How to Find your Personal Style

Today I am going to share one of my biggest blogging and DIY struggles...

BEING UNIQUE.

I don't necessarily mean me personally, although that can often times come into play, but my projects. 

Before I was blogging I just went with my gut and painted things and decorated our home the way I liked and I didn't care what anyone else thought.  The down side to this is that sometimes, okay a lot of the time, I created some down right hideous things.  But you know what?  I loved them and that was all that mattered. 

I feel I have grown a lot in my tastes and talents from blogging and truly researching all the great ideas out there. 

However, I have realized that I often question my gut when it comes to making a color or design choice because it may not be the trend or my readers may hate it.

The thing is...someone will most likely always hate something I create, but hopefully there will be someone out there that will like it.  Either way, if I love it, that is all that matters.

I often find myself conflicted with what to create, especially now that I have started selling items.  I really start to second guess things when I compare myself to others and especially when something that I love sits for a while.  

For example, this hutch has sat for quite a while in my booth and makes me question my judgement...but it is a unique piece that will not work in every home.  I wish it went with all my decor because I would switch it out with my other Hutch in a second and that one would probably sell much more quickly. 

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There are some things that I have transformed, like our dining room table that I am sure gets very mixed reviews...

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But I have to tell you that this piece makes me so happy because I didn't listen to what logic was telling me, I just went with my gut. 

I have been trying to pin down my style this past year and I honestly cannot.  I love so many different things and I change my mind everyday from what my ideal home would look like.

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I mean, really, who wouldn't want an entryway like Mandi's?!  The modern and cool vibe is just amazing!

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Or what I would give to have Donna's stairs!  Everything in her home is so unique and amazing it makes me green with jealousy...yes I admit it 100%.



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But then again, I love the tranquility and little pops of color at The Nester's Place, it gets me every time!

See why it is so hard for me to make a decision about my decorating style? 

I have always been one to love drastic changes.  I might just pick a style and then sell all our furniture and start over...well maybe in my dreams ;-)

For now, I will enjoy all the different styles in creating and let each piece of furniture speak to me and try to find my own creative vision for our home.

Styles and trends will come and go...I am choosing to decorate one day and piece of furniture or accessory at a time and only pick what I truly love, no matter what anyone else may think.

Dining Room Complete

I realized after showing you my table makeover that I haven't shown you my completed dining room...

I have given you the low down on every project in this room, but now you can get the completed look :)

First we have the tea light wall art that I paired with a photo that was taken from our wedding {lemon drop martinis YUM}

On the same wall I have my gate turned herb garden and I am so excited to show you this most recent picture because my herbs are growing!!

Here is the completed look...

A far cry from this!  The black table, green curtains and white walls are GONE!!  Whoo Hoo!!

This post will be featured at Mom's Fun Money this week.

I will be linking up to here...

Impossible is No Longer Impossible!

I did it!  I finally finished my project for the challenge, just in time!  I have to be honest with you...when I first took the challenge of re-doing my kitchen table I really didn't think it would be all that impossible...I just needed a kick in the pants to get it done.  Boy was I wrong!  It wasn't impossible, but there were moments right up until  the very end that I thought it was going to be an ultimate FAIL!!

I knew I wanted something unique for this table that would be the center piece for the dining room, but I wasn't quite sure which direction I wanted to go in.  That was until I spied me some bold Tangerine!

I have to admit as excited as I was, I was also frightened that I might be making a HUGE mistake!  I started with the chairs in a more subtle, but very distressed look...

This was also my first attempt at making my own chalk paint {to learn more about this process click here}. 

I decided that I wanted to do the table with tangerine legs and a white top.  Well, this is where I almost gave up :(  I finished the table after so much hard work and brought it inside.  WOW was it blinding!  It just did not look right!!  My sweet husband walked in and very politely said, "Ummm so do you like it?" while secretly praying I would say "No" ha ha!  Lucky for him I did :)

Sorry I have no photos ~ I was way too eager to get that thing out of the house! 

I was back at the drawing board and really didn't want to start this project all over again.  In my head I knew that the table would work if I painting the white part of the chairs the same blue as my hutch, but I just did not have the energy to re-paint all of those chairs!  So I decided to re-paint the top of the table blue and guess what?  It was the perfect solution!! Get ready for picture overload...

I only wanted to very lightly distress the table so it had a much cleaner feel - for this reason I chose not use the Chalk Paint Recipe I just used regular old primer and paint for the table and I am very happy with that decision.

So what do you think?

How about you all?  Are you taking the challenge?  If so let me know so I can take a peak at your projects :)

I will be linking up to the following parties...

http://www.thriftydecorchick.com; http://www.myuncommonsliceofsuburbia.com/ ; http://abowlfulloflemons.blogspot.com/ http://www.bluecricketdesign.net/ ; http://goodbyecityhellosuburbs.blogspot.com/ ; http://www.lilluna.com/ ; http://polkadotsonparade.blogspot.com/ ; http://sewmuchado.blogspot.com/ ; http://733blog.blogspot.com/ ; http://tearosehome.blogspot.com/; http://www.somewhatsimple.com/ ; http://thriftydecorating-nikkiw.blogspot.com/ ; http://www.houseofhepworths.com/ ; http://rhinestonebeagle.blogspot.com/ ; http://www.brandyscrafts.blogspot.com/ ; http://alliemakes.blogspot.com/ ; http://www.thrifty101.blogspot.com/ ; http://www.fingerprintsonthefridge.com/
; http://whipperberry.com/ ; http://www.missmustardseed.com/ ; http://www.mysimplehomelife.com/ ; http://www.atthepicketfence.com/ ; http://frenchcountrycottage.blogspot.com/ ; http://www.stuff-and-nonsense.net/ ; http://commonground-debrasvintagedesigns.blogspot.com/ ; http://linda-coastalcharm.blogspot.com/; http://www.bedifferentactnormal.com/ ; http://niftythriftythings.blogspot.com/ ; http://morrowsunshine.blogspot.com/ ; http://www.bystephanielynn.com/ ; http://www.iheartnaptime.net/ ; http://www.flamingotoes.com/ ; http://sumossweetstuff.blogspot.com/
; http://sweetpeasandbb.blogspot.com/ ; http://www.laughloveandcraft.com/ ; http://www.thestuffofsuccess.com/ ; http://www.remodelaholic.com/ ; http://betweennapsontheporch.blogspot.com/; http://diyhshp.blogspot.com/ ; http://linesacrossmyface.blogspot.com; http://vanessascraftynest.blogspot.com ; http://kissedbyafrog.blogspot.com/ ; http://www.happyhourprojects.com/ ; http://www.homemakerinheels.com/ ; http://rocaandcompany.blogspot.com/; http://littlebighouseontheprairie1.blogspot.com/; http://funkyjunkinteriors.blogspot.com/; http://theartsygirlconnection.blogspot.com; http://todayscreativeblog.net/;http://twenty-eight-0-five.blogspot.com/; http://www.thegunnysack.com; http://caribbeanmissionarywife.blogspot.com; http://athomewithk.blogspot.com/; http://debbie-debbiedoos.blogspot.com; http://space46.blogspot.com; http://www.itsoverflowing.com/; http://5minutesjustforme.blogspot.com/ ; http://everything-underthemoon.blogspot.com ; http://www.herecomesthesun-kelly.blogspot.com; http://www.tipjunkie.com; http://www.sixsistersstuff.com/; http://junkintheirtrunk.blogspot.com; http://findingmywayintexas.blogspot.com/; http://www.tipjunkie.com; http://howtonestforless.com

Stalled...

I am having the hardest time making decisions lately!  I have done so many projects on a whim because I am so excited and I rush to get it done without thinking it through...leaving me disappointed in a month because I know how I should have done them differently.  I end up wasting so much time and money re-doing things it is ridiculous!  My poor husband must think I'm crazy!! 

I spray painted my bedroom dressers and my dining room table black right when we moved into our new house and I can't stand them ;-/  I must have been going through a Gothic period ha ha!  It's kind of like the year I planted tulips in the fall and once spring came I realized I had all planted all BLACK! They were quite beautiful, but a little color mixed in might have been a good idea...

I know what colors I am choosing for the bedroom dressers, but I cannot decide on what to do with my table...




I'm almost embarrassed to show the picture

 I am thinking of possibly painting it white distressed and staining the top a dark walnut?  Or I may try just roughing up the black a lot more? Or doing a walnut stain with the black?  Or something completely different!!  Who knows...any thoughts...

Maybe I'm just the type of person who has to try something out before I can decide whether or not I like it?  In fact I seem to do this all the time with my clothes too!  I love them in the store and then I go to put them on the next day and wonder what on Earth I was thinking!  Maybe I have a problem??

I am just so fearful of re-doing my table again to have to re-do it again :-)  Kind of like my chairs...
at least they turned out okay after the days of frustration {I guess that's all that matters in the end}.

Hopefully I can get my act together this week and just make a decision, stay tuned...