MIXING IT UP
What happens when your style is all of the above?
Iam a sucker for quizzes. What career should you actually have? (Writer. Phew!) What city should you live in? (Paris. I know.) What animal are you? (Otter. Otter?) So when I was offered an advanced copy of “The DIY Style Finder: Discover Your Unique Style and Decorate It Yourself,” (Harvest House Publishers, March 5), which included a Find Your Style Quiz, even though I should have that figured out by now, I raised my hand. Itching to find out, I turned first to the 15-question quiz. As if putting on the Hogwarts sorting hat, I waited: Into which house would I fall? Spoiler alert: The quiz inside “The DIY Style Finder,” by KariAnne Wood, author of the popular Thistlewood Farms blog, may not help you determine whether your look is strongly traditional, farmhouse, transitional, contemporary or coastal — the five looks she explores in her book — but it will help you divine what you like about each, see that they can beautifully intersect, and there, in that junction, discover your style. I didn't get this at first. In fact, I thought I'd failed the quiz since my answers gave me a toehold in every look. But I called Wood, who reassured me: THAT IS THE POINT. Whew! I felt as if I not only passed, but I also got the trick question. “Although the book is divided into five design styles, the reality is there are five million styles,” said Wood, whose book features her design work in one category (coastal) and the work of four other home bloggers. The book devotes one chapter to each room in the house. Here's a sampler of room takeaways: • The dining room: Make it easy to add and subtract seating to fit your gathering. Have a leaf you can insert or remove from the table, and benches and pull-up chairs nearby. They don't have to match. • The kitchen: Use drawer organizers, and, where possible, a series of small drawers dedicated to one type of item, like measuring cups. Label shelves for faster finding and easy inventory checks. • The bathroom: A rustic ladder propped against the wall makes a great towel rack. A lazy Susan under the sink can create order out of chaos. As I looked over the rooms, however, my self-doubt returned. “If I'd had to guess which style each lovely room belonged to, I would have been wrong half the time,” I confessed to Wood. The farmhouse dining room looked a little contemporary; the transitional living room leaned traditional. “I know what you mean,” she said. “Though each blogger has a certain tone, all have crossover in their style.” For those curious about which way their style leans, here's a quick overview of the five styles in Wood's new book. Don't fret if your home is a little of each: • Traditional homes look as if they have always been there. • Farmhouse celebrates the chipped, the worn, the distressed and every barn door that has ever gone before. • Transitional combines pieces from different decor styles in creative, unconventional ways. • Contemporary homes are exciting, irreverent and vibrant. • Coastal looks embrace fresh airy textiles, such as stripes and polka dots, against white linen and painted wood.