you would share with us your top three tips for creating a pull together look on a budget with examples of how these ideas work for both your wardrobe and your home.

1. Know what colors you love! It’s easy and inexpensive to get a coordinated look if you are consistent about the color of the items you buy.

2. Accessorize. Accessories are cheap, easily swapped out, and the quickest way to inject a trend into your home or wardrobe.

3. Tell other people about your style. When you’ve got a birthday, anniversary, or gift-giving holiday coming up, people will know what to get you. If you’re not sure what your style is, let them know you’re interested in home decorating or fashion and that you’d love a gift card.

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Go visit Kasmira at her blog to see more of her great outfits!  I promise, if you’re scared of color or layering, you’ll be inspired to be more adventurous.  And if you’d like to see more of her home, go visit her flickr account.  Like always, be sure to leave a comment here so that she’ll know how much we appreciate her for sharing herself and her home with us!

Until next time!

xoxo - Shauntelle

And the winner is…

I have been a busy little beaver today, shampooing the carpet in our townhouse, but I didn’t forget that today is D-day… time to choose the winner of the drawing for Carrie and Danielle’s new book, Style Statement: Design Your Own Life.

Each person who entered was assigned a number as follows:

1. Tiffany
2. Courtney
3. Carol
4. Kierra
5. Hanen
6. Deborah
7. Michele
8. Tricia
9. Hanna
10. Torey
11. Darcy
12. Melissa
13. Megan
14. dianeinjapan

Each number was written on a slip of paper; then the paper was folded twice. My favorite assistant placed all the slips into his hat, shook them up, and then picked.

AND THE LUCKY WINNER IS:

DARCY!!!

Congratulations Darcy! I’ll be in touch via e-mail to get your contact information and then your autographed book will be winging it’s way to you shortly.

Thanks to everyone who entered. I LOVE giving things away and definitely have more giveaways planned for the future… like maybe, just maybe, next Wednesday, to celebrate my 34th birthday! Be sure to tune back in tomorrow for a new “In the Trenches” interview! See ya then.

xoxo - Shauntelle

Craigslist Monday: Back with a $50 challenge

Dum-Dum-Dah-Dum! I’m back!!! Did ya’ll miss me? I missed you guys terribly; I never realized how much blogging adds to my life until I couldn’t blog!!! But I’m back now and I have such an interesting Craigslist Monday lined up for today, I can’t wait to share it with ya’ll.

Right before I lost my internet connectivity, a representative for Kijiji, ebay’s free classified site, contacted me to ask if I ever visited. He saw the mention of Kijiji in Kim’s interview and not so subtly suggested that I consider doing a Kijiji Sunday to go along with my Craigslist Monday.

Now ya’ll know I LOVE craigslist. LOVE. Um, yeah… did I mention I LOVE craigslist? And I’m really loyal to those that I love. So I pretty much intended to blow the whole thought off because who could compete with my beloved craigslist? And wouldn’t it be cheating, sorta, to check out another free ad site?

But then I thought of ya’ll, my beloved readers! I made a promise that I’d provide info about the best budget resources I could find when I started this blog. How could I just avoid a potential bargain hunter’s dream because of my own little love affair? And Kim had totally recommended it… so, I had this bright idea. Today we will have the Atlanta Craigslist - Atlanta Kijiji showdown. I have $50 (pretend) dollars. The goal is to see which list is gonna give me the best finds for my $50 bucks.

Of course I’m gonna start off with my beloved - Atlanta Craigslist. To be honest, on my first two/three/four run-throughs, I was feeling pretty disappointed. Nothing really jumped out at me.

And then, I found this chair for $30.

You know I’m a sucker for the unusual. And anything with a quirky aesthetic. I LOVE this chair! As in, you know I went running around my townhouse trying to find a place to put it. But no - there’s no place where it would work. My loss, someone else’s lucky $30 find… http://atlanta.craigslist.org/fur/650601837.html

That leaves a big $20. Which is plenty to pick up this great retro chrome chair for $15:

Another find that I completely LOVE. Yeah, the black cushions would need to be recovered, but that’s not an expensive concept… it could be a simple as cleaning the cushions and then creating a simple slipcover for them. And do you see the great shape of the chair? So modern, so awesome for some cool, hip lounge. sigh. Another piece that won’t fit into my townhouse. http://atlanta.craigslist.org/fur/649889255.html

I wasn’t going to bother looking for something for $5, except curiousity got the better of me. And lo!, I found this cute little chair!

Can you believe it? Even $5 can help you add cute seating to your place. That’s why you always have to keep a sharp eye out! http://atlanta.craigslist.org/fur/648676215.html

So, $50 bought three great chairs on craigslist. Let’s see what $50 gets us on Atlanta Kijiji.

First things, first - I’m a little annoyed at the get-go because there’s no way to search by price. You can sort with lowest price first, but I love the way craigslist allows me to search a price range. Second, there’s all sorts of stuff mixed in under the furniture section. I’m getting baseball cards and coffee cup selections. Believe it or not, but I’m impatient. The longer it takes for me to find something interesting, the less likely I am to stick around. So far, five minutes into this experience, I haven’t hit a single link. That’s too long for someone like me. If I weren’t in to this experiment for ya’ll, I would be gone. But I’ll persist…

And I will add one thing that I do like. There a thumbnail photos of each item on the main listing. So you don’t get psyched out by a great listing title only to find the actual item looks like a piece of crap something you wouldn’t want.

But I still, I’m 4 pages in and 10 minutes along before I find anything worthwhile… this brand new (according to the ad) twin size wooden headboard and footboard.

It’s not my style, but if it’s solid wood, I think it’s a pretty good deal for $30. http://atlanta.kijiji.com/c-For-sale-Furniture-decor-BRAND-NEW-Antique-Stained-Twin-Headboard-and-Footboard-W0QQAdIdZ29140337

I’ve already passed everything that costs less than $30 without seeing anything of interest, so I figure I’d keep looking to see if there was a better option if I decided to spend the whole $50 on just one thing.

And I ran across this china cabinet for $40.

Once again, not my style, I’m definitely NOT in love with it. But I can see it has potential - a little paint, and it could be a piece of real beauty. And I have to admit that you aren’t gonna find anything that size for that price too often. http://atlanta.kijiji.com/c-For-sale-Furniture-decor-Hutch-W0QQAdIdZ40690586

So there’s our little experiment.  Three cute chairs for $50 or one china cabinet for $40.  No contest in my mind, what about ya’ll?  Sorry Kijiji, there’s just no comparison, at least in the Atlanta market.  But, it is another option to visit when all else fails.  And, to give them their due, they are in their infancy, as far as I know.  So I’ll keep you on the radar Kijiji, but you won’t get your own day on this blog anytime soon.

Don’t forget to come back tomorrow to find out the lucky giveaway winner (if you haven’t entered yet, you still have a few hours, so go do it!) and definitely meet me back here on Wednesday for another great “In the Trenches” interview, this time with fashion blogger Kasmira.

Until later,

xoxo - Shauntelle

Technical Difficulties…

Hey ya’ll!

Is it a full moon this week? With the kind of issues I’m having so far, it feels like it! I wanted you to know I’m having internet connection issues so it’s difficult to post unless I do it from my cell phone and that’s not easy or fun!

It’s supposed to be fixed by Friday… To be safe, I’ll be back on Monday!

There’s one plus to this though! I’m extending the giveaway deadline to next Tuesday. I’ll even make it easier to enter… Just leave a comment on the Carrie and Danielle interview post answering the question “what inspires me?” and you’re entered.

See ya next week!

Xoxo - Shauntelle

Inspiration Friday: Carrie and Danielle’s interview AND a GIVEAWAY!

Hello my dear ones!

A couple of weeks ago I mentioned that I was working on an interview with two fabulously inspirational women, Carrie and Danielle, who run a style consulting service. In a nutshell, they are authentic living therapists, using questions and empathy to help over 700 men and women (at last count) find their “style statement” - a two word compass which always leads to your personal North Star, so to speak. I’ve been fascinated by the idea ever since I first learned of it, and have had a personal consult with them on my wish list for over a year… but you know how budgets go! - and how my extra dollars are always earmarked toward a decorating project! : )

Which is why I was extremely excited to find out their book, Style Statement: Live by Your Own Design, was due to be released into stores this month. (It was released this week, in fact!) My original plan was to run out and buy a copy of the book and then do a review of it here, because you know how much I love sharing great things with ya’ll! Then I got the idea to do an interview and here we are! But it gets BETTER! Not only do I get to share the interview with you, I also get to host a GIVEAWAY! That’s right, Carrie and Danielle have graciously offered to give an autographed copy of their book to one of my lucky readers… too cool, right?

Ok, enough of my babbling– go enjoy the interview and then, check out the details about the giveaway afterwards…

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Carrie and Danielle, for my readers who may be *meeting* you for the first time today (smile), could you share a little bit of your backgrounds with us? How did you two meet? What inspired you to create your business?

Carrie: I am a former interior designer. I looked good from the outside: international media attention, great clients, abundance, nice car, cute boyfriend. And yet on the inside I felt like a fraud. My focus was all about the outer world and something was missing; I wanted to marry the inside with the outside. Style Statement was born from my commitment to making a difference in many people’s lives. Danielle was one of my guinea pigs. She received her Style Statement from me, and I received a business partnership from her based on our shared values, a do-whatever-it-takes commitment, and joy.

As a writer, I am a big believer in the power of words so, of course, the concept of your Style Statements resonated with me immediately. Do you find this to be the case with most of the general population? What do you say to the nay-sayers or the skeptics who question how two words could possible have a profound affect on a person’s life?

It has been an honour to share Style Statement with the world. 750 people have received their two words and this is what we hear: “I purged all the black from my wardrobe,” “I am going to yoga,” “I am letting go more,” “I bought orange ballet flats”, “I am more ME!” Two words carry majestic meaning when they declare who you are and what you yearn for.

Carrie, your Style Statement is Refined Treasure and Danielle, yours is Sacred Dramatic. Will you to us a little about the process of discovering your statements and how you both use your statements to create focus and direction in your lives?

Carrie: I use my magically infused words Refined Treasure all the time. Most of my decision-making begins like this: “Are these shoes Refined Treasure?” “Am I being a treasure in my marriage?” “Am I treasuring my body?” “Do I need to process this information more?” It’s a constant guide and mantra for making choices in all areas of my life. And I know when I am not living my Style Statement - when I rush, when I am not present…and I have the bruises to show for it.

Danielle: Sacred Dramatic, like most people’s Style Statements, is paradoxical. Sacred is introverted, reflective, respectful. Dramatic is outgoing, impactful, visible. It’s the 80/20 principle that’s profoundly helpful for me. 80% Sacred keeps me grounded, 20% Dramatic inspires me to be expressive about what’s important.

As you know, A Beautiful Abode is dedicated to providing inspiration for creating a beautiful home on a tight budget. Besides money, one of the biggest concerns many of my readers voice is not knowing WHERE to start with designing their homes. They look at magazines and become overwhelmed with the idea of pulling together a cohesive space that feels right to them. Can you give an example of how knowing your Style Statement has helped you make the correct choices for creating a comfortable, attractive living space?

Carrie: When people come into my home they feel a quiet elegance, a kinship with nature and space to breathe. They see treasures from my family, a cocktail dress hung on the wall, an Allessi vase, a painting from my niece. All of these elements are created based on my two words: 80% Refined and 20% Treasure. Without the definition of your Style Statement, it’s important continually asking yourself this question: “What inspires me?” It’s so simple and so powerful. If you bring that question forward in your daily life, you’ll start to see patterns in what truly floats your boat. A colour, a way of being, a style of sofa, the way someone speaks—pay attention to how these things make you feel. Up? Down? Heavy? Light? Inspired?

I’m very excited to tell everyone that your book, Style Statement: Live by Your Own Design, was released in stores just a few days ago (April 8th). Will you explain how readers will be able to use the book as a tool to discover their own style statements?

Style Statement: Live By Your Own Design is an inquiry into your authentic self. It’s a discover-it-yourself process for defining your own personal Style Statement. The questions are playful and profound, superficial and deep. You can see how others use their Style Statements in their lives, and the final part of the journey is an exericse in how your can really live authentically in every area of your life — from your living room to your relationships.

Finally, if you could share just one piece of advice with readers who are concerned with styling their homes in a way that authentically reflects them, what would it be?

Ask yourself these questions abut every aspect of your home: What do I love? What do I desire? How do I want to feel in my home?

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If you want to learn more about Carrie and Danielle, please visit their website at CarrieandDanielle.com. While you’re there, be sure to sign up for their Friday Focus newsletter. It’s one of the few e-mail newsletters that I ALWAYS read every week and it never fails to provide me with inspiration. Their book, Style Statement: Live by Your Own Design, is available online right now at Amazon.com and I’m pretty sure you can pick one up at your local bookstore (which is on my to-do list for next week). As a wonderful A Beautiful Abode reader, you ALSO have the chance to win an autographed copy of the book

**Entering the giveaway** is pretty simple…

If you have a blog, write a post about “What inspires me?” and add a link to that post in the comments here. If you don’t have a blog, you can still enter, just leave a comment answering the question “what inspires me?” Add your comment by midnight (eastern time) Thursday, April 17th. I’ll announce the winner on next Friday’s Inspiration Friday post.

Good Luck! I can’t wait to see what inspires you all…

xoxo - Shauntelle

Edited to add: I’m extending the deadline to Tuesday, April 22nd. A post would be nice, but to make it easier, you can just answer what inspires you in a comment.

In the Trenches: featuring Kim of Desire to Inspire

It’s WEDNESDAY and you know that means a new “In the Trenches” interview! I feel incredibly lucky to be able to share an interview with Kim, one of the great ladies from the blog, Desire to Inspire. If you’re familiar with Kim and her partner Jo’s blog, you already know that they have fantastic taste. That taste is reflected all through Kim’s home, and as I looked through pictures, I was making notes on all kinds of ideas that I want to borrow for my own home. The funny thing is, she almost didn’t agree to the interview because she only recently moved into a new home and thought it was too much of a work-in-progress to show. All I’m saying is that her work-in-progress makes quite a few homes look shabby!

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I was so happy when you agreed to this interview, I squealed! I’m a big admirer of Desire to Inspire, the blog you share with fellow design enthusiast mid-century Jo, but I have to admit that the only thing I know about you is that you have FABULOUS taste. Would you share a little bit about yourself with me and my readers?

OK, you’ve got me blushing on the first question. I live in Ottawa, have all my life. By day I am a web developer/programmer for the government, and by night I am a blogger and online shopper. LOL. Funny but so true. I have 2 sisters, one being my identical twin. When I was little my twin sister and I used to rearrange our bedroom furniture just about every other weekend. So it’s no surprise that I love interior design. I am a NUT for animals. I have 5 cats: Milo, Mimin, Cheeks, Lucky and Phoebe. I move a lot. For no reason really. My current home I own, and moved there in December. I’m kind of proud of it – it’s close to downtown, but needs a lot of work…and I bought it myself. Since I live with only a plethora of cats, I can decorate it how I choose – hence my pink kitchen (and hence the cat furniture scattered throughout). The house is about 12 ft wide, probably 90 years old and around 900 sq ft.

How did you and Jo meet (with you being in Canada and her in Australia) and what inspired the two of you to begin Desire to Inspire?

Jo and I met on Flickr. There was a Flickr group that Jo and I used to post photos on all the time of rooms we loved, and when the group was removed, we were bummed and realized that to continue the fun, we could do the same thing on a blog. Jo and I have known each other for about a year and a half, and we’ve never met (I SO wish I could afford a trip to visit her), and we’ve never even spoken on the phone. Our only communication is via IM.

Ya’ll showcase quite a wide range of styles on Desire to Inspire… what would you say best describes your personal design style?

My personal style has changed drastically over the past few years. I’ve done it all, from modern, to shabby-chic and everything in between. I started to get into retro/vintage as I started to really appreciate the occasional funky item while out antiquing/thrifting and I realized how fulfilling it was finding gems amidst piles of crap. So for the past couple of years I’ve been hooked on anything and everything vintage. I love eclectic…specifically mixing different styles that are polar opposites. There is nothing better than an antique portrait in a gilded frame hanging above a modern bench, or a vintage crystal chandelier over a tulip table. I LOVE the unexpected.

One of the things I love about the photos of your previous home as well as your current work-in-progress home is that you are NOT afraid of color. Would you share your thoughts on how readers can incorporate more color into their homes? How do you decide what colors are complementary to one another and how do you determine when you’re using too much color?

I am not afraid of colour because it keeps things interesting. I could not live in an all-white house. It’s so uninspiring. But that’s just me. I love how easy it is to change up a room with a coat of paint. Forget doing a whole room – just one accent wall or a random square somewhere framing a grouping of art is just as effective. Best part is if you don’t like it, paint over it! In my opinion, colours are complementary if I hold up paint chips and they just seem to work. I love mixing different shades of the same colour. I don’t know if there is such a thing as too much colour – it’s a matter of taste. But I prefer bold colour in….chunks. I think a bright orange couch is awesome, when the wall behind it is white or grey.

A bright yellow wall is brilliant, but with mostly white or maybe teak furniture against it. I painted a room teal, and painted a rattan chair red to complement it, but the rest of the large pieces are wood. Take every opportunity to be bold with colour when you think you can handle it. I painted my kitchen bubblegum pink because it was ghastly and I have to live with it until I can renovate it. For resale purposes I would never install pink cabinets, but while I had the chance, I wanted to go all out.

We discussed that you recently moved into a new home; in fact, the night you agreed to the interview, you were in the process of demolition work in your bedroom. After living in another space and getting it decorated just right, was it hard to start from scratch again? Do you have a planning process to determine how you’re going to decorate your new home? How do you decide what areas and which projects to start without getting overwhelmed?

This is my second owned home. The first one was in the suburbs, and on the opposite side of the city from where I grew up. I really didn’t like living out there – my boyfriend and I only bought the house because the price was right. So I knew we weren’t going to last long. And we didn’t, we were there a little over a year. Like I said before, I get bored easily, so the idea of started fresh was thrilling. And will be the next time I decide to sell. My planning process is not really a process. I just spend every spare moment thinking about how I want the rooms to look, and what functions the rooms will serve, and how I can maximize the small space that I have. When an idea sticks with me longer than a couple days, I know it (in some form or another), is a keeper. And when a photo really appeals to me, and I can’t get it out of my head, I save it in an inspiration folder to refer to. Your last question is a tough one. My last house only needed minor renovations and cosmetic work done – so I actually find this house a bit overwhelming. Everywhere I turn, there’s something else driving me nuts that I want to change. So far I have stuck to the small stuff – but haven’t actually completed anything major. I’m not going to rush into anything until I know EXACTLY what I want. I will make sure to do all my research before I touch anything, because I can’t afford to renovate twice.

Some of my readers know me as the “Queen of Craigslist” because it’s the first place I turn to find pretty much anything I need for my townhouse. I would call you the “Queen of Ebay.” Do you have any tips you could share with my readers and I about buying collectibles and home decor on Ebay?

Queen of Craigslist eh? I might battle you for that title. Except it would have to be Craigslist/Kijiji. (I’m also Etsy-obsessed). I picked up a rattan patio set this weekend for my backyard deck that I found on Kijiji.

Ebay is addictive. It’s my favourite source for fabric. There are so many amazing fabrics, especially vintage ones, on Ebay. And cowhide rugs. I have been checking out cowhides for a while now and last week finally purchased one for my living room, and will eventually get another for my dressing room. I bought my mom a gorgeous original oil painting for Christmas. My tips would be to check and double check measurements. Sometimes the price seems reasonable until you realize how small the item is. And always ask for the shipping price. Especially if you don’t live in the States. The shipping usually helps me set my max price. Some sellers will charge based on your postal/zip code, which I think is great, but others will charge a flat rate which I often find unreasonable. I stick to small stuff when I shop online, on Ebay or anywhere, because I hate paying for shipping.

Another thing I love when reviewing photos of your homes is how your look evolves over time. I see objects rearranged, furniture moved, items painted… you seem to have no fear of change when it comes to getting your home to look right for you. If you had to give someone five tips for creating a style in their home that feels right to them, what would you tell them?

1 – Move your furniture around. Then move it again. And then, move it again. You’ll get that feeling in your gut when you’ve got it right.

2 – Buy furniture that is adaptable to your potentially ever-changing style. That’s why I’ve recently realized the incredible potential of rattan furniture. It’s easy to paint, and when I tire of it, I can paint it another colour, reupholster the cushions, and give it a brand new look.

3 – This goes along with the last point. Buy lots and lots of spray paint. One minute you may love shabby chic and go out and buy all sorts of white furniture and accessories, and when you change your mind, you can whip out a can of spray paint and you’ve got a whole new look.

4 – Don’t listen to the hype. My house doesn’t look mainstream. I don’t follow all the trends I see in magazines. I just go with what makes me feel comfortable. Vintage for me equates to comfort. If modern or country does it for you, then go for it.

5 – Give some thought to what you have to work with. My house is very old, and vintage furnishings suit this house. All modern furnishings would look out of place. The architecture should help you figure out what style to go with.

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Aren’t you glad she agreed to the interview? The photos featured are a mix of ones from her new home and her previous home. Every week it’s incredibly hard to choose which photos to use with the interviews… this time, it was almost impossible to narrow it down. So do yourself a favor and go visit Kim’s flickr set. And don’t forget to leave a comment here to let her know how much we appreciate her for sharing with us!

Until next time, happy budget decorating!

xoxo,

Shauntelle