Decorate to Express Your Personality

As survivors of abuse and trauma, we are learning how to become more confident during my series, Confident in God's Hands. Today, we take a look at how we express ourselves with our decorating style.

Does your interior decor express the true you?
Cleanliness and organization are pretty basic, so let's delve deeper into how we express ourselves through the design of our homes and work places. Do both your home and your work space give people an idea of who you are? Or are you expressing your spouse's personality more than your own? Do you even know enough about yourself to say that you prefer certain styles over others?

When we moved to our lake house a couple of years ago, I decided that I was not going to allow Joe's tastes in interior design to overshadow mine. He loves heavy, claw-footed antiques, dark fabrics, and leather. This style feels oppressive to me, and I had been living with it for nearly ten years.

There's an enormous rose bush with hot pink blooms growing outside our front door, so I decided that I would extend that theme into the house. No, I didn't paint all of the walls pink, but I do believe that my house says a lot about who I am.

I have always loved the English cottage style, so I chose lace curtains, cotton fabrics with roses on them, and subtle shades of gold, green, wine, and pink in every room. The only room that does not include pink is Joe's study, where his heavy, clawfoot desk remains with his dark cherry book shelves.

My house is both my home and my work space. By making it a place where I feel that I can express myself freely through the decorating style, I have become more confident when people come to visit.

Today's Challenge
Do you feel at home in your house or work place? Of have you allowed someone else's tastes to dictate how it will look? Did a designer convince you to decorate in a way that makes you feel out of sorts? Do whatever it takes to make your house and your work environment put you at ease. Feeling confident in your own surroundings puts you on the path of success every time you walk through the door.