The Decorating Muse - What's Yours?

My last post on lightening my colour palette has begat this post on what gets us going when we decorate.

I am no decorator.  While I have had help from time to time (see: coral debacle), 90%+ of our home is my vision, for good or bad.

My taste is like me - a collection of bits and bots, whims, fancies, tricks of light.  There is nothing prized except the art work in terms of value and the antiques because they are all family heirlooms.

I do not know really know decorators except for Canadian Sarah Richardson, Nate Berkus and Elsie deWolfe.

When I see others in your blogs and in the magazines I do pay attention, but I must be honest: I have pedestrian taste.  I cannot afford, nor would my good Scot blood allow, most things I see.

And actually, I am quite content with that, most of the time, though I admit to wishing I better understood principles of design, as it would no doubt hold me in good stead.  At present, when something works it is almost always accidental.   And when something bothers me, I cannot explain why it bothers me except it makes my stomach hurt, similar to bad writing and too many cheesies.

Often what starts me down a road is something that is kind of quirky.

This early 1960s toy kitchen (I had the yellow version)

and my parent's canisters from the same era

led to my kitchen:

And as much as the soothing blues have inspired me to paint the dining room, so too has the portrait of my mother in her blue sweater as a young girl:

old picture and excuse the mess!

As an aside, many of you will recall that My mom and her younger brother Barry (!) grew up with Donald Sutherland and were very good friends with him.

Sadly she never got to meet him again after he went Hollywood, which I think was always sad for her in some ways, and kind of a relief in others.  I was thinking of them the other day when I saw this preview for the next Hunger Games movie:

Donald just chews up the scenery in the best way possible in these movies!

But I digress....

Every Ralph Lauren lifestyle ad I've ever seen inspired me to paint our library a deep navy.

A sweater I have inspired the peacock-coloured walls of my bedroom:

As funds and time allow, we "upscale" a bit - get the better lamp, a window that actually opens and closes, trade in the old thing for something a little finer.  But generally, there is nothing fancy here and though I am often inspired by the nesting magazines I read, I do not always see myself in them because their spaces seem too perfect, too staged for my lackadaisical tendencies.  Even as I sit here writing this in my office I am looking down at an old business card I dropped three days ago by my feet and I notice the extension cord that needs to be wrapped up and put away.  

And if I tell the truth, I am most taken with spots with lots of imperfection, lots of character.  The dent for me is as interesting as the piece itself.  I am fascinated by what people collect and bare walls make me nervous; I feel they would swallow me whole!

So I would love to hear about what starts you decorating and how you choose your styles and colour schemes?  Do you copy many things?  Do you get help?  Please share!

Have a lovely evening and stay safe out there, especially all intrepid travellers!

xoxo wendy