Is decorating like cooking a great dish?

“Melding the many flavors of home is a delicate art, and there can be magic in the madness of your mixture.” Design entrepreneur Tracy Porter

Sometimes, I think decorating a home can be likened to cooking a great dish. There are recipes and rules to follow, but the best results are often achieved when we simply follow our intuition.

In my home, I like to create vignettes throughout my home. I enjoy going from room to room, looking to re-discover little treasures to display a different way. In the tablescape above, I assembled a mix of seemingly disparate items that, together, tell a multi-layered story about our family. A vintage typewriter, purchased because it revealed my love of typewriters even as a six-year-old. Who knew this would later become my most used tool as a writer? Next to it is a fun folk art piece from Mexico that my kids love to look at and create stories about. Then, there is the silver heart that is a cherished wedding gift from a good friend. And, of course, let's not forget that Anthropologie lamp that adds such a dose of personality to the entire room.

I didn't have a plan in mind when I put the arrangement together. I simply began playing around with the items I wanted on that table until I was happy. I mean, let's face it, whether we're talking about cooking or decorating, what matters in the end is that we walk away feeling satisfied, wouldn't you say?

I'm thinking about this as fall approaches and I begin to bring out a few touches of fall. I plan to devote at least an hour or two this weekend to making some changes to reflect the change in season. Will you be doing any fall decorating this weekend? Whatever your plans, I hope you have a great weekend.

Warmly,