Let's Get To Know One Another: A Word To Describe Your Style

My eclectic china cabinet, currently

We've been really busy running around cleaning, unpacking and arranging for the last few days. It's been so so so much fun but my back could definitely use a break from all the bending and lifting. Thank goodness, my parents arrive tomorrow from D.C. to help over the weekend. And my mother-in-law was here on Saturday helping us get our bedroom together. Have I mentioned how lucky I feel to be a hop-skip-and-a-jump from family? This move to Charlottesville has so many bonuses.

Anyway, it's been really interesting having all of our belongings in one place. Seeing all of our dishes together, for example, the ones I've collected from thrift stores and our simple white wedding dishes and beautifully textured pottery bowls and plates that were given to us as gifts. I had a funny little revelation the other day about these dishes. Our china cabinet has three open shelves with glass doors, which is where I've been putting our nicest, fanciest things. At first, I had only our wine glasses and some white footed soup bowls on the shelves and I thought, "That's so gorgeous and simple, I'll put only glass and white dishes in our china cabinet! It will look streamlined and French and lovely against the dark aged wood of the cabinet!" This was my grand design idea.

But then a few days went by and necessity demanded that I stop reserving the space for only white pieces. My beautiful chartreuse tray and collection of pie dishes needed a home, and so did my hammered silver teapot from Grandma and my blue handmade sugar and creamer set from my college girlfriend and my copper colander. I began tucking each piece into place, and as soon as I strayed from my white only! theme, I breathed out and thought to myself, "Who was I kidding? This is so much better. Eclectic, that's my thing. I wouldn't have it any other way."

So that's it, my "one word" to describe my style. Eclectic. That's not to say that my style is always funky or offbeat, but that it's a mix of tastes and textures and colors and modern and old. I like earthy and antiqued but I also like bright and glossy and the contrast between the two is exciting to me. All white dishes would be lovely in that cabinet, there's no doubt. But that's not quite me. It would be too perfect and planned, not rustic enough, lacking the pizazz and serendipity and mix of styles I so love. My eclectic china cabinet, with its white and glass and old and new and everything in between, it feels just right.

Now it's your turn! You have only one word to describe your style. What'll it be? I can't wait to hear.