I don’t know about you, but decorating my home, for me, is more about using the items I enjoy rather than buying items that go together.  My favorite decorating style is what I consider a layered look.

These days it seems the most common look for decorating is anything goes, which I love!  Although farmhouse is popular (a tribute to the creations of Joanna Gaines), I often see bits of it mixed with a pre-existing style.  Folks usually don’t want to throw out all they have and start over (that would be more the everything goes look :-)).

A layered look can be described as pieces gathered over years and combined to create multiple points of interest in a room.  One might think this leads to a cluttered look, which it could if that is what you are going for.  I prefer a clean, edited look.

Generally, my coffee table and dining table have only one to three objects on them.  Curio cabinets, barrister cases, and old secretaries house the smaller, collected items.  This means less effort when dusting and less clutter on the open surfaces.  If you want to put out a small repast on the coffee table, there is plenty of room!

The VRBO we stayed at in Malibu had lots of collections and chotzkies all around.  It worked well with the spiritual, bohemian decor of the home.  I loved it, but I also know that over time I could not have lived with it.  I did appreciate that they were items collected over time and through travels.

I often wonder what my house would look like if I had a clean slate.  Mike and I would like to buy a condo in the  Metroplex and that would be a clean slate for us.  We would decorate in a totally modern style, which would be different and fun.  I have an old lamp that was in Aunt E‘s house that would be perfect!

Of course, that is the luxury of decorating our homes…if we like it, then it is perfect.  That makes it our style which is so much more important than someone else’s style!