How to Own Your Style
As I write this, I can’t help feeling just a teeny weeny bit smug, but more than anything: relieved. My cloak/laundry room reno is FINALLY a thing; I’m really enjoying this new space, but honestly, what a mission. And here was me thinking that I had this renovation gig down.
Talk about everything that could go wrong: leaking pipes, wallpaper malfunctions, a significant budget overrun, basically a three-month, seemingly, never-ending drama. Funnily enough, it’s often the smallest spaces that create the biggest headaches, and anything to do with plumbing, let’s not even… Anyway, lessons have been learnt, and I LOVE how it turned out. Stay tuned for the reveal, coming soon on An African Eye, season three. You’ll see that this redo stays true to the Afri-modern, eclectic vibe, which runs through my entire apartment (well the bits that are done).
What helped me stay focused and push through all the redecoration grief was knowing what I really wanted in terms of the final look and feel. To be fair, I’ve been honing my style for years now. The thing is, if you’re kind of undecided or non-committal to start with and issues crop up, it’s easy to get thrown off track and end up totally stressed. So it’s a good idea to have some sort of blueprint or style guide to work off to keep you focused. I talk about finding your style in this video. You could also take a style quiz, Apartment therapy have a good one. If you can get hold of Em Henderson’s book Styled, even better, there’s a pretty detailed one in there.
You should be aiming to come up with a look that’s uniquely you, within the style(s) parameters that you lean towards. It’s all about injecting the P (personality) word into your interior. What you want to avoid is cutting and pasting a style that has absolutely no context— ‘French/Americana Farmhouse,’ en Nairobi— awkward. Better to take elements from your ‘pinned’ look and blend them with concepts that reflect who you are, what you love and where you live, this will prevent your home from feeling random and contrived.
Which leads me swiftly on to my next point, approach Pinterest and the Gram with caution, it’s so easy to get carried away on there, with a gazillion, gorgeous interiors, literally jumping off your screen. Online is often about what’s trending right NOW, so any look that’s wildly popular is at risk of not ageing so gracefully down the line. So, It’s a good idea to get your style inspiration offline as well: cafes, shops, hotels, restaurants, galleries and museums. Fashion, film, art, photography, and other people’s homes offer a lot too. Take pics, make notes and measure the stuff that grabs you.
Above all else, you have to take risks and experiment, as you journey towards your interior style sweet spot. I remember years ago now, painting two fairly big walls in our TV room, freshly converted from a garage, orange and red; yup, not the most relaxing vibe, but there you go. You learn by doing. And remember, home is about what sparks joy for you and not the neighbours. The only people who should be concerned are those you live with. So don’t settle for a look that you’re not feeling 100 percent about, or worse still, get talked into doing it the “normal” way.
The real heartache though is, home is never actually done, as in finito. There’s always going to be something to tweak, fix or redo. So I know that while I’m patting myself on the back, this celebration is going to be short-lived; but it still feels so good be here, a luta continua.
