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
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.
