Friday Guest Blog Interview: A Room Somewhere

Happy Friday! I’m delighted to bring you Pepper’s featured guest blog interview this week… Leslie of A Room Somewhere!

Leslie shares her fabulous finds — be it design for the home, fashion for the closet or Etsy inspiration for every day living — on a regular basis and her blog serves, quite possibly, as the queen of wonderful giveaways {must check them out!}. Her inspirational style is fresh, clean and polished but it also evokes a wonderful sense of the old and new, and how it can be melded perfectly together. A tour of her home is a sneak peak at how heirloom spoons can share space with a modern parsons chair and silver platters can adorn the same walls that sunburst mirrors claim. I love that. That’s what decorating is all about — that beautiful fusion of what tells your story.

Leslie has a lengthy list of guest posts… including My Favorite Things, Petit Elefanta , Tangled & True and Design Mom. This week she took time out of her busy day {a house full of three little ones} to answer PDB’s four questions: Leslie shares her decorating style, favorite tips and how her own design inspiration has circled the map. She has pulled together images to highlight all of this and more… And her work is wonderful!

A Room Somewhere is like a good book — I guarantee you’ll want to come back again & again with a warm cup of coffee and more than a few minutes to read, flip through, comment on and smile at all that Leslie treasures and shares.

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{PDB Interview with Leslie of A Room Somewhere}

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What inspires your design style?

My design style is inspired by so many things. As a youth, I was blessed to travel the world; from my first trip to Europe when I was eight, to a week long stay in Japan as a teen, to an unforgettable trip to the Mediterranean as a newlywed, and many places in between, I have seen beauty and history in so many forms and from so many disparate cultures. I wouldn’t necessarily call my style “global” (since that brings to mind rattan and beads and incense burners), but I do strive to incorporate styles from outside my own small world (suburban Texas) into my home and onto my blog. The orange-tree lined streets and the ruins of Athens inspire my love for ancient shades of stone, the gardens of the manor houses in England gave me my love of a formally designed outdoor space, my time spent in a teeny Paris apartment brought about my need for big windows and pretty light. I could go on and on!

As for my own home’s style, I love to fill my space with light, texture, interesting forms, and a touch of patina. My family heirlooms, whether they be a fabulous silver platter or an antique handbag, take center stage in my home. Give me something with a story behind it and I’ll have it forever.

Of course, I am endlessly inspired by the blogs that I read, the artists to which I am introduced, the handcrafted goodness that seems to be everywhere, and the seemingly limitless amount of gorgeous photography to be found online and in print. I am constantly amazed by the amount of talent just one person can possess.

What do you love most about what you do?

I love blogging at A Room Somewhere for so many reasons; I feel so lucky to have found my little niche on the internet! My blogging brings beauty to my own life and has helped me tremendously by introducing me to things and people I never would have found otherwise. As I am in the middle of remodeling a home myself, I feel like the design world is my oyster, and my blog is the knife to help me crack it open. (Gosh, I need a pearl metaphor in here somewhere . . . )

Of course, another added benefit to having my blog is that I now feel like I have friends all over the world. If I ask for an opinion from my readers on my blog (trying to decide which headboard to purchase, most recently), I always am flooded with educated, inspired answers. I love my readers! The other thing that I love about what I do is that I can do it from my favorite place: my home. My children can still surround me, dinner can be cooking, and I can still be present. That is the most important thing for me. I can walk away from it at any time, because I am my own master, so to speak. My blog can go anywhere or nowhere, depending on my actions and preferences.

What are your favorite design trends?

Well, I keep an Elle Decor subscription going to sort of “keep my hand in,” but I tend to like what I like regardless of its popularity. I do cave to some minor trends, I suppose. My recent favorites? Hmmm, sunburst mirrors (had to have a few of those), the resurgence of old portraiture grouped together in a modern space, and recycled/refinished antique furniture (like the projects featured often on Design*Sponge). It makes me so happy to see a beat up old chair have new life because of some great graphic fabric and a coat of paint!

What are three design suggestions that you would like to offer our readers?

{1} Only purchase/use/create things you absolutely love. There is no sense buying something just to fill up a space if you don’t really, truly love it. I know this well because I’m looking at a pile of discarded decorative items which I am selling at a moving sale this weekend. Half of them I should never have purchased in the first place. So, firstly, don’t decorate just for the sake of decoration.

{2.} Simplify, simplify, simplify. If you think a wall is too full of pictures or a shelf has a few too many knick knacks, it probably does. Your house will feel cleaner and your mind will feel clearer if you just put a few things away. Clutter begets stress, in my book.

{3} Open your windows, undo the shutters, and raise up (or throw out) the blinds. I drive by homes in my neighborhood whose blinds or drapes are never even cracked. Nothing gets me down like a dark room on a sunny day. A little (or a lot of) sunlight can do wonders for a family and a home.

Thank you, Leslie!
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