Yesterday morning while driving to morning Mass, I received a call from Tabitha. She had me on speaker with one of her coworkers.
“Mom, Kim needs help picking a faucet and because you are my Mom, she thinks I can help her. You know I am clueless with all things home decor. Can you help?”
I laughed and then asked Kim a few questions about what she was working on. She was going to remodel 2 small bathrooms in a home she and her husband recently purchased. After talking with her for a few minutes we decided she would send me some pictures of bathrooms that appealed to her and I would think about options for her new bathrooms. Once someone enlists my help with a design query, I’m like a dog with a bone. I need to sink my teeth right in and figure out how to solve the problem or thoughts and ideas will constantly swirl around in my brain until I can’t sleep. I always tell my client’s that I can’t stop thinking about their homes until the job is complete. Which is why, I tend to work extremely fast. It’s hard having too many images reeling through my brain at any given moment.
Anyways, back to the task at hand. After looking at her Instagram pics, I noticed that she loved white, plants and natural materials BUT she also was drawn to dark and dramatic spaces.
When I followed up with her later in the day, I learned that her contractor had already completed the demo and he wanted her tile and cabinet picks asap. Yikes! I had assumed this was a future project, not a project that was already started. Now my brain was really going and I suggested we meet at her house as soon as possible so I could look at the spaces. We met a few hours later. Her home is a neighborhood I love, with lots of yard and beautiful lighting. She was planning on painting all the walls, doors and moldings white, which is my favorite, so no problems there. Then we talked about the kitchen. Her current kitchen will have to remain basically as is until they have the time and money to remodel it in the future. The cabinets were a reddish cherry, which wasn’t appealing BUT Kim said she was going to tackle painting them herself. I love it! Paint will transform the entire kitchen. She then pulled out a forest green paint swatch and said this was the color she planned on painting the lower cabinets. Hmmmmm, This color choice didn’t make any sense to me so I started asking her questions about how she came to choose this color. It appears that every time she saw really dark cabinets on Instagram, which is super in style right now, she loved the look. Then I asked:
Me: “Do you have any dark cabinets in your current home?”
Kim: “No.”
Me: “Do you decorate with any dark dramatic colors?”
Kim: “Not really. We have a brown leather couch, lots of wood pieces, tons of plants and white.” We love natural materials and will be spending tons of times outside enjoying our backyard.”
That’s what I thought. So my original assessment of Kim’s personality and lifestyle was correct, which is why I was so confused as to why she wanted a dark dramatic color on the cabinets.
I then told her a short story about another client, Barbara, I had recently helped. Barbara asked me to give her some suggestions for furniture in her home. She told me that she loved her couch, which was covered in a solid fabric with a slight texture. She then told me how much she hated the 2 side chairs, which were covered in a brown and cream zebra print. ” I like solid fabrics for my furniture, but I decided to have these chairs recovered in this bold print because I kept seeing antique style chairs covered in a bold modern fabric and I loved the look. When I got them in my house, I hated them instantly!” She told me. I then explained, “That’s because you may like the look, but that doesn’t mean you want to live with it in your house. Always stick with what you know you like. If you like solids, don’t let trends sway you from what you truly like, because you won’t be happy. We all have a style whether we realize it or not and when we mess with it too much, our heart and pocketbook aren’t happy, because we never end up happy.”
After I told Kim this story she said something like this: “So, I basically wear neutrals everyday, but once in a while I’ll decide to buy a really bright shirt because I’m in a crazy mood. I love the shirt but every time I put it on, it doesn’t feel like me, so I don’t wear it and it basically it never leaves the closet.” “EXACTLY!” I say. “Don’t try and change what you love because you see it all over the internet. Be you!” She then pulled up the picture of the bathroom with navy tiles and gold accents and said: “What do you think of this bathroom?”
Me: ” I absolutely love it but it doesn’t look like you! This bathroom is dramatic and sophisticated. Not to be mean, but you aren’t dramatic and sophisticated. You are kind, down to earth and obsessed with the taking care of the planet!
Kim: “I get it! I’ve been overthinking this whole thing. I need to just pick what I already know I like.”
Me: “YES! As for the kitchen, why don’t you paint the kitchen cabinets a color that coordinates with the granite? I know you hate the granite and want to change in in the future but until that happens, let’s embrace the granite. That way when you have guests over you won’t have to give them a disclaimer as they enter:
I know the granite and the cabinets don’t match but I hate the granite and we should be able to replace it in 5 years, so just ignore it!”
So here is the granite. After I left, I went home and pulled out my paint swatches and came up with a new color scheme that screams, I LOVE NATURE and I’m embracing my 80’s style granite. I came up with the colors below and can totally imagine the cabinets being the pinky shade with gold pulls. It would look fabulous and be totally unique.
Of course I went straight to Floor & Decor this morning and picked out all new tile options for both bathrooms. I now feel confident that Kim knows what she wants and really doesn’t need me anymore, which is a good thing.
So, long story short, be you in everything you do. Be true to yourself and don’t be swayed by social media or trends.
xoxo tiffani
