Decorating Advice

^ This room has seen more trades over the last two months than New York Stock Exchange.  

^ The art over the fireplace was recently kicked out of my bedroom and needed a big place to live. 

^ Overgrowing its home in the family room, the philodendron in its jute basket got dumped on this table last weekend. 

^Trusty old standards, the natural canvas pillows have been a fixture in this room forever. 

The botanical bird pillows have been drifting around the house for years, never quite finding a place to belong.

I've been thinking about buying these black and white IKEA Stockholm pillows forever, and when I saw they were about to go out of stock, finally succumbed to the urge. Once I got them in the house, I realized I had no idea where to use them, so I just dropped them down on the couch for the time being. 

^ The line-up of  plants against the window has shifted and changed all winter long, as healthy specimens are carried off to other corners of the house, and sun-starved sicklings are brought in to recuperate. 

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The best decorating advice I've ever heard is this:

Don't worry about trying to buy things that match. Just buy what you love and trust that all your pieces will effortlessly flow into a cohesive look. 

My living room has surprised me as a perfect case in point. Since stripping away the Christmas cheer, this space has been left to flounder. I've raided most of the colorful pieces for other rooms and used this room as a dumping ground for other homeless objects. Basically, it's been a catchall junkyard for things I like but don't quite know what to do with.

Imagine my astonishment when running up the stairs yesterday with an armload of laundry, I glanced into the room and noticed not a cacophony of castoffs but a symphony of style. Somehow, all the random odds and ends have come together and I, for one, am digging the look.

Buy what you love. Trust in the flow.

I don't put much stock in most decorating advice, but believe me, this trick of the trade is right on.