5 Ways your Home can tell your Story

If you caught my post yesterday, then you know I shared how I believe our homes should tell not just any story, but our story. You can read it HERE, in case you missed it, but I pointed out some key pieces in my own home to share how it reflects us. I want our home to tell a story, Our story. While I love finding great buys at HomeGoods and Marshalls, my favorite things to decorate with are those that have a story. So today I’m sharing 5 ways your Home can tell your Story too!

1. Choosing pieces that reflect your personal style : We all have a personal clothing style, well I think the same is true about our home decor. One of the questions I would always ask a new client, when I was taking design clients, was “What is your favorite color to wear?” or “Describe your favorite outfit to me”. I am a white shirt and favorite pair of jeans girl all the way! And usually it’s a white t-shirt, which is probably why I love the look of relaxed white slip covers so much! So it’s a no brainer I gravitate towards rooms with lots of white, a pop of blue that carry a relaxed vibe throughout.

2. Sharing your Interests : Sharing your interests can be like sharing your personal style, however this is where you get to add some elements that might speak a bit differently than your style. For instance, if you like nature, or the beach, or the dessert – this is your chance to incorporate pieces that tell the story of what your interests are. Since we live close to the beach, and it was such a fond memory of a place we would visit often when I was a kid, I love decorating with any treasures we bring back from our current trips to the coast. Rocks, driftwood in all shapes and sizes, you name it, and I love to use it all around our home. Below you can see how I leaned two of my largest driftwood finds in a corner in our dining room.

What was once a bare spot, now has texture, and interest, and the story of that time I dragged a piece of driftwood so big off the beach, my husband looked at me in disbelief as I asked him, very giddy I might add, to please put this in the trunk of our car! HA! We still laugh about it, but it’s a meaningful piece that tells part of our story, and our love for the beach.

3. Incorporating family heirlooms : One of my most treasured pieces is our trunk coffee table in the living room. I get asked about it quite frequently, it’s a piece my husbands grandfather made in the 50’s, and soon after we were married, we luckily inherited it! I’ve since sanded it down and stained it, and we’ve been using it as our coffee table for the past 6 years. It holds seasonally pillows and blankets, as well as adding some warmth to our mostly white space.

In case you might be on the hunt for a trunk coffee table of your own, I rounded up some of my favorites and shared them HERE.

Another family heirloom I have, you might not even be aware of, but the dresser turned buffet in our dining room, used to be my mothers. It was part of her first bedroom set my parents purchased when they got married, and it used to have a huge mirror with shelves that sat on top of it.

It was actually the first furniture DIY my husband and I ever attempted. We sanded it down and replaced all the hardware. We did this project pre – blogging days, during the first year we were married, and without a whole lot of knowledge on how to go about it. But looking back I love that we tackled this project together, and it was only the first of many to come.

4. Showing off your family : I shared in yesterdays post that one of the things I loved most that I would see in the rooms in the Pottery Barn decor books was their rooms were full of pictures of people. It added so much life back into the space, along with sharing the story of the people who lived in those spaces.

Our kids love to see pictures of themselves as chubby babies, and wobbly toddlers, and pictures of our wedding. To them it’s like looking through a photo album everyday around the house.

If you don’t have kids, no problem. I love enlarging candid photos of just my husband and I, or us with friends. Extended family members are a great addition to any family gallery wall. I have the original wedding photo of my maternal grandparents, and love seeing it incorporated in all the photos on our staircase.

Even if you are single, with no significant other, another great way to share your story through pictures on your wall, is through artwork. I can’t think of a more personal way to showcase what you love, than by the art that speaks to you. I shared lots of different things you can decorate your walls with HERE.

5. Add a piece of History : Even if you don’t own any of your own family heirlooms, you can start today by incorporating your own antique pieces.

Vintage pieces tell a story on their own. The carry a past with them, a story of where they’ve been, perhaps how they got their weathered patina, and incorporating antiques that speak to you, is a great eclectic way to tell your story.

It doesn’t take much to add a piece of history to your decor. I found for myself, that when I added to many antiques they no longer stood out the way I wanted them too. So I swap out my antiques throughout each season, or as my mood allows, so that only a few pieces stay out at a time, sharing their unique feature, and adding to the story of our home.

I hope you feel inspired and encouraged to look around your home today, and start to see the story it’s telling.