Becker Holly - Decorate Workshop: Design and Style Your Space in 8 Creative Steps

This book is dedicated to my readers and students, whom I love dearly. Thank you for supporting me in all that I do. Your friendship and love is the wind in my sail.

Text copyright 2012 by Holly Becker.
Photographs copyright 2012 by Jacqui Small LLP.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the publisher.

constitutes a continuation of the copyright page.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication data available.

ISBN 978-1-4521-2215-1

Chronicle Books
680 Second Street
San Francisco, California 94107

www.chroniclebooks.com

contents

1. STEP 1
   Seek INSPIRATION
2. STEP 2
   Find your PERSONAL STYLE
3. STEP 3
   IDENTIFY your project
4. STEP 4
   PREP your space
5. STEP 5
   DRAW UP your space
6. STEP 6
   Translate your IDEAS
7. STEP 7
   FINALIZE your scheme
8. STEP 8
   Happy DECORATING

Introduction - decorate with me

It is my sincere invitation that youll join me in this interactive workshop to explore creativity, self-expression, personalization, and a try anything once approach to decorating. Your home should be an authentic expression of who you are, who you hope to become, and it should honor your roots because they have made you exactly who you are todayand thats something worth cherishing and sharing with others.

Lets face it, everything is better in life with a good friend by our side. When I decide to work on a project I find it beneficial to tap into a knowledgeable friend who is willing to share pointers and even cheer me on along the way. This book is my hand reaching out for yours as I lead you down a happy path, free of judgement, bossiness, and pretension, as we work on your next decorating project in eight steps together. Ive provided several writing prompts to inspire and motivate you along the way because I want to encourage you to finish what youve started. Your vision deserves to see the light of day so that you can walk into your home and say that it feels just right. Im here to help make that happen.

When you tap into your creative side, everything is enhanced and decorating is really just thatbeing creative in your home in a very personal way.

Everyone wants to feel at home yet often it is the first thing that we neglect when busy schedules overcrowd our life. Decorating is an act of creative self-expression, which is why its most often pushed to the side simply because creativity is not revered in most societies or seen as a necessitybeing practical and rational is. Exercising our creative side is viewed as a luxury, a bonus, something that we can tap into only when weve finished everything else. I dont buy into that for one second. I encourage you to schedule time each week for creative expression in the homebecause we all have a creative side, we simply need to engage it.

This book goes a bit further than, Put that sofa there and place these lamps on either side. I will first guide you on a mini self-discovery mission, then Ill share how to view everyday things with a more creative eye. Next youll be shown how to build out some of your ideas in a more tangible way, and from there Ill provide lots of decorating guidelines and examples. Finally you will be on your way to doing all sorts of lovely things to your home. Thats how I approach decorating from start to finishto tap in and then connect the mind with the home.

When I decided to write a second book to follow Decorate, I felt strongly that I needed to give you a book that I myself had long wished to find but couldnta decorating guide that I could write in and put to good use. Its often scary to write in books, I get that. Mainly because books feel quite precious and so much heart, soul, time, and money goes into the making of them. The thing is, I was a blogger long before I became an author and I cant imagine writing a blog that no one ever commented on. My approach for this book is very much like blogging, that were involved in a conversationIm voicing my opinion and youre responding. I invite you to relax, grab a pencil with a good eraser (in case you need to modify something along the way), and give yourself the freedom and permission to use this interactive guide to your best advantage. Write in it! Highlight parts that speak to you with a fat yellow marker, make notes in the columns with a pencil or ball-point pen, sketch, doodle, respond to the various prompts that Ive left that will allow you to explore your inner decorator. Instead of viewing this as writing in a book, view this as writing a book in which I am the author and you are my co-author.

The making of a home is an ongoing process; its like a never-ending art project, and most importantly, it should be fun.

My approach for this book is very much like blogging, that were involved in a conversationIm voicing my opinion and youre responding.

I believe that the ultimate compliment is when someone steps into your home and says, This is so you, I love what youve done here! Making something your own is really the spice of lifethe seasoning on the beautifully prepared meal, a meal that you want to share with others because you are proud of your creation. A home should be the same, and this can be accomplished by allowing yourself to communicate your visionan inspiring act in itself. I believe being house proud fuels all areas of our lives, trickling into the biggies like our self-esteem, comfort, security, family relationships, and how safe we feel in our own skin. My belief is that when your foundation, namely your home, feels right then everything else just works better. Even when hard times come at least the security and warmth we feel at home, coupled with our comfy bed and a big squishy pillow to cry into, makes difficult moments more bearable

When you tap into your creative side, everything is enhanced and decorating is really just thatbeing creative in your home in a very personal way. The making of a home is an ongoing process; its like a never-ending art project, and most importantly, it should be fun. Through the pages of this book youll be encouraged to explore your decorating approach through fresh eyes while enjoying the process because the journey should be as sweet as the destination. Were a team and I wholeheartedly believe that together we can make your home a little sweeter. Want to get started? Good, I was hoping youd say that.

Holly Becker

What do you need to get started?

Before we begin working on my 8 steps, I thought we should first put some key things in place. The first tiling is a creative exercise that involves only a few magazines and an hour of your time. Pull together a few style files to get your decorating gears turning. Style files are simply manilla file folders that are labeled by room name such as Bedroom or Dining Room. Pull some pages of rooms from magazines and catalogs that speak to you and place them in your folders. This exercise is meant to be fun and to light your creative spark, though later you will be referring to it again as you begin to hone in on your ideas, create moodboards, and develop your final room scheme. Next I would like to ask you to create a Project Binder, as outlined in the box right. Finally, please look over my Toolbox page and try to pull together as many of these important items as you can. You have a great foundation in which to begin. Youre already on your way!