Millpond Design Tip No. 1

We wanted to give a simple design tip for YOUR home as part of our new Millpond weekly design series:

Find some texture and add it to your home!

A simple rug with a pretty pattern that is soft on your feet, or a frilly fern for the table, a waffle knit table runner to cover up some scratches on your old table, a candle to add warmth to the room... Add pieces that appeal to your senses, and make you feel like you are at home!

Watch this short video of our dining room transformation:

We came upon an amazing site called RUGGABLE and can't stop talking about it! We have already gotten two other rugs from them but since we moved into our new house, our dining room has been BARE. Besides a few pictures on the wall, it has been hard to decide how we wanted to style it. But it shouldn't be hard to make your home cute! Thankfully, Ruggable has the cutestttttttt styles and being that they are WASHABLE, I knew a rug under a dining table would be fine. If we spill spaghetti on it, or if Sadie drools on it while she is begging at our feet, we can just throw it in the wash. We decided to order one on New Years Day and it is already here!

Don't be overwhelmed with trying to find your "aethetic" or theme. Making big decisions like that is overwhelming! Our "theme" in the Shover household is only putting things on the wall, or items on shelves that are special to US. We are the ones that see it daily, and the ones that really need to love it. Maybe the item doesn't match perfectly but it was your great grandma's and you remember her using it when you were a kid. Or maybe it is an old recipe book that your mom used to teach you how to make homemade macaroni and chocolate chip cookies. Maybe you sort through your grandpa's attic and find an old diagram from one of his aviation books, and decide to frame it. Find items that mean something to you!

Being that we are young, straight out of college, and running our own business, we don't have the ability currently to go to Pottery Barn and buy whatever we want. Our home is filled with pieces passed down from our parents and grandparents, yard sales, auctions, and homemade treasures. Every now and then, we splurge on something super special for our house that we know will last for many years to come.

Don't feel like you have to have your home filled instantly as soon as you move into it..whether it be a one room apartment, a dorm room, or a 10 bedroom house! Take your time!

I made the mistake when I first moved out of just finding anything I could (cue a lot of "Faith Hope Love" signs!) and hanging it on the wall just to fill the space. What I found out, is a week later I would look at it and just want to take it down and not feel happy with the way my house looked. Instead, I should have waited to see what fit best there with the colors of the room, the way the sun lit up the room...and put something there that was meant to be there!

You may not like how my house looks or have a different taste, and that is OKAY! That is the coolest part of it all: your decorating is unique to you! Add some texture to your rooms, and make sure that they fit YOU and you will never be unhappy with your home sweet home.