Home Decorating for the Independent Personality

Putting your personality into your house is the best way to make it a home. Whether you're using your own muse or someone else's put yourself into everything you create at home for a relaxing life experience.

One of the first things I realized about home decorating-after my three thousand or so attempts at making my place look like all the pictures from the magazines-is that home decorating should reflect your personal style. Your home should reflect who you are and what you love.

Of course, I'm not saying that this revelation made me prance around my house with two cans of pink and yellow paint or that I plastered bunnies and butterflies everywhere-and yes, I do actually love pink, yellow, bunnies and butterflies-but I did put a little bit of myself into every room.

I got a certain sense of personal satisfaction from painting my ugly orange countertops a vibrant country red that matched my lust for life and the décor I actually wanted to toss around my kitchen. And my own personal works of art-paintings, photographs, sculptures-are set up around my place as well, giving it just that look of being lived in by somebody who loves and experiences life.

Of course, I recognize that we can't all spend our evenings splashing around in water colors, or spend our weekends chasing a gaggle of baby quails about the yard trying to take their pictures.

That's why there are professional designers out there who dedicate their lives to creating home décor that other people can use to express themselves and their individuality. And it's okay to buy your curtains and blankets if you don't know how to sew-crafty as I am, I still bought all my curtains and most of my blankets.

Of the things I love most in my home, my furniture doesn't even come close to counting. It's the accessories in my home that make it look like I personally live there and that no one else can shake my individuality.

One of my favorite items is a cotton area rug I recently purchased on a trip to the Deep South. This area rug was handmade in mills in the Deep South, where the cotton was picked fresh, milled in a southern mill, cleaned, spun and woven all by the same family of rug makers. When the bed is too hot at night, I frequently sleep on this rug and it makes me feel like I'm back in the Deep South all over again.

I realize that area rugs are not for everyone, but it can be an excellent place to start in learning to develop a personality for your home that meshes with your own personality rather than clashing and making you feel uncomfortable in your own home.

Different types of accessories are truly the way to bring out your personality in your home. Whether it is an area rug, artwork, photographs, drapery, throw pillows or knick knacks that represent different moments in your life, you can always find a way to make yourself feel at home if you just put a little bit of yourself into your own home.