Sometimes I write for a reason To share a tutorial, to talk about something important, you know stuff like that. Today I am writing just to write.
Do you know what makes me mad? Walking into a furniture store.
Where they sell you an entire living room group for $5000. Complete with everything from pillows to lamps to tables and couches. The hole (ahem whole) shebang. That you can finance at a low low rate. BLECH!
Do you know what else makes me mad? Walking into a house that is 100% from a catalog. This year there was a beautiful house in our Parade of Homes. The problem? EVERYTHING was from Restoration Hardware. I love RH a ton, I love the layered neutrals but it left me feeling like anyone with $100,000 to spend on furniture could have that exact house. And it made me mad.
Granted, I know that everyone has their own styles and tastes. And I know that there are a lot of people that think that my stuff is too colorful or out there. I get it.
But I hate that people feel like they have to spend a crapload of money on the same thing that so many other people feel like they have to buy too. Did you know when I started Vintage Revivals I was bummed over the fact that all my friends had cute black slightly distressed furniture and I couldn’t afford it? Because I couldn’t walk into Ashley Furniture and buy a stupid living room set that 3 of my GF’s had.
Now. What would have happened if that situation had really really gotten to me? If instead of trying new things, I just worked extra hard to save the $ to buy it?
My life would be completely different. And none of you would be apart of it. And that makes me think most of all.
What if I didn’t have the courage to try to figure out my own style? Cause it takes courage. And LOTS of it.
Is there a spot in your house that you look at and it bums you out? (you know there is!) And you think to yourself “If only I were brave enough…”
So here is what we are going to do.
We are going to start a club. (you know you LOVE clubs)
I need your input. What kind of club should we have?
I want it to push us all. I want to help you guys find out more about yourself and your style. And I want it to be FUN! And a community.
I want everyone to throw caution to the wind and TRY NEW THINGS!
What do you think? Is this a lame idea? Will you be in my club?
I am always up for a club. Tell me when, where, how, and what…and I will show up and play by the rules.
Count me IN!!!!! 🙂
I love your ‘out there’ style. Reading your blog has got me thinking that I need to find my own style in my home. There’s a lot of beige in here and its a little boring. I’ll be a part of the bring- your- home- to-life club!
I would be down for a club! Today I bought a chandelier from the D.I. and all my friends are making fun of it. Saying that I am filling my house with junk. :/ They just don’t get it! I don’t want a pricey chandelier from a big box store! I want something that no one else has! I will be on the look out for your club!
Count me in! i really want an area rug but i’m too poor. you have inspired me (and my neighbor)to MAKE one. Thank you!
In! I love making things my own!
Hell yeah. A “I did it my self because I’m to cheap even if I can afford it.” club.
I. loved. this. post!!! 🙂 I feel the same way. So often, I feel discouraged b/c I can’t afford some of the things my friends have. Great encouragement, Mandi. 🙂
I’m in.
I couldn’t agree with you more! Growing up my dad used to say that he didn’t want our house looking like we bought everything from page 56 of a JC Penny magazine, so that’s always been my design philosophy! And yes, I would totally be in your club, cuz’ it would undoubtedly be epic 😉
I just took a sawzall to my couch so you can count me in! 🙂 My kind of club 🙂
I’ve got it, The MacGuyver Club…. where we don’t just think outside of the box but, we use the box too! 🙂
Um, I will so be in your club, just cuz your cool…lol. No but really, I totally want to be challenged to step out of my box.I’m in!
I want IN this amazing club of which you speak! I think it is just the thing I need to kick myself in the butt and get busy on my projects!
Debbie
I’m with you…and Rae. Matchy-matchy “sets” of any kind irritate me, even if they are affordable.
this is lovely! I’d love to join. I’m in my own way going against the grain. I have been my whole life. So, count me into your club 🙂
Such a great idea! It could be a club of trying new things. Each month could be a different theme like trying a new color or creating a piece of art or trying a new technique. There could be linky parties to show what new thing everyone accomplished.
You are so inspiring. I love all your wonderful projects.
I’m in !!! There so needs to be a club out there like this . I am one of the people that wants to re- do my living room but has no idea where to start and what to go with .
Some people just don’t have the design skills that you have. Some people need it to be made easy for them. Some people just don’t know any other way. You’re SOOOO lucky to not have to be one of those people. Don’t hate ’cause they ain’t! 🙂
Creative Cheapskates Club! I think a home should show the personality of the people in it and a cookie cutter catalog home screams BORING to me… I was that girl in high school that joined every.single.club. so count me in!
I want to be the first in line. I’ve always been kinda “out there” with nothing too “matchy”, and sparkle and color are my middle names! I love to paint things and use them for something other than what they were meant for. Count me in, please.
Dude, you don’t have to ask me twice. Obvis.
xo
I am in!
Awesome idea. I don’t like the matchy-matchy stuff in the stores either. Challenge the club to take a risk and do something they’ve been afraid of.
I would be in your club. I need out of my ‘safe’ zone. I have alot of areas in my house that bum me out right now.
And this is why “us” DIY bloggers do so well. Our stuff is appealing to look at and INTERESTING! Your typical LR set is not interesting.
Not everyone has the gift of doing what we do though, but everyone can start somewhere. Anyone can start by trying to knock-off something that they originally wanted that is too high of a price.
–Katie
@ Creatively Living
SO IN! This is the third time I feel like I have some kind of Soul Sister connection (in a totally non stalker/creeper way 😉 with someone based souley on creativity… I literally just told my hubs that people like you make me want to devote all of my time to getting my creativity OUT THERE!!!
Thanks for the push & let’s get this club GOING!
OOHHh I love clubs. Let’s have a club for sure!
I’m definitely in!!! I used to buy furniture sets and I envied a woman I know because her house was straight of RH. We’ve lived in our house 2.5 years and I only just discovered I like designing (love, actually), we cannot afford RH and now I would never want it if we could! I love the stories behind my pieces and I feel very ecofriendly!!!!
Let’s start a “just try it! you’re going to just get rid of it anyway” club. I cleaned out my garage Friday and I have so many project hopefulls that are now outside my garage in a DI pile and I desperately want to try some things but the projects sit untouched for months at a time.
HELP!!!!
I love the MacGyver club from Laura and the idea Miss Charming posted! I would definitely be in on this.
Ooo me too please! 🙂 I’d love to have your opinions on stuff I’m thinking of doing. I always chicken out!
Great pic, and so true!
Count me in – I would love to have a club motivate me to decorate!
I used to be the same way.. walk into a store and buy the set… we sort of did that with our living room and there was always something about it that bothered me. It took me a few years to figure out it was because it was too “store bought”. My husband and I have decided that we will NOT do that again. I’m in on the club! Although since we are in temporary housing.. I might have to wait to join… 🙂
How about a color challenge or an inspiration piece. Maybe post a weekly picture where people can design off the inspiration of color, or design, or whatever they “see” in the picture? I like to papercraft and there are so many challenges for cards or designs based on an outfit or a piece of fabric…FUN!!
Count me in – I also can’t stand the matchy-matchy 5 piece for $1500 sets. I understand why a lot of people buy them… they just aren’t my style.
I’m in!
I’ll soooo be in your club 🙂
i’d love to, but i’m northern california 🙁
my husband is going to divorce me if i keep thrifting and picking crap up off the street! it’s nice to see i’m not alone…
I’m in. I started thrifting because we had no money to furnish our house. After 8 years of being married and we aren’t poor students now, and I have can actually save and make large purchases I still would rather thrift. If given $100 GC to anthropologie or DI I’d prefer $100 to the DI.
Mandi! Leave it to you to come up with a club. I’m Soooo In! Matchy, matchy, buy the whole room set angers me too. There’s no fun or personality in that. When does thus club begin? 🙂
Sonya {So Simple}
I love your blog! I am in!
http://www.createyourdecor.blogspot.com
I am totally in! Its because of bloggers like you, Mandi, that give people like me the courage & inspiration to decorate our home for ourselves. And not using the Pottery Barn catalog to do it! So than you…. 🙂
Okay, your question is awesome, and I have the name of the club, and its purpose!!
The new club name should be “The Thrift Divers” and the aim is to see how much awesome thrift store stuff you can outfit your home with!
Yes, I know. Brilliant 😉
Serena
Thrift Diving
http://www.ThriftDiving.com
me!!!! i need something that will help me to just do what i dream of and not care what lame people will think.
(example my husband and our bedroom.)
(okay, so he’s not “lame” but just far too comfortable being boring.)
love you mandi!!
IN! What ever it ends up being…. the club where post pics of our depressing zones of our homes and get mad inspiration from eachother to DO SOMETHING about it!! My room are waiting for me to decide on a pallette and style I want to live with. I OOOH and AHHH at so many styles but How do I know whats really ME?? Love U mandi and all of your GREATNESS!!
I think a club is a great idea! Maybe a “My House, My Way” club! 🙂 Too many people get stuck on the idea of having what everyone else has and then they end up with nothing cool… just a boring cookie-cutter room. Not my idea of fun. If I wanted that, I’d just go to a hotel. My house needs layers and warmth and character. LOVE what you represent Mandi!
I am SO in!!!! and I agree with Melanie. It would be a great idea to post our pics and try to help each other. Just a couple of weeks ago, one of your readers did that for me through your FB page when I was stuck with color inspiration for my sunroom. This is a great idea!!
I’m totally in! I’m going through my house this year, one room at a time, freshening it up and making it look like ME! I’m taking risks, stepping outside the neutrals and loving it so far! It’s so exhilarating (yes I just used that word in a sentence!) to walk into my home and see things that *I* made and that make me smile. EPIC is the word and you my dear, are the queen!
I’m very excited about your club! Count me in… XoXo
I swear you are my kindred spirit, Mandi!
Rad! Me, too. Meeeeeee, too!
I’m all in!!!! I’m seriously having the hardest time pinpointing my style. I can “see” it but I just can’t decorate with it. I know that probably makes no sense but really. I always end up falling back into my darn comfort zone that I’m not 100% pleased with. I’m refinishing my bedroom right now and its taking everything I’ve got to avoid my comfort zone. I know I will LOVE it when I’m finished but freak its hard!
You rock. I love how you make it look so natural. You have a vision and you execute it. I need help with my executions lol
Ok, I know you’ll think I’m a dork, but I’m going to admit it. I actually started crying as I read this post. This has been my journey for the past year. I want to be brave. In parenting, in making friends, in being the dork God made me to be, in finding my own style in my own home. In everything I want to be fearless. I want to “throw off everything that hinders”. I’m in Mandi. If you’ll take someone as dorky as me. 🙂
Not normally one to comment, but that living room set is ridiculously hideous! Had to say it!
Count me in!!!!!
I’m so in!
How about the Find Your True Style Club?
(The beauty of it will be that our true styles can always be morphing & growing so it will NEVER get old!)
And can I please get a button saying that I’m a member of the club?
This is exciting because I’ve only ever been in the Girl Scouts, but always wanted to be in the Pink Ladies from Grease, and I’m getting the feeling this will be an awesome combination of both!
So totally and completely in! Can we get a secret club handshake too? 😉
As long as your the club Pres…I’m in!!!! I love your blog, I am totally inspired by you!!!
Totally IN! It could be the “Your trash is our treasure” club!?
I’m in!I’m tired of living in “the box”!
Count me in too. My guest room: I need to be brave and not just buy a bedroom set and neutral paint and call it done. Thanks for the encouragement to be brave! It is hard to try new things. (You should see the mess my playroom is right this second!)
i’m already in a club of parents that have kids walk in on them when they are um…doing stuff. but i can be in another club! count me in. and treasurer.
I’ll be in the club!
I’m so in! I am also against matchy-matchy! I can’t wait to be a part of this!
I’m in… For years I’ve watched my mom spend thousands of dollars on furniture and hoped for hand me downs that I could work into my home. In the past 6 months I have discovered I can have exactly what I want by repurposing things I find at yard sales or thrift stores. It has been so freeing to not have to wait on mom and to have what I want, rather than fitting things in. I have, also, found a new sense of self confidence in doing it myself, the way I want it!
Ironically, I HAVE started a Club. I mean a real-world, Home & Garden Club and it’s launching in June up here in the SLC area. We will have to see about getting you up here to speak at the Club! Of course, my motivation is with the Garden part moreso than the home part. Why does everyone want to plant the same tacky shrubs from big-box stores that don’t look ‘right’ in our natural setting and don’t live here by their own free choice? I hear you girl!
I’m IN! I can’t deal with matchy-matchy. I also freak out when I have a space that asks for something cool to fill it and I can not think of the “something” or worse yet, can’t find it.
I’m IN!!! Good taste Club!
Count me in! I live on an island in the middle of the pacific ocean, Maui, and we have limited resources here. One’s creativity is so refreshing and so much more affordable! You inspire me to continue to be creative and trust my style! Let’s do it!
Want to challenge yourself here? Give me a shout!!
Here is my info.. DanaDL 🙂
I’m in! Should be interesting… 😉 – Susan
There are so many places in my home that bum me out when I look at them. I’m in!
Yep, I want to join this new club. But can I make a request? I live in a rental–so can we have a ‘meeting’ where we address decorating when we can’t paint the walls, rip out the carpet, etc???
Love your blog! 🙂
First of all, I LOVE how “Babysitters’s Club” this sounds. So cute and funny and 4th grade, you know? And heck yeah – I’m totally in!
I’m totally in… if I’m cool enough :-).
I am not the “club” type, but this seems like a club I could get down with! Can’t wait to see how it unfolds.
I’m in too, sounds like a great idea! !!
Sounds like a fun idea. May I join? I’m in!
So in. My house is rainbow vomit.
I am a relatively new reader of your blog but already totally obsessed and inspired. Count me in, I would LOVE to join your club 🙂
I love this idea! I would love to be in your club! One feature I think you should share (which you are so amazing at) is how to assemble vignettes. I feel like that is the one design element that keeps me from finishing a room with those great little touches to make it feel complete.
I’ll be in your club!! =) I catch myself not being brave enough all the time. Or being too lazy, haha.
A definitely maybe from me. The maybe part is because I’m the mother of 2 teenagers with a 60-hr-per-week job.
But I’m trying to save $$ for a new kitchen. This weekend I repaired and made over 2 chairs and a defunct floor lamp. In part enabled by your blog. Now I think I’m invincible, so sign me up.
Sister….TESTIFY! I have little patience and even less of a budget for “made for everybody” rooms off a showroom floor. My style is commonly referred to by the people who love me as “Eclectic” and those peeps that don’t *love* me as “Weird”….but I try to decorate with abandon. My home reflects me, my kids, how we live and what we love. I think your CLUB sounds righteous and may I say our motto should be “BE BRAVER & DECORATE WITH ABANDON”!
Count me in, I am so for it. 🙂 I have so many ideas but don’t know where to start!!!
I wanna be in your super awesome club!!! 🙂
I LOVE clubs – exclusive clubs are even better 🙂
A project of the month club would be great. They could be small projects that would include scouring the internet for used furniture, etc.
Yes!!! What a great idea! Count me in!!! It would be really fun if we could have goal-setting with buddies to help keep us on track and accountable. I have lots of ideas, but it’s hard me to get started.
id be in your club. as long as there is coffee at the meetings and to fuel me through projects im all for it!!!!
I love the names that have been thrown out here! hehe The Pink Ladies, course not everyone loves pink, it’s just so in your face and girly and has a “I like it so there” attitude!
LOVE the Reckless Abandon idea too! Talk about throwing caution to the wind, that says it all!
I’m throwing out EPIC Abandon, ’cause, after all, it’s YOU we’re talking about 😉 Whatever you choose to call us, sounds like we are all in!
How about the Thrifty Non Matchy-Matchies, ‘cuz we HATE to have a room that is so, well, you know…matchy-matchy. Also we like the thrifty angle. Yay us!
Yep – I’ll join the club – because I need direction for my WHOLE HOUSE. Really. the whole thing. and I don’t want cookie cutter – I feel sorry for people who do that {they really just don’t have imagination}. I have lots of ideas, but just not sure how to put it all together. so yes. count me in.
I love what you create. You have an amazing eye. I can see when something really is special, but I have no idea how to get there. I think its hard for me to visualize. I stop myself for fear of putting all the work into it and then having a huge fail. Do you create vision boards or draw things out first? How do you see the end product in your mind’s eye? Your bedroom for instance is so eclectic-ly perfect. The colours the textures etc. I need a club that would encourage me to take my ideas and see them through.
From a Canadian admirer.
I completely agree with you! I love the idea of a club where being unique instead of trying to conform to fit in is promoted! Where we are encouraged to find and decorate in our own unique style. Because no two people are alike, no two houses should be either. It takes courage and confidence to decorate like that…so let’s unite! Count me in the club!
This makes me laugh because it is so St. George! My husband and I was born and raised there. We both have very strong ties there. We now live in Las Vegas because of work. We have hopes to move back one day because we do love it so much. But that is just it, everyone has the same stuff! The sad thing is I too would rack my brain and wonder “how on earth can they afford that? We can’t and my husband was making really good money?” We look back at our frustration and look at what we had gained from it and are so glad that we didn’t conform to the same. It taught you as me to look outside of the box and we both have gained great talents because of it!
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I’m in!
I can go on forever about the unique-to-us-and no-I-don’t-mind-bending-your-ear-about-it stuff I love in my home (and I am ready for more!).
I love the idea of a design and idea club with all these excited individuals. Sign me up!
Girl! I would follow you anywhere! Love this idea!
I will DEFINITELY be in your club! I’m afraid to mix and match wood tones and color terrifies me so please let me know when our first meeting is 🙂
I want to be a part of this club. It sounds like such a great idea!
I’m in…I need all the help I can get in my home 🙂 And I love your style and ideas. I agree…don’t like the cookie cutter thing anymore, but that’s only after finding your blog. You’ve given us all the inspiration to just be ourselves and make our homes reflect our personal style without paying the arm and leg for it. Thanks!
ME! I want to be in the club too! 🙂
OMG love it! I am so in!!! I have always felt same way… but I also feel sad for those folks that just have zero vision and cannot see anything in their creative mind. They kinda have no choice but to do the set thing… yuck! I also have to say how much I adore your blog and all your awesome ideas… so creative and they still look expensive. U rock!! I love the MacGuyver Club!! Hahahaha
I wanna be in your club….pwweeeeeese!!!! hee hee I love this idea. I have MANY of those spots that I wish I knew what to do with. I have ideas…just never putting them into action. (And I have also had a secret envy of those who can afford to buy whatever furniture they want.) Here’s to the clubbers! hee hee
Hi Mandy, I’m a new blogger and new to your blog and I love it. I will call it The Match Out club- I for one hate to match and love the challenge of using things in a new way most people wouldn’t dream of doing, heck that’s what makes it interesting. I also worked in a furniture store for a while and I was always annoyed when someone would say give me the whole set. That would drive me crazy. So I feel your pain. I think you can definitely include me in your new club whatever you name it.
By the way, where is the contrast in matchy, matchy you will never see the interesting things when everything blends. Besides doesn’t everything compete with one another when that happens?
Thanks for this post. Love it!!!
You had me at hello! 🙂 I don’t want to make enemies either, however, it drives me crazy to see a house completely FULL of Kirkland’s, TJ Maxx, Ross ~ you get the idea. There are wonderful things to be found everywhere…not just those stores. And a ton of $$$ is spent doing that.
I love being different, eclectic or eccentric ~ whatever you wanna call me. I love color too!
Just call me and I’ll join your club, k? 🙂
Pat
That would be fanfriggintastic! I would love that!! I love ur style and I’m very cheap and have always been that way. If I see cool furniture on the side of the road, I pick it up! I’m a recent stay at home mom and want to redo the house but I need step by step instructions for cool projects. An idea might be mentioning some flea markets etc. in each state once the club gets started?
I’m in!! Hands down!! Any club that allows me to get great stuff for cheap, add a can of spray paint and some new fabric, a little rope or ribbon is a no brainer. I’m all about figuring out what I love and finding the guts to put it in my home without analyzing the heck out of it and wondering if someone else will like it. Who CARES!!!!! If I like it I should be able to have it in my home, right?!! Let’s do it!!! If I have to see one more beige on beige on tan interior I might go nuts!! There’s a place for beige and all those other neutrals but we’re only going this way once so let’s dare to get a little crazy and colorful. Bring. It. On.
I’m in…and it should be called:
G to the 5th Power or
The 5 G’s…
“Good Gosh Girl Get a Grip!”
You don’t have to succumb to retail pressure…
I’m in whatever you decide to go with. Love YOUR guts,
Denise
Sounds like my kind of club! I’m in! I hate walking into a room that looks like it came out of a catalog. I’m proud of the fact that everything in my home was either handmade by me or someone else or I bought it at a yard sale or antique store. I love my “finds”. Plus, if I did buy it, I got it for an awesome price. The style of your house can’t be your style if the whole thing is out of a catalog. Keep up the great work!
I am in. It could be a club/support group for people who’s style sometimes freaks the normal crowd out.
Hey, Miss America! I would love any club that helps me discover my inner decorative style and the courage to go for it. We should call the club “Inner Whimsy” or “Whimsical Decor” or something like that. You might have guessed that I love the word(s) whimsy/whimical.
OMG! It was like you read my mind for the last hour! I’ve been in indecision mode regarding our dining room – I decided to give new life to my mom’s dining room set and it is driving me bonkers! I’ve pulled swatches from every corner of the earth. I selected one pattern that I really liked then went into panic mode because I felt it clashed with the wood. Then I thought I could paint or stain the chairs, but then I worried about it clashing with the table. Then I went back for MORE fabric! The problem is the fabric is expensive (over $50 a yard) so I can’t just “try” it out different versions. As I was washing dishes, I secretly wished I knew people or club that might relate to my “problem” and voila – it’s like someone heard me. So I will join the club, and hopefully it will help me gain courage to overcome something that is scary, and overwhelming, yet is so fun!
Funny. I saw the title and my knee-jerk reaction was, “Heck yeah I want to be in a club with Mandi.” Then I thought perhaps I should find out what the club IS. haha
I’m in. Tell us what’s what.
xo
Whatever kind of club you come up with, I’m in! I can’t stand when I walk into someones house and I can’t tell anything about them…except that they’re boring, perhaps. I remember when I bought my couches (cause let’s face it, I’m not going to make a couch) and the salesman kept trying to force the matching end tables, coffee table, lamps, pillows and artwork on me. Seriously? Umm, no..I don’t live in a motel 6, thank you. (My stuff cost WAY less than a motel 6, lol.)
Anyway, I just have to say that I love your blog. I read every post but never comment…I’m working on becoming less of a creeper. I just love that you aren’t afraid to be who you are, and that you don’t try to fool everyone into thinking your life and your house are perfect. So thanks for keeping it real!
I want to be in your club! I don’t care what we call it, just as long as it inspires us to create our own ‘perfect’ home.
stacinay.blogspot.com
Not a lame idea at all.
It really is something every one can do. They just need to drop the worry about whether something will look good and only care if it meets their own seal of approval, not their neighbors or friends.
My mom was way ahead of her time in this area. We always had cool stuff around the house that she made or found at antique shops. I tell people that she was a cross between MacGyver and Martha Stewart.
I think one of the reasons people don’t throw caution to the wind is that it can be sensory overload out there. There are so many great projects on blogs that it is hard to narrow down. So really knowing what you like is key and then from there, it all opens up!
It would be fun!
OCD- original creative design lol!I’m in!
If your club will help me quit being so scared to try new things (including decorating my house) then I’m in!
I will join your club. I agree, too many people are afraid to try something unconventional or *gasp* something that reflects there true style sense.
Screw the matchy matchy bedrooms sets and a coffee table that has matching side tables and lamps.
My goal is to continue making my home a true reflection of me and my thrifty ways;)
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I want to be in your club. I bought the matchy matchy furniture and now I want eclectic pieces that mean something. I’ve got beautiful furniture, but I am not in love with it any more.
totally down girlfriend!! try living here in the middle of nowhere and you have no choices for furniture or accessories and what choices we do have OUCH!!
I’m in!!! Love the part where you talk about the black distressed dressers… those were so “in”. I think that’s the problem with just doing what’s trendy even if you’re not in love with it.
Yes, this post in and of itself was totally inspiring. I need encouragement to go for it! I will definitely join!!
Yes Mandi, I want to be in a club. I would call it this:
The “I’m tired of the artsy/crafty style I’ve had since I’ve been married for 14 years and a stay at home mom for 11 and that’s what I do with my time is make cutsey stuff to try and decorate my house so everyone will come in and say awwwwwe cuuuuuute!” Club. I’m tired of my style, I want a more grown up woman look, not just matchey matchey crafty crap! Let’s face it, I’m in my mid 30’s and scrapbook paper and modge podge just ain’t cuttin it anymore. Ready, set, GO!
yes! We bought matching furniture when we first got married because it was easy and we were trying to fill a whole house fairly quickly. Now I’m working on eliminating all the matchy-matchy. It’s sure easier to just buy something all at one store, but it’s so much more fun to collect things and establish a room over time with things you truly love. My favorite rooms in my house have come together over long periods of time, not just something thrown together in a weekend!
right on ! lets call it the DARE TO TRY NOT BUY CLUB!count me in, [email protected]
you forgot to mention that almost all the furniture in said stores are brown and boring. how about a club where we pick something to work on each month. some people can go big, some people can go small, but everyone can make some kind of improvement and then we can all share it. first month, throw pillows which I need to work on.
after reading all the comments, I also think though it’s wonderful to be unique, it’s ok to copy too. If I see something that is perfect for my house, I am not going to reinvent the wheel. I am going to straight up copy it. I might tweak it a little though. So let’s not look down too much on copying, it’s not quite the same as buying the furniture set at rc willey that everyone else has.
I wanna be in the club too!!!! This is perfect timing for me! We’re moving into a brand SPANKIN new house in a couple months and I’m trying to get all my ugly furniture refinished before the move.
We started the grandest of undertakings… Stripping and refinishing a dining table and chairs from the 40’s that belonged to my great-grandparents!
I LOVE Sandra’s suggestion of OCD!!!
sure
I feel the exact same way. A home should reflect something of the people living in it, not just be a cookie cutout of someone else’s home. I’d love to join to your club!
Tell me the secret password; I’m totally in. I just painted my pantry turquoise. Gulp. But I LOVE it! You inspire me!
I’m in!
Mandy, I would follow you anywhere. I want to be in your club!
I too hate the “room group.” Ugh, what could be more bland?? What makes me even more sad is when someone says they have an “amazing” before and after kitchen transformation and all it is, is a $50k gut job that looks like every other high end kitchen. Nothing against spending $50k on a kitchen, of course, I would love to be able to do that! But hopefully if I did, mine would at least have some personality.
YES! I want to be in your club! I’m brave, but my husband is NOT a risk taker so I always save my huge un-doable projects for when he’s out of town. lol It’s like “While You Were Out” (hello old school HGTV!) every time he goes. I think he’s just glad he only leaves a few times a year–although he is almost always blown away when he gets back. 🙂
I am in too!!
I’m IN! Even if I had plenty of money, I still wouldn’t by a whole room all at once. I love when a room has a look like it’s been collected over time… new and old and handmade pieces. It seems more personal and loved and has history. It’s FUN!
Absolutely!!
I’m in. I afforded the matched sets because I didn’t have the time or energy to do anything different. And now I am totally sick of my boring “Utah Look” house. *Sigh.* But last week I redid a small table with orange chalk paint, so I am breaking out! I just need inspiration.
I want to play, too! I read lots of DIY blogs but yours is the only one from which I actually get inspired to do something. When you get the club set up, I’ll have to show you the rhino head my husband and I made. It’s awesome, thanks to your inspiration.
As for a name, maybe NoMatch.com because there’s no match for making it yourself!
And can our new club have an annual meeting?
I mean, I’ll hold it at my house.
…only if it involves meeting in a big tree house.
…and I want the person conducting the meeting to have a gavel.
…and every meeting should have invisible ink invitations.
…and instead of a secret handshake, I think we should have a secret sound. Like a loud “Ca-CAW!!!” like a bird.
…and i’ll bring treats.
I elect you as president.
Please count me in. I would love to be in your club. 🙂
Mary
I am so glad you wrote this! I have been feeling super depressed about my empty living room (we bought our house 6 months ago) because I can’t afford to buy a matching set of anything for it and I haven’t found anything in thrift stores that I love (or also, can afford) either. I AM SO IN WHATEVER CLUB YOU MAKE.
I’ll be in your club. I’ll bring cookies.
I was just thinking about how I love a certain look but have ZERO idea of how to make it happen…club idea…ROCKING!
I’ll be in your club!! I’ve just moved house and am fed up with buying new furniture and fed up with people throwing away stuff that is perfectly useable (bad for the environment and bad for your purse!) so I’m repurposing/upcycling old stuff that I pick up for free or for not much.
So. Where do we start?!
Georgina
I am not a great decision maker when it comes to style because I like SO many things. I love a bit of modern, a bit of French and a bit transitional, so I have a really hard time incorporating items of each into one space. I also have a wicked small house (1060 sq. feet) so I also have to edit to keep things from looking cramped. That is why I make sure most pieces MEAN something to me. I have a few items that I can’t say that about (purely functional pieces), but 90% I can. So, if you have a club of any kind to help me find out my own flippin’ style without it looking like some pcyzhophrenic person lives in my house, I would be all in!
Jenny
Sounds like a fun, my kind of place… so count me in.
That picture of the “perfect” room you have above is extremely depressing! I am so IN!!!!
I agree! I would love to join in! I saw you on Nate, and I really enjoy your blog. You have awesome ideas!
Yes, that is a great idea. I loooove your style and often look at your blog for inspiration. For years, my house has been blah and I’ve been wanting to make a change. And, I finally have! It is still a work in progress but now I have colorful chairs (bright orange and aqua) and a furry coffee table that we built! And, it makes me sooo happy!! Isn’t that what it is all about? To walk in your house and to smile! So, thank you!!
I am one of you! In fact, the About Me section on my blog says basically the same thing you do in this post. I’m so sick of the beige, blah, straight-from-a-catalog look. I have to wonder, do people decorate like that because they really, truly love it – or is it because it’s what they *think* a nice home is supposed to look like…?
-Alison
Wow, that is one special living room set. I am up for a club as long as we have a secret handshake or something. 🙂
I would love to represent WYOMINGITES in this club (I just found out that that it what you call people that live in Wyoming)! There are WAYYYY tooo many people that think crafty “painted and scrap-papered wood” projects are the ideal home decor here. Count me out of that club, please. I would love to join this “accountability” club. Cause that is my biggest problem. I have the great ideas (mostly stolen from you) I just have NO FOLLOW THROUGH power at all. AT ALL. I need the fire!
Absolutely!! We’re dirt poor out here! My husband is almost done with school and there are a few other families in the same situation around us, however, they get their parents (really!? at this age!?) to buy them what they want and have beautiful furniture from expensive stores. I would love to be able to afford nice things like that, but I know I can’t. It makes me sad sometimes, but I know that I’m making cool and cute things!
I need help in the guts department. I bought a chair 8 months ago to reapolhster it. And I still haven’t gotten close. I’ve picked out the fabric. I’ve unscrewed the legs and ripped out the bottom layer of fabric to see what it looks like inside. And I’m just to terrified to do anymore.
I need help in the guts department. I bought a chair 8 months ago to reapolhster it. And I still haven’t gotten close. I’ve picked out the fabric. I’ve unscrewed the legs and ripped out the bottom layer of fabric to see what it looks like inside. And I’m just to terrified to do anymore.
I am so in! I even have furniture in my house that I found sitting out with someone’s trash. It amazes me what people do and don’t want in their homes.
I want to be in! Lately, I find myself more and more annoyed by rooms/homes that look as if they came straight from a magazine or Pottery Barn store. We need more originality and fearlessness in design. I applaud you and your club! I’m in!
Count me in Mandi!
Im in!
Yes, I could use a kick in the pants to get me going! A club would do just that. What are the rules? When do I come? Do I bring a treat? There must be treats!
I’m always late, but I’m totally in! LOL
Club me, Baby! wait… that came out wrong. I want to be part of the Craptastic Club!!!! I have tons of crap that I LOVE turning into different crap. And I love saying craptastic cause poopylicious would just be wrong!
OMG… this is exactly what I feel about most of my friend’s furniture. All of their homes feel like I am in the furniture store 🙂
I got a huge painting (5ft wide) at an estate sale for 4$. It had a beautiful gold frame and glass was in perfect condition – i couldnt resist
My friends & even my hubby was making fun of me that i was collecting crap.
And just last week my mom got me a beautiful painting on a cloth which fit the frame perfectly…
Everyone now asks where i bought it and it would have cost hundreds. They dont even recognize the frame.. haha
I love how unique a house can be with a little creativeness and some muscle too 🙂
Count me in the club! So what are we calling it?
I just found your blog through some rabbit hole of links and blogs and Pinterest and more blogs… The point is, I’m thrilled I found it! I can completely relate to your rant. I still struggle with resisting the catalog look because it is so easy and put together. You know what though? I’m not easy and I’m not put-together, so why should my house be? I’m quirky and goofy and interesting, so my living room should be the same.
Oh yeah, and I would like to be in your club please.
Um, Lori…
Ca-CAW!!!
Have you been spying on me? Because otherwise how would you know that on occasion I flit around my house making [LOUD] bird noises at my kids and that Ca-CAW is already part of my repertoire?
Maybe we were separated at birth or something…
The perfect name and slogan for your club: “Club Craptastic” (turning crap into craptastic one thrift store piece at a time.)
The perfect name and slogan for your club: “Club Craptastic” (turning crap into craptastic one thrift store piece at a time.)
need a club for all of us that need to revitalize and not look like our grandmothers
I am SO in! I have always had a weird style that my friends made fun of, not in the cry in my pillow, i want to die sort of teasing, just the friendly kind. But it still made me have a complex. I’ve always had these weird ideas and when I tell other people about them, even my husband, they look at the like I’m from outer space and I would loose the balls to try. Then I started to read your blog about 6 months ago. Since then I have redone my horrid headboard (LOVE it now!) and my dresser. I’m currently looking for new (thrifted) furniture to redo my daughters room. She’s moving out of a toddler bed to a twin so the whole room needs to grow up!
Anyway, thanks for the inspiration and giving me my balls!
Count me in!!
door251.com
I know I am replying a few days late to the game here, but yes! I am in! I love a fun style. I like things to be light and airy, but comfy and interesting as well. I too hate walking into someones house and I feel like I don’t know anything about them, or thier style because they let someone else decorate for them.
I’m in. I am trying to find my style. I went out on a limb, put up crazy drapes. Wallpapered. And more… Found that is wasn’t my style! So what now? I’ve invested time and money. 🙁 Good news is I think I am closer to knowing my style! Sad news: what to do about the wallpaper…
I’m not going to read through all the comments, so sorry if this has already been mentioned, but you came up with the name in your post already! The “Try New Things” Club! The real clincher is the acronym – TNT – dynamite! See? You’ll already have a club theme song that everyone loves to chime in with. (Think AC/DC). I think you should pick this idea, mostly because it’s your idea, and I just brought it to your attention. 🙂
I want to join your club! My entire house feels like “blah” and I’ve been wanting needing daydreaming about doing some cool DIYs but I have been to scared to actually try! Let’s do this and I promise to not be scared!
Side note!!! And maybe next time you write about purchasing wretched furniture you can mention this: Never EVER finance a furniture purchase. It is the worst financial decision you can make! Furniture devalues as soon as you take it home. That means, if you have financed it, you are under-water on your purchase and paying interest on that debt. A seriously bad place to be in. Even worse if it’s ugly furniture!
I wolud LOVE to join your club, I too get mad at people who copy everyone else, another thing that makes me mad are “cookie cutter” houses I would like my stuff to have character and a history so when I look at it there is a story. Another plus thrifting saves a ton i’m not rich, but when I thrift I can still have amazing decor. Thank You and I REALLY hope you start a club
I guess I am late to the party and it looks as if I am the only male. Please don’t hold either against me, i want in this club where other men dare not go. Really though, I love your posts and projects and I am a crazed collector of what others refer to as junk. I love the hunt and find, the restoration and the repurposing of objects but mostly the end results. So may I please get my membership card now?
yes, please! club me! wait… what did i just agree to?