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Add a Touch of Surprise to Your Home

May 6, 2021

Are you brave enough to add a touch of “surprise” to your home?

I love surprises…the good kind that make me smile. You know, like finding a five dollar bill in the laundry: “Surprise! You’re five bucks richer!”

Maybe that’s why I’m drawn to creating mini surprises in our home. While it’s not my chief goal in decorating, I do like to add an element of surprise to every room.

A little something unexpected. Not so perfect. Unpredictable.

For instance, this little grouping of antique books and a piece of contemporary ceramic art stuffed with evergreen “hair” is tucked away on a bottom shelf. You’d have to really be looking to find it.

I used a bookend as a holder instead for its original purpose (Come to think of it, it might not be a bookend either! I don’t really know what it is or why I bought it!)

A Jazzed-up Neutral Palette

The main living area of our house is like many of yours—a great room that is open to the kitchen and dining area. When we were building it, I knew at the outset I’d have to work with our black leather sectional and that I wanted white kitchen cabinets.

Black and white—an easy, traditional, neutral palette.

I absolutely love the soft environment neutrals build. Creamy white on white on white. Gorgeous grays that span from mushroom to pewter. And the classic black and white.

But—I guess it’s the artist in me—I also love color, bright, crisp, snappy pops of color. Bright colors tickle my happy button.

I’ve seen some fabulous homes with entire rooms painted sunshiny yellow, china blue, vibrant orange, lime green, and even fuchsia. Personality galore!

I knew my introvert husband, who would live in a house with no windows, wouldn’t be comfortable in a box of crayons. Truthfully, I’m not sure it would be healthy for me to live in a house dominated by brights. Might keep me too stimulated, which could certainly be annoying.

I wanted our home to be a haven for both of us.

Enter turquoise…

We painted one kitchen wall in a zippy blue-green that Sherwin Williams calls Calypso. In full disclosure, I loved it so much I used it for the mudroom (I mean “mud room,” yuck—who doesn’t want to jazz that up?) and the laundry room (another place in need of a happy tickler).

It’s just enough to satisfy me and not too much to overwhelm my black-and-white engineer, who—I must add—was genuinely open to anything I picked out when we were building.

My friend Lori is a decorator (you’ll meet her in an upcoming post). She firmly believes your home should reflect who you are. It should reveal your personality.

I think she’s right, don’t you?

The bottom line is your home should be a place where you feel comfortable, a place where you can rest and be rejuvenated, a place of joy and inspiration. And a place where you can welcome others with genuine hospitality.

What if you don’t like surprises?

Maybe you prefer a gentle, monochromatic environment. You can’t go wrong with that. It achieves a beautiful, on-trend home.

But could I encourage you to at least dabble in the unexpected? You might find something as simple as an unusual pillow or an original painting is enough of a statement. World Market has some fabulous, very reasonable pillows like the one I just popped onto our sectional. (It really jazzed things up for our dog Francie who always prefers to sleep on top of a pillow.)

You could experiment with repurposing a piece of furniture. Or, use an item differently from its original purpose—like use a ceramic planter to hold your utensils.

Hey, you might even go to the paint store, stand in front of the samples, and see what you makes you smile. You may not be a turquoise lover, but what colors draw you in every time? Could you use it as an accent wall or paint a small table that color?

And, speaking of color…

Well, that’s a whole other post.

What about you? Do you like to add a touch of surprise to your home? Have you ever thought of including surprises in your decorating? Leave a comment!

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