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Learning to Decorate with Confidence and Create a Home You Love

July 18, 2017


DESIGN + STYLE   |   Published July 18, 2017



Learn the basics to decorate with confidence and create a home you love.  | www.andersonandgrant.com



Our homes can say a lot about us.  They are an incredible form of self-expression and creating that home is a very personal process.  Whether you are single or married, with kids or living in an empty nest, dwelling in a country farmhouse or an apartment in a bustling city, you want your home to be your safe place.....your sanctuary.  It is your haven away from work and the troubles of the world.  And it should be filled with things that inspire you, remind you of happy moments, and bring you peace.  Where you live should look and feel like somewhere you can't wait to return to.



Decorating that place you call home should be a pleasant experience.  Fun, even.


So many of you share with me, though, that decorating is stressful.  It is frustrating.  It makes you  unsure of yourself.  And the way things turn out never feel or look like you envision.  You try and try, moving things around and buying new decor, but what you're doing never seems right.....and you don't understand what you've done wrong.


Does any of that describe the way you feel when decorating your home?



Learn the basics to decorate with confidence and create a home you love.  | www.andersonandgrant.com



The good news is that there is no right and wrong way to decorate.  In the end, all that matters is you've been able to do it in a way that pleases you and those that you share the space with.  Decorating should not be something that you do because you feel you have to, but rather because you enjoy adding beauty to the place you reside.


That being said, I understand that it can be very discouraging to spend time placing things you treasure and love into a space only to step back and realize that what you've created isn't going to make you happy.


It is so easy to get caught up in the trends and believing that your house should look and be decorated like everyone else's, which isn't the case at all.  No two homes should be anything alike because no two people and no two families are alike.  The way you decorate involves telling your life story through the treasures you've found and the way you have them displayed.  What you create is unique to you.


I encourage you to seek out inspiration from the sources around you, whether it be Pinterest, your favorite blogs and magazines, or even the homes of your friends and family.  There is much benefit to seeing a fresh idea or noticing something from a different perspective.


But then you've got to be able to use the inspiration you've gathered to create something that fits into your own home and lifestyle.  It is important that when you pick up a tip, you are then able to put your own personal stamp on it, making it your own by using what you already have available to you.


There are people born with a natural gift for knowing what looks good together and how to arrange unrelated objects so that they look like they belong.  And others are trained after years of education in the technical aspects of decorating.  But some of us, myself included, just want to be able to create a pretty home with our own hands.....and not spend a lot of money doing it.  Am I right?


You can go out and buy the most stylish furniture or the most expensive rug, and yet if if you don't understand how to properly style your space, your house isn't going to feel like your special home.  The decor you choose and how you arrange it is what brings everything together.




Learn the basics to decorate with confidence and create a home you love.  | www.andersonandgrant.com

(Learn how to make this easy DIY wood bead garland.)


In my attempts to simplify homemaking, I've decided to start a series on decorating to teach the most basic of basics.  The concepts that an interior decorator would learn in the very beginning of their education that would impact how they decorate from then on.  Styling "secrets" that are easy to understand and implement using the belongings you already have.


My goal with these upcoming tutorials is to break everything down to the simplest form so that you can learn to decorate with confidence and create a home you love.  No one wants to spend years in trial and error attempting to figure things out when it doesn't have to be difficult.  Each lesson will teach a single concept that you can begin trying out immediately with vignettes you've already created.  Sometimes improving your styling is as easy as moving a single piece of decor in a display.


Sharing these "rules" of decorating is not meant to feel like going to school or be boring lessons of hard to understand concepts.  There are basic principals that exist behind every beautifully decorated home and inspiring vignette.  And the more I research, the more I see that these concepts aren't complex and aren't something that only someone with a design school degree can understand.  They are fundamentals for us all.


So before I leave you today, I want to ask one question that I'm hoping you'll take the time to answer.....


What is the biggest thing that you struggle with when it comes to decorating your home?


Your answers here are going to impact my future lessons in regards to decorating.  These posts are being shared to help you and other readers like yourself who are struggling with adding a personalized touch to the home.  I'd be very grateful if you'd send me a short email or click on the "Leave a comment" link below to share your thoughts with me.


I look forward to hearing from you today and to being your guide in making the process of decorating your home less intimidating and difficult.

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Learning to Make a Home
anderson+grant is a lifestyle blog dedicated to helping you to create a slower, simpler home with contemporary style.

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