Chelsey: Design confidence

Having two older sisters that are essentially my style icons, I never quite had the confidence to decorate or style on my own. Both my wardrobe and design were mediocre and juvenile (I can admit this now) in comparison to the classic, vintage effortless style possessed by Mallory and the modern, trendy and expensive taste of Courtney. Baby sister complex perhaps, but I could never really identify with either style until recently.

Maybe it’s because I’m recently out of school and in the real world where style contributes to first impressions. Like it or not, first impression is everything in the professional world. Oh wait, teaching is ‘not an actual profession.’ Either way, I like to look good. Getting my sisters’ input was and still is important to me. “What do you think of this outfit? Does it give a good first impression?” I asked these same questions internally when putting personal touches in each room in our house.

One of my favorite decorators, David Bromstad from HGTV‘s Color Splash and Color Splash Miami once said that in order to give a room a personality, you simply have to pick things that you are drawn to and put them where they feel right. I never realized how easy design could be. I had been complicating things and making myself overwhelmed by design for no reason. I was reassured by his advice that as long as I went with my design instincts, the rooms in the house would be a personal reflection of us. And after all, isn’t that the goal of design – to put personal touches on classics?

Because I’m completely food-minded, I will also tell you that I follow these same principles when cooking. Give the classics a kick. Good food and good design will shine. Poetry month is April. I’m a few weeks late.

Not to say that Corey has had no say in the decor. He’s great at saying “Ok, Chelsey” and asking “Is it level?” and always with a smile on his face. In the end, we love what we have done so far and look forward to giving the house a “lived in” look by adding meaning to the design over time (another great piece of advice from the buff and beautiful David Bromstad as a very important aspect in interior design). We pickedup a few of these meaningful items in Key West while on vacation last weekend: a hand-embossed sign and our first Christmas ornament!