Saturday Reading - Love Coming Home

I just checked this book out from the library and I love it! In fact, I loved it so much, I sat up longer than I wanted to before going to bed.

Jennifer Adams, an interior designer, in Love Coming Home encourages you to create a home you love. Two things she encourages is, one, creating vision boards and two, using all five senses when you think about what you want your home to be. With Texter moving out and blending with Mr. Racecar and me wanting to buy my own home, we have both been thinking about what we want our living spaces to be.

First, vision boards. Adams says to do them, preferrably an actual physical board or file. Pinterest is another alternative. But to cut out pictures of rooms you love, furniture you like. Even if it is something like just the leg of a chair you like. That way, when you go to actually buy something for your home, you are fitting it in with what you have indicated you like. This also helps you go back and see whether you tend toward light or dark furniture, plants or no plants, what colors you gravitate toward. 

Some of her tips include opening the windows and airing out the house daily, making your bed first thing in the morning. She advocates adding sounds to your home if needed, like the sound of a water fountain or changing the alarm tone you wake up to in the morning. 

In every chapter there is an Action Item activity to think about in the context of that chapter and helping you to focus on what you want your home to reflect. 

Once you get past using all your senses and creating vision boards, she gets into the nitty gritty. Which means starting with removing the clutter, messes and incompletes from your home!

The next step is to create a Projects List. Interestingly, she states you need to make your list AFTER you do you vision board to be sure the two work together, not against each other, therefore, saving time and money. I can get on board with that! Budget - setting one and organizing it - comes next. 

Then are the 11 designer secrets. Setting intentions for the room, measuring EVERTHING and making a plan, setting a color palette, discovering furniture styles you like, lighting, window treatments (and here I sit with sheets over windows still), and more. Things I never think about like measure, measure, measure. Including the doors to get items in the house and the hallways and corners you have to turn. 

At the end is a "Personal Design Cheat Sheet" which lists steps to take into consideration when redoing a room.

If I have any complaints about the book it's the color of the type. The main print is a dark grey and the headings are in a pale pink. It is very hard to read for long periods of time. I think the 'design' failed for me.

But...

What it did do was make me think about how my tastes have evolved over time. At one time I so wanted the English Country look - chintz, clutter, china tea cups, pillows, the works. I think it really appealed to me because I am like Pigpen when I walk through a room...clutter follows behind me!

Now I am into more of an Ikea/Japanese minimalism look - with a touch of clutter. For me, I need a semi-tidy feel to a room. I want comfy, soft textures, mellow colors, and less clutter. My mind starts going more and more haywire as the clutter ramps up.

This is a book I would like to add to my "I-Would-Like-To-Own" shelf, to use as a reference, re-inspiring read.