What to Do When Your Style Changes

We have all been there before...

You're knee deep into a trend, have bought all the things, decked out all the rooms in your house...and then, the waves of change come in. My best advice for that is to not give in so easily to trends, but that's a subject for a whole other post. I really want this post to be helpful right where you are in this moment. We can work on saying "no" to trends later.

This post may contain affiliate links. Thank you for supporting my small business…at no extra cost to yourself!

SHARE THIS POST OR PIN IT FOR LATER!

As I was going through my computer looking for pictures to share with this post, I realized a few things. 1. Phones (and my photography) have improved so much over the last decade or so. 2. I don't have very many pictures of our old house (maybe that's a good thing). 3. My style has evolved quite a bit over the last several years! *My LIGHT AND BRIGHT PHOTOGRAPHY PRESET has been a game changer for my photos. The best part is that it's used with the FREE Adobe Lightroom App!*

I think all of us go through seasons of change when we just grow tired of our furniture, accessories, and decor. That can happen because your tastes have changed, trends have shifted, or because you're able to upgrade. For me, it's been a combination of those. I'm also a thrifter and am always on the hunt, so I tend to acquire a lot more "inventory" than most people normally would. I also work on little DIY projects to share with you, which can add to the general stockpile in our home.

In the last couple of years, I've also had to clear out my mom's estate and have brought so much stuff home to sift through, deciding what to keep and what to SELL. I know you might be facing that reality as well or it could at least be on the horizon.

Whatever your reason for changes in style, it can be very overwhelming trying to decide how to even make the shift...let alone what to do with all the "stuff". Before I share my tips for what to do in this situation, I just want to tell you not to feel bad about getting rid of things. It happens to all of us and, if nothing else, you can learn from this...and hope to not have to do it again (or at least as often).

Now for what I would do...

‍

1. Clear out the items you know you don't want to keep. If you don't want to try and resell them, I would load them directly into your car and donate ASAP. That will give more of a blank slate to work with and you won't be tempted to bring those old things back in. I'll share my thoughts on reselling a little later on.
2. Start organizing your thoughts in terms of inspiration. Everyone does this differently and there is really no right or wrong answer. Obviously, there is always Pinterest and you can save posts in a similar way on Instagram. Maybe you're old school and enjoy books. Great! Be sure to mark the pages you enjoy with a post-it or some way to come back to it. You could even create a real-live "Pinterest" board with cut-outs from magazines and catalogs. However you choose to organize your thoughts, make sure you're making note of what it is you like about each image.
3. See what you have already that will work to recreate the looks from your inspiration. This is why it's so important to get rid of the pieces you don't love first. You could have items that would technically work, but if you're not inspired by them anymore...you don't want to bring them back into the fold.
4. If you held onto items to sell, let's get that done! This will free up some guilt you're having for getting rid of things and will put MONEY in your pocket. I've been loving taking things to auction lately. The place I go does basically all the work...I just have to show up with a carload of things. In a couple of weeks, I get a check and they get rid of whatever was left. Consignment shops are a great option as well and are found in most towns. You could always have a garage sale, although, I haven't ever had the best of luck with them. And there is always the Wild Wild West of FACEBOOK MARKETPLACE! 
5. Once you've cleared the clutter and gathered your inspiration, it's time to shop! I will always advocate shopping secondhand...and at the very least...shopping secondhand first. I am pretty much convinced that anything you need (and anything that's worth having) will be found in soms secondhand capacity. I know not everyone is into thrifting, but that doesn't mean you can't find something pre-loved. I am a big fan of estate sales, designer resale shops, and Facebook Marketplace for finding goodies that no longer serve others, but will make your home completely unique and beautiful! 

I know you might be tempted to hold onto things...out of guilt or thinking they might come back into favor for you. By all means, you can do that. However, my personal experience is, while you might pull a couple of things out here or there, you more than likely will never use most of the pieces again. They'll just take up space (both physical and mental), until you finally decide to get rid of them. Wouldn't it be a relief to just get it over with right away? I'm definitely talking to myself right now, as I just loaded the back end of my car with items to take to auction...some of which have been in storage bins for a good 10 years...

Whatever your next style move is, it's so good to remember that our tastes are always evolving. We're influenced by so many things around us, how could they not? Social media has a huge impact on what we do with our homes. My encouragement to you would be to really hone in on the things that bring you so much joy and focus on bringing more of that into your home. Most of us aren't grand decorators living in million dollar homes (although, if you are, kudos). Instead, we're just normal folks trying to make our houses home, create warm memories for the people living in them, and be inspired by the things around us.

Creating a whole house COLOR PALETTE has been something that has been with me for years and has, ultimately, helped me to reuse decor that I would have otherwise gotten rid of. While the overall tones of colors have changed in my decorating over the years, I have many colors that remain true within my decorating. Reimagining how I use the items or grouping them differently has helped me to get more use out of them than if I decided to come up with a whole new color scheme.

If you want a new look in your home and just can't afford to buy anything new...I always suggest PAINT! Most of us have a stash of paint in the basement or garage. If not, you can get it for a much discounted price by shopping at Habitat for Humanity. I'll bet at the very least, your friends might have some old colors they're not using anymore. You'd be amazed at the pretty colors you can come up with simply by doing a little custom mixing. RUB 'N BUFF is also one of my favorite tools for transforming decor in our home. My latest project using it...the frame around our television (no budget here for a FRAME TV).

Oh, I should add... I hope that you don't try to do this all at once in your home. It can be done, for sure, but room by room would be much more enjoyable and less stressful. If you are going to do anything all at one time, I would suggest it be the initial clean out. You might even discover you like living with less and don't need to source much more decor afterall!

I hope this has been helpful in trying to organize your thoughts about your style changing. I know it can feel almost paralyzing to look around you and not love what you see...but not have a clear plan as to how to go about making a shift. I also hope you enjoyed seeing a few

If you're making changes in your home, I would love to see! Post to your Instagram stories and tag me @hilaryprall!