May 31st, 2017

You may recognize this photo from a Blog I did a few weeks back.  It was after I cleared the bicycles out from the front courtyard.  Suddenly, while sparse, it looked more like a patio and less like a storage unit.  I asked for, and received some really great ideas for sprucing it up.  The plan was to, somehow,  make it look more inviting, more welcoming.  It is after all the first "room" of the house that people see.

I love the idea of making an outdoor space an extension of the house. Yes, I watch a lot of HGTV.  But the decorators, and builders on those shows, those people are magicians to me. I apparently was not born with a decorating gene.  And sadly, I don't even know what my "style" is.  Most of my life I didn't know that I needed to know that.  In fact, it wasn't until we were building our house in Colorado that I heard that question for the first time.  When you are building a house, there are a lot of decisions that have to be made.  A LOT.  The nice lady in the design center tries to help.  The first question she asked was, "What is your style?"    I looked at her blankly.  The question meant absolutely nothing. She might just as well have been speaking gibberish.   I believe my response finally was, "I have a style?" 

Every time we turned around, someone was asking us that question.  And I never had an answer.  Somehow the house was built anyway.  And then we moved in and without knowing what our style is, the house filled up with all the things that make a house a home. And then the job was done and we didn't have to concern ourselves with knowing what our style was for ten years.

When we moved here and right off the bat began the kitchen reno, the question reared it's ugly head again.  It seemed that everyone we spoke to, in every store and even our contractor asked that question, "What is your style?".  I still don't know.   When walking through a furniture store, I can point out things that appeal.  I can flip through magazines and tell you what I don't like.   And sometimes in model homes I will say, things like, "I know I should like this room, but I don't and I have no idea why."  And it's probably because,  I cannot seem to slap a label on my overall style. My look. My type. 

Friends who visited us this past year, upon seeing the house for the first time suggested that perhaps my style is, "Classic Retro"  or "Modern with a Retro Twist".  I like that. I like it a lot.  But I'm not positive what that means.  Other than, when making any decorating decision, I have to spend a lot of time looking to find the thing that is right. Wrong is easier. That's always immediately apparent. So I kind of go with the process of elimination method of decision making.

Same goes with our courtyard selections.  It's not finished yet, but it looks better than it did. I plan to re-stain the old chairs to perk them up so please bear that in mind . And, well, I don't know yet what else.  But I'll figure it out. Eventually.

Is my style, Classic/Retro or Modern with a Retro Twist?  You be the judge.  I think we are making progress: