Being playful and taking risks in decor

Let's get something out of the way: renovating a house is hard, but do you know what's even harder? Filling it with furniture and decor. For one thing, it's not exactly easy on the budget to buy items for rooms that never existed before. For another, it's just plain challenging to make decisions. Like I mentioned on Wednesday, one of the things that has really helped me is keeping my 5 words in mind. Another helpful tip I try to remember? Not to take myself (or my home) too seriously. 

Being playful with decor is super important to me. I like to think that I am fun, and so I want my home to represent that. I love mixing patterns and colors. Navy blue next to kelly green? Yes, please! A splash or four of pink? Of course! I love mixing furniture from different eras. French provincial chairs? Yep. Jenny Linds spool bed? Be still my heart. 

While none of our rooms are finished, or are anywhere close to being finished, I think you can really see what I mean in our downstairs guest room. This room used to be our bedroom, and it has had quite a transformation. Take a look at the before: 

Since this room isn't done (please ignore the lack of rug), we'll call this the "during" phase: 

We inherited the antique bed from Hunter's grandmother. It was that typical mid-century yellow wood, but my mother in law painted it a glossy jet black. The plates are another antique gift from my husband's family. The typewriter is from my grandparents. It belonged to my grandmother. It's super heavy and rusty, but it's such a neat piece to have, especially since I make my living as a writer. The trunk is full of Hunter's childhood baseball cards. And my favorite addition is the emerald Robert Abbey Delta lamp. The modern shape goes totally against the other antique decor, but it works! Not only is it the right scale for the height of the bed, but the punchy color is unexpected yet playful. And ding ding ding! Playful is one of my house words. 

We still need a rug and the fabric that will actually be used in Euro shams is unreal and will really make this room complete, but for now, this room is exactly where I want it to be. Unexpected and playful with a few timeless pieces thrown in.