Norfolk Nowaks: Design Influence

I can still hear the woman over the PA system, "Attention, DAV shoppers. Attention, DAV shoppers. Please keep your children with you and do not allow them to play in the clothing racks. Please keep your children with you and out of the clothing racks. Thank you."

I grew up playing in the racks of thrift store clothes, pushing my way through the shirts and sweaters, while my mother ran her fingers across the book titles, hunting for treasures.

Recently, a friend asked me about my design style. Maybe, what I would call it. I didn't have a monolithic statement, and I still don't. It's a conglomeration of styles, and I've seen people with similar styles call it one thing or another, but it never sticks.

That got me thinking about the things that have most heavily influenced my design style's evolution.

1. Thrift Stores

Some people cringe at the idea of wearing clothes or shoes that belonged to someone else, or bringing a couch into your home that used to sit in someone else's living room, but it has always been the first place my family has looked for anything we need, and that makes full-priced stores hard for me to swallow. Thrift Stores are full of interesting pieces of art, furniture etc. from all different decades sitting together in one space, and I think there's a beauty in the mixing of your favorite treasures together, whether new or second-hand. There are some things I think are worth spending more money on, but that's another post for another day. Many of our favorite pieces came to us second hand. Some of our favorite thrifted pieces that have been with us so long they've transitioned from apartment to house to camper to house with us.

2. The United Kingdom

When I was engaged to Matt, I spent a semester in the United Kingdom. We lived in a farmhouse where our second story bedroom had a fireplace, the dining tables were always set with lace tablecloths, and there were antiques littered about, as old as the home itself. My time in England gave me an appetite for the beauty to be found in something well-used and timeless. I fell for the picture rails and the wingback chairs, the wallpaper and the china teacups. My months in England, more than anything else in my life, shifted my view of which pieces I want to choose to be with us for the long-haul.

 

3. Norfolk Nowak's Mission

"There's a certain lifestyle I dream of obtaining: A sparse, lively, lovely home, filled with character, dark wood furniture, and live plants. I dream of being purposeful with what we own and where we keep it. With a clutter-free life, I think I can better serve my family: making better meals, having less laundry, growing a bigger garden, painting lovelier pictures, and making more time for family projects in the garage, backyard, and around the table. With the house tidy, there will be more time to keep the walls white and the babies snuggled." - My journal, December 2015.

I love everything about that journal entry. It only makes me sad that it's been five years, and we're just now making it a priority.

4. Color Palette

The most recent, important, edit to my home style is the realization that not everything I love can live harmoniously in one space. Many of the whimsical, fun things that we thrifted near the beginning of our marriage are now too loud and saturated, and if we desire our home to be purposeful and clutter-free we have to pare down to the favorites. To help us with this mission, I've made a color palette for our home, pulling colors directly off of things we already own and love. As we move forward in our home, creating spaces we can enjoy and serve each other in, I want to have these colors on hand to use as my yardstick against purchases.

 

 That last picture is Charlotte sitting in our entryway, which is the part of new home that is closest to complete. Y'all voted on our Facebook page for a full-house tour to see where we stand currently, so that's in the works!