Wood - The DIY Style Finder

Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are from the Holy Bible, New International Version, NIV. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Cover by Nicole Dougherty

Interior design by Faceout Studio

Photos on pages by KariAnne Wood.

Photos of Yvonne () provided by each homeowner respectively. Used by permission.

All other photography by Jay Eads

Published in association with William K. Jensen Literary Agency, 119 Bampton Court, Eugene, Oregon 97404

The DIY Style Finder

Copyright 2019 by KariAnne Wood

Published by Harvest House Publishers

Eugene, Oregon 97408

www.harvesthousepublishers.com

ISBN 978-0-7369-7228-4 (Hardcover)

ISBN 978-0-7369-7229-1 (eBook)

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Wood, KariAnne, author.

Title: The DIY style finder / KariAnne Wood.

Description: Eugene, Oregon : Harvest House Publishers, [2019]

Identifiers: LCCN 2018022894 (print) | LCCN 2018023070 (ebook) | ISBN 9780736972291 (ebook) | ISBN 9780736972284 (hardcover)

Subjects: LCSH: Interior decorationAmateurs manuals.

Classification: LCC NK2115 (ebook) | LCC NK2115 .W8297 2019 (print) | DDC 747dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018022894

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To Denny

I think a little piece of me fell in love with you the first time we ever met.

Before you became my best friend.

Before you became my one and only.

Before I ever really knew the wonder that is you.

Remember the first apartment with the plastic furniture?

Remember our journey across America in a car without air-conditioning?

Remember every inside joke we ever told?

Remember how we always said it was us against the world?

I do.

And I would live this life over again and again and again.

If I could live it with you.

Contents

I cant decide if I should introduce myself first or start right in on the cartwheels now that youre here.

I cant help it.

Im all about an over-the-top gymnastic celebration.

My mother always told me that when you meet someone truly amazing ( just like you ) and youre thrilled and excited and you want to say hello, but youre a little unsure on how to take the first step, you take a breath. Press pause. And go all Julie Andrews and start at the beginning.

Im KariAnne.

I wear yoga pants and messy buns and purple nail polish and currently own almost every shade of red lipstick on the planet. I watch Hallmark movie marathons, and I have hands that wave when I talk and oddly long toes, and I spend my days trying to find homes for abandoned furniture. Ive been decorating since my first Barbie house, and I love a DIY, and for seven years Ive written a blog called Thistlewood Farms .

I remember the first day I started the blog.

I had big plans. It was going to be detailed and full of decorator terminology and important, meaningful words of wisdom and lengthy discussions about what to do and what not to do when decorating your home. At the time, I had no idea how to take pictures. I used disposable cameras that were yellow. You know. The ones you took to Walgreens and then threw away after you used them.

I hired a photographer, and he came to the house and took the most incredible pictures of my Christmas decorations. I still remember when he sent the photographs to me. I sat at the computer staring in wonder. I was in awe. I was so full of joy. At the risk of stating the obvious, my Christmas decorating was on fleek. I couldnt wait to show the world.

Oh, the blog I was going to write!

I sat down at the computer with words swirling around in my head about neutrals and Christmas trees and why gray was so 2011. I added the first picture to the post and smiled. It was amazing. Didnt my chairs match my ottoman and pick up the tiny flecks of silver in my stockings hung by the fireplace perfectly? And the tree? Had the world ever seen such a tree? It was nine feet tall and covered with glittery ornaments and snowflakes and twinkling stars and pinecones and andand

WHAT WAS THAT?

There, at the bottom of the photograph, were the giant metal feet of the tree. It was awful. It was terrible. And to make matters worse, the wide-angle lens only amplified them in all their metalness and made them appear as if they were taking over the room. How had that happened? How had I forgotten the first rule of Christmas decorating? What was I thinking?

My room was decorated without a tree skirt.

The fancy decorating blog never happened. The pearls of wisdom never showed up. On that long ago first day of the blog, I never wrote the post I intended to.

Instead?

I wrote about celebrating imperfection and living with what you have and learning from mistakes and skirtless trees and the people who love them. Every day, every week, every month I shared things that inspired me and how to decorate with what you have and letting your house reflect you. And along the way, something incredible happened. I discovered a world of people who were just like me.

People who loved their homes.

People who wanted to decorate without all the fancy words and fancy explanations and rules and guidelines.

People who wanted to decorate with their heart.

This book is an extension of that message. Its all about finding a design style and building a room by room design framework and learning what works in your home. The book is filled with inspiration and creative ideas and layering in pattern and color and texture to fit different styles.

And now?

Before we get started, I wanted to point out the obvious and something youre probably already thinking at this point because we both know how brilliant you arethere are enough decorating styles in the world to fill an entire set of encyclopedias from A to Z. I couldnt cover them all within the pages of this book, so I did the next best thing. To make it easier, I chose five major categories of design styles to work with. Within these pages, well look at traditional, farmhouse, transitional, contemporary, and coastal.