Express Yourself in 2025

She said, “It is just not me. I don’t know what I was thinking when I bought it, but it just does not go.” I stood shaking my head in agreement because one quick visual survey around her home revealed that the piece of art was indeed, “not her”. She went on to say that she was shopping with a few friends and the friends seemed to think that the piece of art would look great in her home. She said in that moment that everything sounded good but once the art was hung it just fell flat, and she now hated it. She said, “I just need something that looks and feels like me.” I know that so many of my customers go through this mental battle to find out what reflects “them”, and they worry if their look will stay “in style”. All of these concerns are valid because when you decorate or spend money on your home you want it to last and stand the test of time. In the New Year and moving forward on your home decorating journey the one thing that should preface all your decisions is, “do you like what you are buying, and does it truly reflect you?” Let’s take a peek into several rooms to see how expressing yourself will always stand the test of time, somewhere in the heart of The Villages.

  •  What is your style?
The quickest way to find your style is to take a quick visual survey of your current space and see what items or colors are reoccurring in the space. Is there a particular color like dark leather or light leather that keeps reappearing in your home? What types of metal do you have? Do you like silver, gold or bold black accents? I don’t think we need to name the style as much as we need to look for reoccurring colors or items that bring you happiness in your home. For example, my side tables and tv console are black from the Tommy Bahama Kingston collection which is traditional in style. They all look very island inspired but they are black which is an unusual color for an island look. The black is complemented by the white wainscoting throughout the home and the soft blue wall color above the wainscoting adds brightness, lightness and a distinctly coastal vibe. If you do not have furniture or décor items but you would like to find out what attracts you, this can be done easily. Print out completed rooms on Houzz.com. You don’t need more than ten pictures to do this exercise. Once you have the pictures printed, I would lay them all out on the kitchen island and begin to look for any common threads. I like to circle the common threads like similar sofas, or similar colors and you will see a story begin to emerge. That is the story of you, and you can pursue that story. You can buy things that look like the pictures and eventually your home will begin to reflect your taste.
I like using pictures printed on paper because it is easier to keep your mind on what you are doing and get into a creative flow. If you are toggling back and forth from screen to screen on a computer or worse your phone, it takes away from your creativity because you must stop and look at another screen.

  •  Do not worry about trends or fads
I personally do not care about what is hot right now. I like to integrate things that interest me into my personal style. I recently was asked if shiplap is still in style? I responded that it never went out of style. When shiplap or beadboard is installed and painted white, they are in a design neutral position. The same is true of board and batten. All of these wall treatment styles have been around since the days of kings and queens, and they have waxed and waned with popularity; but they still remain and will continue to show up in a big way in the world of design. If you are looking for a wall treatment, feel free to use any of these in your home and they will remain timeless.

  •  You are the same in Florida
I meet many people who want to change their style completely when they move to Florida, but I caution against that type of large sweeping change. Just before Covid, I was working with a client who wanted to have farmhouse décor in her Florida home because this was more like a vacation home. Then Covid arrived and they decided to move to Florida permanently. They left all their furniture up north because this house was furnished in a farmhouse style. After living that way for six months she realized that she hated the roughed-up finishes on the furniture, and we repainted several pieces to make the space comfortable for long term living. You are who you are, and you like what you like whether you are in Florida or New York. You may add things and integrate different styles, but most people will not dramatically change their taste, which is a reflection of themselves.

  •  Shop without a filter
Finally, when you are shopping just buy things that you like without question. If you buy things that you are attracted to then your space will reflect you and maybe you will create an entire new category of style.
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