Farmhouse Glam and New Country?

If you haven’t already figured this out about me, my tastes and preferences are moving targets.  One day I love bold and bright, and the next I’m all about the classic black and white.  Some days I feel like rocking, and the other days I need some twang (PS, if you’re the same way and you need a happy medium—or maybe even something completely different—check out Good Show Great Show).  The only thing that stays the same (besides constant change) is my past; the memories I treasure and the places that have brought me comfort.

As I’ve expressed before, this makes putting together a wardrobe and decorating my home a nightmare.  If you’ve read about my resolutions, you know that this is the year that I’m finally making my home my own, so of course, I’ve been giving style and preferences a lot of thought lately.  I’ll be writing in detail about my home makeover in June, but because I knew it would be no small task, I actually started thinking and working in January.

After sleepless nights (and when I was sleeping, I was dreaming of rugs, end tables, and curtains), hours of staring at my Pinterest boards and feeling like I was running in circles, I decided to go about the process a little differently.  I decided to forget all about the furniture, colors, lines, and textures.  Forget about the existing styles (am I more contemporary?  Traditional?  Classic?  Cottage?  What the hell is transitional, anyway?), and go with the one thing that never changes: my past.

Everyone has a happy place.  For some, maybe it’s a relaxing beach scene where nobody around you speaks a word of English.  Maybe some feel more at home overlooking a beautiful cityscape, or the mountains.  I remember finding my “happy place,” when I started dealing with anxiety in grade school.  I tried imagining all of the different places I had been and all of the places I hoped to visit someday, but the place that always made me feel the safest and the most relaxed was the hay loft of my grandparents’ old barn.  Yes, my happy place is a barn.  I’m a true Nebraskan, aren’t I? :)

A close second for me is the lake.  If you’ve been to a lake in Nebraska, you know I’m not talking about anything like Lake Tahoe.  This isn’t the lake with Nantucket-style timeshare cabins and Rangerovers everywhere; the water is muddy, the air smells like boat exhaust and fish, and the beer is a little warm by the end of the day.  

When I think about who I am at my very core; who I always have been and who I always will be, I know that I’m just a no-frills country girl.  Why shouldn’t my house be that way?  Ideally, I want my house to be warm and welcoming, simple, and cozy.  Nothing fancy or high-maintenance.  

I found this really fun “Stylescope” on Homegoods.com.  The first time I took it, my results were “Farmhouse Glam with a touch of New Country.”  The second time, it was “New Country with a touch of Boho.”  Either way, message received: loud and clear.  

Now, here comes the true challenge for me: letting go of my traditional, “safe” black and white (boring) décor.  I think my fear stems from the fact that the rustic farmhouse look is very trendy right now, and I’ve always tried to stay away from anything too “now.”  (I can hear my mom’s voice echoing in my head, telling me I might love it now, but I’ll have to replace it in a few years when it’s not so “in.”)

Does your home have a “style?”  Where did you start when you began to decorate?