Your Home is Your Canvas: How I Found My Personal Style

Things have started getting pretty hot and heavy at The Purple Door! We’ve been knee-deep in some of the home renovations for a while, but it’s okay! I know this whole process of rebuilding and redesigning the interior of this home is going to help bring my family closer and help build those family ties that make life so sweet for me!

We’re finally starting to complete the kitchen, but the last twenty percent is what takes the most amount of time!

I wanted to show you something that might help you if you’re trying to find your style. About 15 years ago, I started collecting pictures from magazines that captured my eye and spoke to my personal sense of style. When I’m working on a specific home design project, I’ll go through all of my collected materials and find some bits and pieces that inspire me in that moment.

There’s so many different things that stand out to me when I go through this giant folder—things like colors, textures, accessories, even furniture pieces.

If you do like I did and, through the years, collect all sorts of things that speak to your personal style, you’ll start seeing recurring themes and motifs. And seeing those will absolutely help you visualize your dream living space!

A folder full of magazine cutouts that has helped Stacy Lyn Harris discover her personal style
I told you I’ve been collecting magazine cutouts for 15 years! This has helped so much in finding my personal style

For example, in my case, I can tell just from scanning through this massive collection of magazine cutouts that I’m a big fan of colors, and layers of colors. You won’t find much white and off-white heavy, minimalism-inspired vignettes in my design book.

And what you see in my design book looks a whole lot like what you’ll find in my house: layers of soft colors paired with bold and natural design elements, like wood grain or earth-tones. The design book has helped so much over the years in finding my personal style, so I recommend that you all start doing it as well!

I have another easy trick for getting my home to reflect my personality. If you ever visit my house, you will notice that a lot of the negative space in the house is occupied by artwork. Now, I don’t know if you’ve ever browsed the decorative art in a furniture or interior design gallery, but art is usually quite expensive.

It would be foolish, in my opinion, to drop a couple hundred dollars on paintings and sculptures just to have pretty pieces lining your hallways.

Home is a canvas for creativity, a place to lay down roots, to display treasures from a lifetime of experiences.
Home is a canvas for creativity, a place to lay down roots, to display treasures from a lifetime of experiences.

Instead, I like to use original art from my husband and kids to decorate my home! I may be blessed with an unusually talented family, but trust me, if you nurture your children’s creative impulses while they’re young, they will grow up to produce AMAZING creative works all on their own!

Encouraging my kids’ creativity paid off for me big time, when I was later able to harness it to help set up our beautiful little world.

These are just a few ways you can spice up your home and make it more reflective of your personal style. Your home should be your canvas, after all!

I promise that if you put some time into designing a home that reflects your family’s collective personality, then you will have a home that FEELS like YOUR HOME, and what can be more beautiful than that?

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8 Comments

  1. Hi Stacy!

    I enjoyed your blog today! I am a cabinet designer and thought I would offer my suggestions for your appliance question. I love the Kitchenaid duel fuel slide-in range (30″). It fits beautifully in small spaces & can still handle that big ole’ 22 pound turkey…the oven is huge! It also has a cooking/warming drawer below. They also have a convection microwave that I also use when we need to get a lot of cooking capability in small kitchens. Model# KSDB900ESS & #KMCC5015GSS. My client’s love them! And your kitchen is coming along beautifully!

    P.S. My file folder looks like yours too!

    Pam

    1. We ended up with that oven!! Isn’t that crazy Pamela? Thanks for the confirmation. We have all the appliances now. I do weekly videos on my FB page under the playlist Purple Door. I’d love for you to see it!

  2. Cindy Mauck says:

    Hi Stacey! I love this idea…I have collected items also in folders..so fun.
    My biggest complement was when my Grandmother gave me when she moved in with me…she said” Your home is very individualistic. …
    I have learned over the years to follow my Christian council. ..to make your home so that each family member feels they can find refuge from the storm….love and comfort♡
    Can’t wait to see the finished Purple Door♡

    1. Cindy, that is a beautiful way to put that. Thank you so much for those heart-felt words. I certainly couldn’t have said it better!

  3. Cindy Mauck says:

    Hi Stacey!
    Excited to see the finished Purple Door. How fun to gather all your likes and make them a reality.
    A place where family can come to have refuge from the storm, comfort and love.

    1. Yes, that what home is!! It’s a refuge from the storm. I’m sure that you and most people out there know this, but I think of it often – Hospitality comes from the word hospital. It’s a place of care, refreshment, rest, and healing. Home is the perfect place for hospitality!

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