There are plenty of opportunities to make mistakes in life. And yes, many that *could* be made while decorating your home.Maybe you’ve made a few blunders yourself! I know I have.So what is the most regrettable decorating mistake you’ve ever made?Painting a room the wrong color?Ordering a sofa that is too big or too small for your intended room?Buying a free standing cabinet that won’t fit up the stairs?So many possibilities.
I happen to think one of the most regrettable mistakes we can make in our own home is simply not following our heart.
Maybe we aren’t inspired in our home because we:
worry too much about what others will think of our choices.
followed the style or advice of someone else and chose things that didn’t really speak to us.
make choices for our room based on what we think is the safest option
fear making a mistake
don’t know how to pull together what speaks to us.
stay paralyzed or stuck in a rut and don’t make changes at all.

When we make decisions based on peer-pressure, fear or worry, our home probably doesn’t speak to our heart.
Sure, even when we follow our heart it’s possible to make mistakes. And maybe lots of them! Hahah! BUT THAT IS OK! Most design mistakes aren’t fatal. PRAISE HANDS! Having fun with our home and trying things is how we can discover what works for us, what we love and what speaks to us. Mistakes could cost money, so definitely on major purchases, it’s wise to give it some good thought before you place an order. But most mistakes are not impossible to correct, so don’t fear!
Oftentimes misstep turns into a happy accident. Mistakes can give us the opportunity to get creative or try something unexpected that we end up loving even more than our original idea.
Taking a risk or trying something different can lead us to have a home that speaks deeply to us.
When we put our heart and soul into being creative and not worrying so much, it brings us more JOY.
A home you love takes time, but let it be an enjoyable process.
A home that sparks more joy and connection is worth taking a risk on, don’t you think?
A couple of things for you today:Speaking of sparking joy, the beautiful wood and glass diffuser you’ve seen in my home (the ARIA) IS BACK in STOCK for new members. It’s only while supplies last (and won’t return for at least a month due to Covid limitations) so you’ll want to grab it quick if/while it’s still available! I’ve got fall oil samples to send to new members, too!! Get the Aria Diffuser premium starter kit here.

If you’re already my YL member and you didn’t get my fall recipe cards recently, let me know in the comments and I’ll send you some happy mail!
What are some decorating mistakes you’ve made? Did any of them turn into a happy accident? I want to know!
PS. I’ll share a happy decorating story with you in a week or so, it was an unexpected situation but but I LOVE IT!
Photos: House & Home
Related blog posts:
Make Your Home Your Own
How to Decorate: The Slow Process to a Style You’ll Love
Catch up on my 2020 Fall Nesting Series:
Tips to Decorate Your Fall Living Room
Cozy Fall Throw Blankets
My Favorite Fall Decor in My Cozy Fall Shop
14 Ideas for a Cozy Fall Kitchen
Make Your Home the Coziest It Can Be (3 Take Away Tips)
Fall Puttering Playlist
Cozy Self-Care Corner Must-Haves
Four Essential Home Making Practices for Every Season
Fall Nesting and Doormats
How to Dwell Well This Fall
How to Decorate with Faux Fall FoliageTimeless Pieces for Your HomeHospitality and Joy are Not Cancelled (Decorate your Porch)How to Make Your Home Smell Cozy and Inviting
How to Create a Memorable Fall Home + Cozy Diffuser Blends More

While I love finding style inspiration in the online community, one of my FAVORITE ways to expand and grow more confident in my own style is to study the images of beautiful homes in design books. Holding a book in hand, turning the pages at a leisurely pace is the best! It’s a return to the past, something I learned to enjoy back in the days before we had so much (too much?) inspiration at our fingertips. I love the slower pace of savoring books. I find I appreciate the details so much more than quickly scrolling past thousands of teeny squares.
My daughter Courtney and I recently did a LIVE video going through some of my favorite design books and talking about why we love them (you can watch the replay HERE).
I even like to look at books that I don’t think are necessarily “exactly my style” because they inspire me to think outside of the box! It’s easy to get in a rut or stuck looking only at what is current and trendy online. I find books are wonderful for expanding my point of view, learning about classic design elements and getting inspired by other color palettes, furnishings and architecture around the country and world, too.

Each time I move to a new home I get excited all over again to bring out my books (and add to my book collection) for inspiration! While my general style and sensibilities and things I love tend to go with me, each home offers new opportunities to mix things up and have fun with style. I love to blend my preferences with the home’s unique features and atmosphere to create a new look, one that feels fresh and yet makes me feel at home wherever I am. Beautiful design books are definitely helpful to me in the process!
If you’d like to watch the replay of our LIVE video on “finding your design style” and see some of our favorite coffee table books, you can watch it here.

Here are some questions you could use as a guide to help you learn as you’re studying and getting inspired by design books!

How would you describe this style?
What is the mood of the room? Why does the mood inspire you?
Describe the personality of people who might live in a room like this. Would their lifestyle resonate with you and your family?
What are the main things you see when you first look at the room?
What are some subtle features that you notice when you look more closely? Be sure to notice things like the shapes, the textures, the colors, the proportions, patterns…
What role does the architecture play in this room? Do you have similar architecture or would you be able to add something similar in your home?
Do you like the color palette? What if this same room had a different palette, would you like it better?
Look at the art and accessories. Also notice their placement. What do you like or not like about them?
What are some simple ideas you could take away from this inspiration room?

Click HERE to watch the replay of our live video (how to find your style and favorite design books)!
Scroll and click the arrows below for some of my favorite coffee table books:

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Click here for books by The Inspired Room, including my New York Times bestseller Love the Home You Have.

Pin for later!

Book sources above:
Beautiful
More Beautiful
Coastal Blues
A Place to Call Home
Timeless
One Man’s Folly
Nora Murphy’s Country House Style
Visions of Home
The Inspired Room: Simple Ideas to Love the Home You Have
See more in our video! More

This Post May Contain Affiliate Links. Please Read Our Disclosure Policy here

Today, I’m excited to share some of my favorite realistic faux tulips and compare different stem options. I’ll also show you how various sets look together and share a few tips to help you create lovely arrangements!
First, if you don’t want to sift through the tips in the post to find the links, here are my favorite Amazon tulips and a few others similar options if you are looking for a particular color or price point (and sometimes they have coupons!).
These are the three types I ordered that look the most realistic:

White Tulips
Latex Coral Tulips (some of them on this link are a little different, these are latex, so be sure to double check what you order)
Light Pink Tulips

A couple more to consider:
Tulips I don’t have yet but look similar to mine (and may come in other colors and bouquet sizes)
Bigger set
These white tulips (most realistic) mixed with these cream tulips (original set I bought years ago)
I will begin by saying there is no comparison between real flowers and faux. Whenever it’s possible to have real, they will always be infinitely more beautiful. Real plants and flowers bring more joy and health benefits, too. :). But I do think there are reasons you may want consider having faux!
We live in Washington state which is the tulip capital of the United States, so I feel a little guilty talking about faux when the tulip farms all around us are about to burst into bloom. 🙂 But, let’s talk about them anyway!
Over the past few years I’ve been growing in my appreciation for having some seasonal faux stems and blooms around the house for a few reasons (not to mention faux blooms are getting so much more realistic!).
Above: Light Pink Tulips // Latex Coral Tulips (some of them on this link are a little different, these are latex, so be sure to double check what you order)
Here are a few of the reasons I have come to appreciate having faux blooms:
They are available for a bouquet whenever I want them.I can have more than one bouquet at a time all year round.Buying real flowers often can get expensive.I don’t always have flowers in my yard and we’re just getting started with landscaping.I can put a seasonal bouquet anywhere in the house and don’t have to worry that our puppy Finnegan will sneak off to eat them.It’s nice to invest once and be able to keep them for a long time.I enjoy seeing pretty bouquets around the house more often.and best of all, I like that they are EASY CARE!
I will share more about my definition of an easy care house sometime 🙂 but today let me show you some of my faux tulips!
Tulips on the left // Tulips on the right
I don’t know if you’ve looked for faux tulips lately, but they don’t all look the same.
You can see the tulips on the left in the photo above look so much more realistic than the ones on the right–look at the difference in the leaves and stems (even though both of these tulips sets are very pretty).
There are several distinctions that make the ones on the left look more realistic (and tips for what to look for when selecting faux tulips):

The tulips are made of different materials that make them even feel like real tulips!
The leaves and stems look more realistic
The coloring on each bloom is more unique
Some of the tulips in the set are closed and some are opening up — which I think is more like a real bouquet

The more realistic blooms can be more expensive per stem, but it’s nice that you can find bouquets with fewer stems if you want to keep the cost down.
Of course you can always collect more over time, or mix several types together!
One way to stretch the budget is to mix new and old, or more expensive and less expensive, together.
TIP: if you’re mixing more realistic stems with less realistic, try putting the more realistic leaves on the outer part of the bouquet.
Let me show you a couple of tulip combinations I’ve used for my bouquets:

Here is what this realistic bouquet of 10 tulips looks like in my pitcher.
I love how simple, airy and natural just ten tulips look with a few flopping over the side of the pitcher.
This is another set I considered as well — they look to be very similar. Be sure to check what they are made of when you shop if that matters to you, as well as compare what the leaves and stems look like (and the length of the stems).
Sometimes one set is more expensive because it’s better quality or because of how many blooms are included (and that often makes the price per stem less, something to consider!).
You can mix different types of tulips to stretch your budget but also the variation can give it a more realistic look. Or mix real with faux, no one needs to know :).

Here is is what my pitcher looks like with 20 mixed stems —this has 10 stems that have the more realistic leaves (two bundles of five come in this one set — and you can get different colors) plus I added 10 stems of the less realistic leaves in a champagne color.

This is what the champagne color tulips look like up close.

Here’s a little bouquet of several colors with the more realistic tulips, wouldn’t these make a pretty bouquet? They come in different colors as well.
Light pink
Latex coral
White

These are the three types I ordered that look the most realistic:
White
Latex coral (some of them are a little different, these are latex, so be sure to double check what you order)
Light pink
I almost ordered these, they look very similar (they have more stems, but the cost per stem was less).

And here is my original set of light pink tulips, my original set of coral tulips, mixed with a few of the newer realistic ones! I love coral so the pop of color on these is a joy-bringer….and they are holding me over until I can get to the tulip farms and buy the real deal!
Want to watch videos where I compare these tulips and share tips on how to arrange them? Here are 3 you can check out:

A comparison of my new coral tulips mixed with my original pink and coral sets.
A close-up video of the realistic white tulip bundle.
A comparison of my new white tulips with my original set, plus tips on how to arrange them together in a vase.

Other sources in this post:
Yellow cafe curtains and bunny mug — both temporarily out of stock sadly, but you can join the waitlist to be notified when they are back!
Scalloped shade lamp in top kitchen photo More

Today I’m going to share four possible mood boards for a little bedroom project I’m going to work on for the winter months, featuring some inspiration pieces I found from Walmart. It’s so nice to find items that are affordable, accessible AND so stylish! Thank you Walmart for sponsoring this post.
As fellow homebodies, it can be so therapeutic to have projects or fun activities we are looking forward around the house in the upcoming months (rather than just dreading winter.) In my last post I introduced you to my favorite feature in my new bedroom (it’s a dream come true!) AND the new project I’m looking forward to!
I’m excited to be making a few simple updates to our new bedroom, not only to pull the space together and make it our own, but so we can enjoy it for the winter months!
Today I want to share with you four possible mood boards we created for the room. Perhaps they will inspire you, too! I wanted to put together some options that could be cozy for winter but also items that would feel right at home or easy to switch out in the spring, too! The items we used in these mood boards were all found at Walmart, so they are easy to find and are affordable, too.
Thankfully Walmart makes decorating or updating a home for the seasons so simple and fun! I love to shop online and Walmart has been doing a great job at not only having stylish items that I want or need for my home or occasion, but getting things shipped in a timely way is so wonderful (and rare!) these days! But if you need something right now or at the spur of the moment, stopping in Walmart to shop is convenient, too.
Take a look at the four mood boards below! Which board is your favorite? Or would you mix and match items in a different way? You can find me on Instagram stories, so I’d love to hear your thoughts on which items YOU like best! You’ll find the sources for each mood board linked below and in the scrolling bars.
LOOK ONE:

SOURCES: Scroll and click the photos and links below for details:

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Stormy Shore Framed Artwork
Nautical and Coastal Framed Ship Artwork
Decorative Throw Pillow with Stripes and Tassels
Cream and Navy Traditional Area Rug
Chunky Knitted Ivory Throw Blanket (multiple color options)
Linen Trim Light Blue Decorative Pillow
Green Ceramic Lamp with Oatmeal Lampshade
Gray Striped Duvet Cover Set
Rustic Pharmacy Floor Lamp Wood and Metal
Ivory Shams / Duvet Set

LOOK TWO:

SOURCES: Scroll and click the photos and links below for details:

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Botanical Art
Rustic Cream Lamp with Linen Shade
Round Gold Metal Frame Mirror
Ticking Stripe Shams & Quilt
Sweater Knit Ivory Accent Pillow
Traditional Black Area Rug
Faux Olive Branch Plant in Ceramic Pot
Antique Brass Pharmacy Floor Lamp
Chunky Knitted Gray Throw Blanket
Charcoal Gray Duvet Cover Sham Set
Velvet and Metal Gray Tabletop Frame
White and Brass Leg Tabletop Alarm Clock

LOOK THREE:

SOURCES: Scroll and click the photos and links below for details:

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Coastal Canvas Art
Distressed White Porthole Mirror
Navy Blue and White Textured Accent Pillow
Tonal Navy Plaid Flannel Duvet Cover and Sham Set
Navy Tabletop Picture Frame – Velvet and Metal
Antique Gold Brass and Glass Square Picture Frame
Ceramic Gray and Gold Lamp
Aged Brass Pharmacy Floor Reading Lamp
Faux Peperomia Plant in Basket
Gray Herringbone Throw Blanket
Natural Fiber Braided Area Rug

LOOK FOUR:

SOURCES: Scroll and click the photos and links below for details:

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Botanical Roses Artwork
Rattan Loop Round Wall Mirror
Chenille 3 Piece Duvet Cover and Sham Set (multiple colors)
Gray and White Patterned Sheet Set 100% Cotton (multiple color and pattern options)
Blue and White Woven Throw Blanket
Green Plaid Accent Pillow (multiple color options)
Linen Trim White Decorative Throw Pillow
Ceramic Aqua Lamp
Distressed Vintage Blue Area Rug
Faux Aloe Plant in Stone Planter
Wood Decorative Boxes
Bronze Floor Adjustable Pharmacy Reading Lamp

Did you pick a favorite? What elements spoke to you?
The reason I call these our “mood boards” is because they are more than just “design boards.” To me, designing a room isn’t just about showcasing a particular style (although that’s fun too!), it’s about how the room will feel to be in it. Mood boards help me to visualize the feeling of the room when all of the accessories will come together, which in turn helps me to focus on some practical ways I can uplift my real-life mood in every season!
I like to try out different colors, patterns and accessories or even bring together different styles to see what combinations speak to me. The mood of a space can also be impacted by the features of the room itself as well as what’s going on in my life, so it’s fun to pull all of those elements together!
When you need a new mood in your room (and life, ha), there are several options. You can shop your house to switch things around from room to room, add some new seasonal accessories or elements to give what you have a whole new look, or play around with different furniture or art arrangements and even paint colors.
I’m going to do all the above for my bedroom this winter! Our style is collected, which means we gather pieces over time (whether they are handed down, vintage finds or anything new to us that speaks to us or meets our current needs).
You can make mood boards with items representing things you already have, or just show new items that could help you create a fresh vision for your space! The items on our mood board are new possibilities for our room, which we will mix in with what we already have.
I can’t wait to show you more of our room and the design updates after Christmas.
We often make our room mood boards with Photoshop, but you can also make them with poster boards, bulletin boards or even online options like using Pinterest or Instagram to gather inspiration. Do whatever inspires you! Mood boards and room updates can be a fun winter activity.
By the way, I share more simple ideas for enjoying every day life at home through each season in my new book A Lovely Life, which will come out this spring!
I hope you enjoyed seeing these mood boards as much as we enjoyed creating them! Don’t forget to tell me which board is your favorite! Or how you would you mix and match them in your own way! That’s the fun of a mood board, you can create a look that inspires YOU!
Find more cozy winter finds from Walmart Home here! More

This Post May Contain Affiliate Links. Please Read Our Disclosure Policy here

@honeycreekfarm1896
Do you have any collections in your home? Collections are one of my favorite ways to add soul to a home. Today you’ll find some lovely inspiration from some of my favorite finds around the internet.
No matter what your design style is (or if you’re a maximalist, minimalist, or somewhere in between), you can enjoy the process of collecting things you love and displaying them in a way that makes you happy!
“By inviting in things you love, you’ll feel more deeply connected to your home in a way that will inspire your life”. – from my book Make Room for What You Love
If you love the idea of having more collections and personal details in your home but aren’t sure what you like, study inspiration photos and design books to learn what you love (these are some of my favorite design books). Take note of the colors, shapes, textures, patterns, and styles that catch your eye!
Pay attention to how they are paired together and where collections are displayed, so that you will have ideas you like for styling, too.
When you know what you like, then you will know what to look for and be quicker to spot it secondhand, in stores or online. It’s an exciting process to hunt and gather treasures for your home over time!
Ideas for collections: seashells, books, blue and white, ironstone, copper or brass pieces, books, artwork from travels, vintage stamps or stationery, glassware, ornaments, quilts, antique baskets….
The more you decorate in a way that speaks to you, the more soul your home will have!
We’ll be talking about meaningful ways to decorate to bring more soul to our sanctuary in our new member community HomeBody Gathering Place (learn more and join us HERE by February 28th 11:59 PM PST to get in our spring session before the doors close).
Enjoy the inspiration below!
Sunday Strolls + Scrolls is a series inspired by the interiors and exterior spaces I fell in love with while scrolling the internet. I particularly enjoy finding spaces and ideas that reflect a sense of sanctuary! I hope this series will feel as relaxing and enjoyable to you as a leisurely walk down a charming street, a peaceful stroll through a garden or finally getting to peek inside a lovely neighborhood home during a Sunday open house. 

@missmustardseed
@littlesquaresofjoy
@mothermeg
@abeautifulmess
More Inspiration:
My Favorite Secret Decorating Tip
How to Decorate: The Slow Process to a Style You’ll Love
How to Create a Cozy Collected Kitchen
Enjoy the home inspiration in all past Sunday Strolls and Scrolls posts here! More