In the age of instagram and pinterest full of beautiful and inspiring spaces, its easy to to find yourself wanting to redo your living space to look exactly like what you see on social media. I think social media is great to be inspired by, but I feel like it’s always important to embrace the character of your home. Sometimes you could do more damage chasing trends that will be no longer in style in a few years.

Some really good examples of this is carpeting over hardwood floors and having staples put into the floors (how could they!), or whoever decided it would be a good idea to spray popcorn texture on the plaster ceilings in my house. Things like painting cabinets or fireplaces are also pretty permanent choices, that will remain in your house for decades to come unless you do a major remodel. I’ll never forget when I first bought my home and someone told me I should paint my beautiful limestone fireplace white. NEVER!

I’m not saying that homes shouldn’t be updated, but its important to consider how permanent changes will be and ask yourself if it will still be in style 10 years from now. It takes more work and creativity to refresh your space while still embracing the character and beauty of the house, but in the long run, you will end up happier that you didn’t paint that beautiful woodwork white!

Here are some of my favorite inspirational spaces that embrace the natural character of a home, but are still trendy and updated with well thought out paint colors, furniture, and decor.

My biggest advice for designing your space is to embrace the character and compliment it, instead of trying to cover up your space in order to make it look like someone else’s!