Style with Purpose

 

I am joining The White Buffalo Styling Co, House Seven, My Sweet Savannah and Bliss at Home to share how we Style with Purpose.

I am excited to be apart of this ongoing series.

I style and design every home with the purpose and try to make it comfortable for those who live in it.

 We all love to think that everyone we follow on Instagram, see on Pinterest has perfectly staged homes, but that isn't reality. Our homes are not perfect, we have toys, sewing machines out, books upon books stacked in corners, breakfast dishes in the sink while we try to throw together dinner. 

 I had a friend tell me

 "we want to see where all the toys are in your house and the mess." That is exactly what this series is about!

Showing how we live in our houses, I might not show the dirty laundry... but I personally love to see the family, friends, kids, animals and the mess you created while creating.

 

I share a lot of pictures of my family living in our CT home on Instagram. I probably wouldn't be able to share those if we didn't keep our house in order. My house is tiny, about 1200 square feet. There is literally NO room for mess...

my sign should say

 "bless that there is never a mess."
 

 We have a play area that I separated by floating a sofa in the room to define the space and hide the toys. Because we do have toys and little Legos, dolls, fake fruit, play kitchens we live here, but some of it is an eye sore that I don't like to always see, so I design around it.

It's all about styling each area of your home with purpose to function how your family needs it to, even a playroom.

 

You can see more pictures of this space HERE

 

My girls love to be in this room, making bracelets, coloring, dancing if you can think it they do it in here. That is exactly what I want, a home that nothing is off limits.

And lucky for me it is the first thing you see when you walk in our home! Yikes....

 

But all the papers, coloring supplies, projects, bracelets have a home and this large sideboard is it. My girls know where it all goes and that they aren't allowed to start something new without cleaning up the first mess!

 

When we bought this home in January of 2015. The previous owners only had a small sideboard in this tiny kitchen and their dining table in a bedroom... it was weird, you would have had to walk past the bathroom carrying your food. We are not those people, we don't need a separate formal room to eat everyday.

 

 Our family needs an eat-in kitchen. I was able to remodel the small space around the idea that we live in our kitchen. My girls do homework, talk to me while I cook and we eat a nice home cooked meal everyday. My purpose when designing this space was for comfort and to promote family time. The settee helped to achieve that. Decide the purpose of each and every space and create a well styled space with those goals in mind. Our goal was to allow projects to happen and life to be lived.

 

Did I mention my house is tiny? We are still able to do all the things we love.

And that is what matters.

We have friends over and make cookies. There is room for it all because I styled it with the purpose that we create in it daily.

 

I had a designer friend tell me once, "a well designed home has a place for everything." I totally agree. I have a basket for all the extra papers I need to sort through, they aren't in a pile on the kitchen counter. There is a spot for the toaster and blender, hidden in the cupboard because I don't have the counter space.

 This is how I stay sane in a small space. Style your home for what works best for you and those who live in it and that will make you happy.

 
I wanted to share some of many favorite Instagram accounts that show their homes being lived in.
They are well styled and full of purpose.

 Brittany York has one of my favorite kitchens. And it is lived in a loved. Her caption was the best on this photo. She said that she was on a roll that morning, made breakfast, dinner, laundry, beds and dessert then looked at her sink and decided to watch a movie.
You can tell that everything has a place and it was styled with her young family in mind.

 Whitney from Carpen Daughter she kills me. She is hilarious and has such a design flare. I love that she posts pictures of her kitty in the cutest spots (my mom would love this) and her hubby working or napping in their cozy home.
She keeps a very tidy, simple yet gorgeous home. It is styled with the purpose of their fun personalities.

 Natalie from Hammmade has the most lovely family home. She shares their gorgeous product while also showing how her family enjoys it. It just look like love. And she styled every part of their new home with unique pieces, not all new but all selected with purpose.

 Old Joy just makes you want a simple life filled with chubby babies. Her home is so simple, yet so striking. You just stop and stare at the simplest details that show how a home should be. Lived in and loved by whoever is there.

Jess Wasserman just built a gorgeous farm house. It is so eclectic and every inch styled with purpose.
I absolutely love this photo she shared. She said she had this tiny nook that wasn't being used. So she grabbed wallpaper scraps, old baby mattress, garage sale kids table and random things. She created a little dream space for her daughter. It was just what she had, no extra money spent or running around to create the perfect space. THIS is how you style with purpose.

We want to see how you live in your houses. Show us on Instagram by using the hashtag #purposewithstyle. We will pick our favorites every Friday and share on all of our blogs and Instagram accounts.

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