After getting divorced in 2020 I left the majority of furniture I had collected over the years with my ex husband. At the time, he planned on keeping our house and I craved a fresh start. I wanted to minimize disruption to our small children by leaving that home largely as it had been. He made it very clear to the children that I was at fault for the dissolution on our marriage, and I felt they had enough to blame me for without also blaming me for pilfering their home. After one year in a small rental I purchased my home in 2021 with big plans to make it a reflection of my style and personality and to decorate it without asking anyone's opinion. However after buying the home and doing some renovations to make it livable for my family, I did not have much left over to execute my decorating plans. My first priority was to create a homey and livable space for my family, and so I made some basic choices so that we would have somewhere to eat and a sofa to lounge on.
As an interior designer designing spaces for clients comes naturally to me. I speak with my clients, get a sense of what colors they like, what design styles they gravitate towards, how much money they want to spend and what items they currently have that they want to keep. I use digital tools to plan their layouts and then come up with a mood board that often, if it is a hit, forms the basis for the design plan. For myself though, this process is much different. I have two modes, impulse buying mode in which I see something I like and purchase it without much thought, thinking if it doesn't work in my own space I will find a client to whom I can resell the item. The other mode, and this is more often the case is overthinking mode. I really want some particular item but my dog or kids could knock it over and break it. I really want a new rug but my puppy is only recently out of the chew stuff up phase. I really want to add wallpaper to a space but maybe I should spend the money on a nice piece of art instead. Oh well, I'll just wait 10 years.
Now, I am at the point where I'd like to move on from some of the items that were supposed to be temporary, but how in the world do I make the choices! There are just too many colors and too many design styles that I love and it is so hard to pair it down. Recently I decided the thing I need for my space most is a new rug. My temporary rug is a faux antique that is very thin and is curling up around the edges. Plus by dog took some bites out of it when he was a puppy. I decided to follow the same process I do for my clients by creating a mood board. Here are some renditions of my space with some items I already have and some that I would like to have.
Rug Option 1: Contemporary Morroccan Shag
Option 2: Colorful Mid Century Modern
Option 3: Calming Contemporary
The only thing different about these images is the rug. And I find although I have already impulse bought one of these rugs because it was on sale, I am now overthinking it and second guessing myself. So let me know what you think. Which one do you like best? It won't influence my final choice but I am interested. Also, and more importantly, Whether you are a designer or not, how do you go about making decisions for your own spaces?