I'm Ashleigh and this is my front door. I'd like to think that behind it lies warmth, color, a little organization and a lot of joy. Here I live and work as a stay at home mom to our beautiful daughter, Lucy Belle, lively Boston Terrier, and soon to arrive son. I find great happiness in bringing style and functionality into our home and look forward to sharing my ideas, discoveries, obsessions, tidbits, brainstorms and humble advice with you.
Ever notice the envy-inducing, ever-changing window displays that upscale department stores seem to effortlessly switch from season to season, month to month, mood to mood? Me too. And believe it or not, you don't have to become a secret squatter in your downtown Nordstrom to have this same amazing (albeit downsized) effect in your very own living space.
I want to introduce you to a completely different side to decorating our homes. Meet Scent! What does scent have to do with decorating you ask… A LOT! I am one of those "smell" people (if you ask my husband it's not my most prized gift!). Trust me when I say there are times that I too wish it wasn't gifted to me. But in spite of all the draw backs to my supernatural ability, it is also such a gift - one that I use on a daily basis to help define what home truly means to me.
Believe it or not, this is a thing and if you're up for it, can look really magnificent and magazine-esque. I wouldn't recommend over doing it, nor would I say you should adopt this method onto every empty shelf and table in the room, but when done right, can absolutely give you a fresh and effortless look that's sure to turn heads.
So my husband has this chair. It's not in very good shape, nor does it go with much of anything we own. Yet, it has happily hopped from house to house with us twice and by golly, settled in quite nicely. And although it's like a big hug when you sit in it, that's not at all why we keep it. In this chair's cushions and arms are the memories my husband has of watching his dad work, holding his newly adopted shelter cat, and just plain being little. There are stories in that piece of furniture that continue to live in our home even when no one is telling them out loud - and that is what I love about it. In fact, most of my favorite things in our house happen to be the ones we didn't purchase in a store. They are the hand-me-downs, the photos taken, the wooden radio table from my great grandmother, the tiny, dirty handprints I outlined in paint that make their way up our stairs from the day we first moved in.
Love the bold, bright colors you see in designer magazines but aren't ready to commit to painting that entire wall sunset orange? I feel you. This post is all about faking bravery when it comes to welcoming loud shades into that blah beige-filled room you keep glaring at. Perhaps you're even sitting in it now. The good news is that it's possible to obtain the same lively POP effect without marrying a color forever (or at least until you repaint)...
One of my favorite parts of dressing up our home has been incorporating every member into its walls and table tops, specifically the children. While it's easy to imagine your house quickly becoming the spitting image of a kindergarten classroom, take a look at these fun and simple ideas on how to sprinkle a bit of even your home's shortest roommates into its décor.