My Style...{Defined}

I've been thinking about writing this post for a while...but I think now is as good a time as any to actually do it...

I can't tell you how many times I've read a blog or seen some gorgeous photos in a magazine and thought, "Wow...that (nightstand, kitchen, painting, etc.) is really beautiful...I love that, want that, need that... My house has to look just. like. that."

In grade school I had my Mom buy me a black & red outfit with suspenders (yes, suspenders) because I had seen someone on TV with a similar outfit...

In high school I bought pink eye shadow and blue eyeliner because an older girl I looked up to wore those colors...

In college I bought CDs of the music I thought I should be listening to...

Just a few of the countless examples of what a follower I've been. Painful to admit? Yes. True? Yes.

I've often fallen victim to pretending I like/love something because I've wanted to be accepted...because I've wanted to fit in...because I've wanted to be cool...

But guess what?

As I get older, I've realized that there is a certain amount of liberation that comes with age. I no longer worry about whether the 20-something checkout guy will check me out...I no longer care if I go to the store in my sweats, no makeup & unbrushed hair (don't judge)...I no longer care if people think I'm weird for smiling at or talking to strangers (my Mom does this and it used to embarrass the dickens out of me...now I'm her...)...I'm allowed to be me. And I'm doin' it. And I like it.

I've stopped buying or making things I don't like just because I've seen them all over blogland or in Country Living...I'm over chalkboards...I'm over cake pops...I'm over trying to make a million-dollar-looking project from items found at the Dollar Store...(although I do still LOVE the Dollar Store...don't get me wrong...)

My house is a mish-mash of a million different styles...shabby-chic, traditional, modern, retro, plain old midwest crap & kids' stuff. I love combining styles...I'm sure my house is an interior decorator's nightmare...I'm sure most people wouldn't be caught dead with a Jane Eyre-esque bust sitting next to a chipped mirror vase on a 12 year old modernish side table...I'm sure most people would walk into my family room - with it's giant tv (no, we don't have a flatscreen), broken couch, dusty end tables & billion legos, turn a 180 and never return again...but I don't care.

I love that my favorite room in my house is our small little framed out laundry room...with it's exposed beams and concrete floor...there's something so cozy & right about it to me...

I love that my kids are making memories cooking in a kitchen that has room enough for about 2 people if they stand really close together, but we've managed to fit a 6 person table in there...

I love that our guest bedroom has blankets and craft stuff all over the floor because the kids love to jump on the bed & I just throw whatever I'm not working on at the time in there so that I don't have to bring it back down to my little craft nook in the basement...

I love that we've never really remodeled anything in our almost 11 years of marriage until now...because now I am finally starting to discover who I am...and what I like. Yes, my tastes are eclectic...and are probably bordering on schizophrenic (figuratively speaking)...but that's OK.

Yep...that's OK. In fact, it's great...