fake decorating = fake-o-rating

Someday I am going to live in a home that has themed rooms – some subtle, some not too subtle. For example, I want a desert-themed bathroom (not subtle).

I like this idea because there are so many possibilities in terms of interesting decorating items – ranging from scorpion paperweights and rain sticks to succulents and wild west type stuff to animal-skull-shaped soaps. And, I don’t know about you, but even if I’m just spending a minute or two there, I’m always grabbing random product bottles so I can read the back of them, and occupy that otherwise wasted time – so I’m definitely of the “bathrooms should be more interesting” school of thought. I’m so excited.

Our living area even now has a vaguely Mexican folk art theme (key word: vaguely) – but I would love to take that and run with it a little more, make it more overt and more colorful. Remember in Fools Rush In when Alex comes home to find his house has been repainted in garish colors and there are crosses everywhere? Like that, kind of, but I don’t want people walking into my living room to think they’ve somehow wandered into a Chevy’s Fresh Mex either.

I want my kitchen to be mid-century-ish. I already buy all the vintage-stylized appliances, and the dishware my grandma got us for the wedding totally fits the bill. I just need to get some more metal signs, a sparkly formica table and chairs, and some of those retro aluminum tumblers (they’ll totally go with my colorful living room!)

The other option for the kitchen is to do a kind of subtle country theme – mason jars, stalks of lavender, bits of gingham, maybe some pretty lace curtains. Potentially I could combine elements of the mid-century and country kitchen – hmm, not sure how that would work.

I want to take all the advice you ever read anywhere about bedrooms and banish all tvs and computers from our bedroom, and also really just concentrate on making the room a total retreat – simple, clean, clutter-free, with some awesome wall art and an enormous and insanely comfortable bed. The only thing I might consider introducing into the room that isn’t strictly bed-y would be a library of sorts. I would love to be able to reach 80% of my books without having to leave the bedroom, so a series of bookcases along one wall or along all the walls would be great. Bookcases, bed, nightstands, a forest like this on one wall – done.

Lastly, I want to curate my imaginary house with beautiful and interesting art – with a special emphasis on art by friends. I’m lucky to know a handful of amazing artists (I actually know a SHIT TON of amazing artists – but most of them work with hair or words, not anything I can hang on a wall) – and I’ll start there, but then also just add in pieces that feel right. I, of course, will continue to build up my collection of folk-art crosses and religious iconography, and hopefully some day those will take up an entire wall or entryway all on their own.

I know it sounds like a lot, but I’m just envisioning that each room is either separated enough from the next room or flows so well into the next room that it doesn’t feel haphazard or jarring. We’ll see (somedayIhope)!