If you love it, you will love it

We've all heard the horror stories about the people who are violently taken from their homes and locked away in mental institutions for foolishly putting two fabrics together that don't match. Oh, wait. You haven't heard those stories?

So why is everyone I talk to these days afraid of making horrible design mistakes? One theory is that there is just too much design advice out there (watch me give you more) and it gives people the impression that if you break the rules, they'll come and get you.

While there are some gentle guidelines that will help, you will find most of the "rules" broken and looking fabulous in a magazine somewhere. It can get very confusing.

The other day my friend called and asked me if she could put pillows in a small circular pattern with draperies that had large squares on them. I told her the variation of scale (small circles vs. large squares) was a good thing, but the ultimate questions she should be asking are, "Do I love these pillows? Do I love these draperies?" If she can say YES to both, then when she walks in the room she will light up and hey, mission accomplished. If she were to design her space based on fear of making a mistake and worries that everything go perfectly with each other, she'll probably end up with something that "matches" but does nothing for her soul.

I think I've never had this fear of making a mistake because I always follow my number one rule: If I love it, I will love it.

Take a look at my beautiful teal armoire in the photo above. You may have noticed it from the photo I posted yesterday showing my little corner of Vermeer. What you didn't see is that there is virtually no other teal in the entire room. On paper, it doesn't "go." I have a small obsession with the color, as you will surely notice if you keep reading my blog, and it thrills me to no end that the armoire turned out so well. I purchased it from a thrift store for $60 and painted it myself. To me, it "goes" and I'm the one who lives here. Do that for yourself, will you? Don't buy one more thing that you don't love, even if it matches perfectly.