Stories & Haven

I love walking into someone’s home and spotting something I didn’t expect to see.

It might be a piece of art, an unusual chair, a color that seems slightly out of character, or something collected on a trip years ago. Whatever it is, it makes me stop for a second and smile, knowing there’s a story behind it.

Those are often my favorite things in a room.

Years ago, I worked with a couple who were renovating their den. As we were choosing fabrics, I included an animal print for just one pillow.

It wasn’t something either of them would have ever chosen on their own.

Not even close.

But they trusted me enough to give it a try.

To this day, I see them fairly often, and they still tell me how many people comment on that pillow. Their friends know immediately that it feels completely out of character for them, and somehow, that’s exactly why it works.

It was just one pillow.

But it gave an otherwise beautiful room a conversation piece.

I think every room needs something like that.

A moment of surprise. Something that catches your eye, makes you smile, or makes someone ask, “Where did you find that?”

And unexpected doesn’t have to mean loud.

It certainly doesn’t mean filling a room with things simply for the sake of being different.

Sometimes it’s a bold piece of art in an otherwise quiet room. A vintage chair mixed with more modern furniture. A playful lamp in the corner. An unusual object picked up while traveling. Maybe it’s simply a color or pattern you never imagined yourself choosing.

The best rooms have a little tension in them.

Old mixed with new. Refined next to something imperfect. Serious with just a touch of whimsy.

Those contrasts are what keep a room from feeling too planned, or worse, like everything was purchased from the same showroom on the same afternoon.

Because our homes aren’t supposed to be perfect, they’re supposed to feel like us.

They should hold pieces of our personalities, our memories, our sense of humor, and the things we’ve collected along the way.

And sometimes the piece that seems like it doesn’t quite belong is exactly the thing that makes everything else more interesting.

The unexpected doesn’t disrupt a room. It wakes it up.

So, before you go, take another look around your own home.

Is everything playing it a little too safe?

If so, ask yourself:

What could I add, or perhaps pull out of a closet and finally use, that would bring just a little bit of the unexpected into the room?

You may be surprised by how much one small thing can change the way the whole space feels.

Until next time…