Welcome to the Slow Style Home Podcast, where you don't need to be a design genius to create your dream home, and you don't need a winning lottery ticket or to rely on cheap goods and trends, and you don't need to hurt the planet or your wallet to develop your signature style.
Hello, I'm Zandra, your host, and before we go on, I want to make sure you know about my new free guide where you'll discover the magical first step to making that dream home happen.
Most people skim right over this step or skip it entirely, but if you take the time to go through the guide, you'll have the foundation to make every single room in your home a line with a vision that you've created.
Go to SlowStyleHome.com and click on the button that says free guide right at the top.Again, that's SlowStyleHome.com or you can find the link right here in the description of this episode.Let's go. Hello.Today, it's just you and me again.
No guest, just another deep dive into how you can put the slow style approach to work in your own home.I'm going to cover step three in the slow style framework as part of my series on how to do a room makeover.
You can find the entire series by scrolling through recent back episodes and looking for the titles that start with step one, step two, et cetera.
Today, the focus is on adding new things to your home in order to fulfill a vision that you've already established.
So I'll cover connecting the dots between how you want to feel and specific design decisions that you'll need to make, as well as some tips on how to shop with clear eyes.And before I jump into it, I want to clarify two things.
First, you can use the Slow Style framework for every design choice that you make, whether you need to make a single decision, such as what rug to buy, or decisions about every single thing, like when you're moving into a new home.
But when I'm explaining how to use the framework, I talk about it in terms of one room makeover at a time. And that's because I don't recommend trying to outfit an entire home all at once.
If you're in the situation where every single room needs your attention, you'll still be much happier if you break it down room by room.The second point of clarification is that once you grasp the reasons behind each step
and have had a chance to implement some things, you won't necessarily approach every single project in the same order.In other words, sometimes you won't need to do step two before moving on to step three, or you may skip from step one to step four.
When you're first developing your signature style and learning to train your eye, following the steps in order is helpful, but you shouldn't feel restrained by them.Okay, moving on.
It's been a few weeks since we aired the episodes covering Steps 1 and 2, so feel free to go back and listen to those, like I said.But to recap really quickly, Step 1 in the Slow Style Framework is called Envision, and Step 2 is called Examine.
To summarize, first, you do some soul searching about the kinds of experiences you want to have in a room, and you get really specific about it. you might have some conversations with loved ones who are also using that room.
And you're going to assess what's working and what's not working.The free guide that you may or may not have signed up for yet helps you identify all of these things so that you can create your vision for the room.
If you do need to download it, you can click the link in the description of this episode right here in your podcast player.And yep, it's the same thing I mentioned in the intro to this episode. Okay, let me keep going.
Step two, you start experimenting with what you already own to get you closer to the new place you want your room to end up.
In that episode, I went over why experimenting is so crucial, especially with stuff you already own before you buy anything new.I also talk about how to do it and what kinds of objects and furniture to use.
And today it's step three of the Slow Style Framework, which is called Execute. So this is when you're ready to pull the trigger on usually some big design decisions.It could be a new paint color.
It could be an investment piece of furniture or the most expensive piece of art that you've bought to date.Step three is the part where you start adding in all of the layers and details that make the vision come together.
And it's where you're really starting to show off your signature style.By the way, I've talked about this in other episodes, but as a reminder, your signature style doesn't mean what style category you've landed on for a particular room.
So I'm not talking about choosing boho or modern farmhouse or granny chic. A signature style is actually found in the combination of several styles.
A signature style is precisely how you choose to mix things together, because that's the thing that no one else is going to replicate.So what exactly are we executing here?
For each room in your home, I'd like you to think about how your passions, your personality, and your values are going to show up as you makeover your room. I want anyone coming into your home to look around and say, wow, this is so you.
In particular, think about which value, which passion, which aspect of your personality does your vision for the room highlight?So now let's start connecting the dots.
Basically, you've got two ways of getting to the design decisions that you're going to need to make for your vision.You're imagining what you want to feel and experience is step one.
And you're identifying the pieces of you that will help tell that story or express that vision.This is how you're going to avoid a generic representation of a typical style category and
It's how you get that one of a kind, effortlessly collected home that I know you've been dreaming about.This is also where the slow part of slow style might kick in because you don't have to do everything at once.
The thing you might do or that I suggest doing in step three is adding to your mood board, the one you hopefully started in step one.
At that point, you were collecting photos that represented the feelings and experiences that you envisioned for your room. but not photos of décor or décor and furniture-related products.
It's a true mood board, not a visual shopping list at that point.Based on your vision and the experimentation you did in Step 2, you are ready to imagine what design choices will fulfill that vision. There's a lot to this part.
Translating feelings into specific decor choices is what you'd really be paying an interior designer to do, at least a really good one.So don't beat yourself up if you find this part challenging.
You'll be taking images from your mood board and pulling out the patterns and the colors and the materials that you see for every aspect of the room.So I'll give you an example.
Let's say on your mood board I'm seeing that you love wildlife and much of your inspiration seems to be coming from nature.So you've got a zebra in one of your photos and it's inspiring you to think about incorporating stripes somehow.
you'll need to decide how.Will they be on the curtains, on the walls, the rug, or smaller, maybe just on throw pillows?And will they mimic actual zebra stripes or be preppy stripes or nautical stripes or hand-painted watercolor stripes?
It is up to you how you interpret the photo.It does not have to be an exact replica of the photo.It's your inspirational starting point.
Now let's say in that same photo you see lots of beautiful cream, tan, and straw-colored grasses, and you're thinking color palette.
So you'll want to decide if those will be the main background color supporting other colors and objects, or if you want it to be a color that's just dotted around the room, allowing your eyes to rest between swaths of brighter colors or patterns.
Start adding options, by which I mean more like product shots or furniture and objects you've clipped from rooms that you're seeing in magazines, and add those to your mood board, either by hand, cutting out actual photos, or using something online, such as Pinterest.
Now, I think it's helpful to start with one star for the room.It could be the thing that you love the most that you already own, and that is your big starting place.Or it could be the thing that you most hope to find and purchase.
So if you found a rug with stripes, and because a rug is rather large, that's your star.You may not want to look for curtains and wallpaper also with stripes, because the stripe design element has already been chosen.
Okay, so as you can see, step three is the time when you are starting to buy new things often.
As you begin to make purchases for your room, try not to go on an energetic one-day shopping spree or a four-hour online search marathon that might lead you, because you're exhausted by the end of it, to make impulse purchases that you are gonna regret.
So here are some ways to check yourself if you are prone to impulsive shopping or if you're feeling prone to it in the moment.Consider asking yourself the following questions every time you're about to make a quick decision.
First, picture yourself tomorrow morning waking up having not bought the thing.Do you imagine yourself regretting it?Would you be sad or thinking, damn, I shouldn't have let that thing go?
Or do you picture yourself waking up to a new day and realizing, yeah, I'm fine without that thing?Obviously, if it's the first, then you're going to want to buy it.
Now, what if it's one of a kind, something that you've been seeing, something that you're right now seeing in a thrift store, an antique store?If so, I recognize there is a little bit more pressure to buy it before someone else does.
And believe me, that happens. But in this situation, I want you to go back to your wish list from step two.Is this new thing filling a hole that you have from a practical standpoint?So it's on your wish list.
Or is it going to replace a specific placeholder that you've been using?So it's on your wish list.
Does it have a wow factor, like a big marble coffee table for 50 bucks that you thought you'd never find for less than 500, or even just a lamp that is really striking in its shape or size or color?
If it's one of a kind and is either the perfect replacement for something or it's going to make a statement, generally, I say buy it. because these often end up being the one-of-a-kind statement pieces that add an unexpected twist to your room.
everything in my home that when a friend comes in and say, oh, where did you find that?It's amazing.Those are those purchases, right?
And a third question that I just heard from someone else I was in a casual conversation with that I think is brilliant.
The third question you can ask yourself before making a quick or impulsive decision is, if this thing were covered in vomit, would you be willing to wash it off?
Now, I realize that doesn't necessarily work for upholstered or fabric pieces, since no amount of washing would maybe take out all of the stain or smell, but you get the idea.
Do you love it enough that you'd be willing to rescue it, to go through some trouble to own it?The point here is to be disciplined in terms of not falling for fads or choosing something simply because you're exhausted from hours of searching online.
For those of you who are reluctant to spend any money on yourselves or always talk yourself out of something because you're not feeling brave, I want you to remember that you deserve to truly love every aspect of your home and feel delighted by even the smallest details that you see throughout your day-to-day.
How or when do we actually pull the trigger?Simply put, You're looking for something that really makes your heart go zingy.
The pace of the execution depends on your personality, your preferences, and your budget, but do aim to have at least one detail or layer in place as soon as possible that you really love so that your design direction feels intentional right away.
Here are a few ways to know it's time to shell out the bucks.Number one, does the purchase align with your values?
Values can encompass the religious or spiritual aspects of who we are, how we feel about others, especially those that will be coming into our space, and what part our design and decor choices play in the larger world of production and shipping and procurement of the things we own.
Maybe you're taking into consideration your health, and possibly the health of the planet, and maybe the socioeconomic consequences of the products you're going to buy.
Another thing you may want to consider is how you'll honor design coming from cultures other than your own.Number two, Does the piece help you create the experience you're trying to evoke in the room?
If it's a piece of furniture, think about the height, the shape, the feel of the material on your skin.If it's a light source, does it fulfill your need for tasks or for ambiance?
Does the color you're choosing for the walls enhance the mood that you're going for?And how does it look during the time of day you're most likely using that room? Your vision is your North Star.
Keep coming back to that and asking yourself, does it align?Does this thing that I want to buy align?
And finally, number three, what are the parts of your personality or passions that play into your vision that you want to see represented in this room? Does this object or piece of furniture support that?
This question really comes up a lot when you're deciding on decorative things that fill out the final layers of your signature style.
For example, if you want to display something that your grandfather gave you, but it's it's small and it's so small that it kind of gets lost on a shelf, maybe use that as a jumping off point for building a collection.
So when you're thrifting or antiquing, see if you can find similar objects to group with the one from your grandmother, really highlighting it, or even just objects with the same shape or color.
Whatever you think will give that small item a bit more presence in whatever area you're putting it in.Another idea is to find objects that represent one of your passions.
So for example, vintage tennis rackets hung on the wall, if you're an avid tennis player. a big poster of a favorite band from 20 years ago, if you're a big music geek, and definitely play around with souvenirs that you've collected on your travels.
As you create a vignette, maybe you notice that now you need something to prop things up for the height, such as a stack of vintage books that you need to be on the lookout for.
or you've got something delicate that could be protected nicely by a glass cloche.So now you're on the lookout for that.So sometimes you might be buying something to help enhance what you already own.
OK, to wrap up, this has been step three of the Slow Style Framework, Execute.Once you've made the best use of what you already own and have bought some things that really make you happy,
it's time to enjoy the experience of living inside that beautiful vision that you've created.To get there, I understand that your situation, your home, your preferences, your budget, it's all unique to you.
So to go into any more depth about step three, it would really require us to get to know each other better.And for me to really understand who you are, and what you want out of your home.
Like I said, this part can be a bit daunting, which is why I offer one-on-one coaching if you're getting stuck or frustrated.Sometimes you just really do need a guide to help you wade through all of the decisions.
So if you would like to learn more, go to slowstylehome.com and click on coaching at the top of the website. Thanks so much for listening.I know your time is valuable and I really do appreciate you spending it with me.
And please, please, please take a minute to leave a review for Slow Style Home wherever you get your podcasts.It honestly does help keep this show on the air and your feedback is highly valuable to me.
Have a great day and I'll be back in your earbuds soon.Bye for now.
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