How to Take Room Inspiration for our Clothing Style
Inspiration for our daily outfits and style can come from so many approaches. Just like we discussed two weeks ago by taking the style from a movie star or a tv character. But how about styling your outfit from your home or any kind of house related idea? That’s the premise behind this week’s theme for the blog and our collaboration with Little Black “domicile“!.
Quote of the day: “Vision doesn’t usually come as a lighting bolt. Rather is comes as a slow crystallization of life challenges that we one day recognize as a beautiful diamond with great value to ourselves and others.” Dr. Michael Norwood
Laurel and Kristen have a virtual interior design service and can even help you with your home decorating. Of course, you can just read their wonderful blog too that has incredible eye candy about all kinds of fabulous design ideas.
The above dining room photo is one that they designed for a client. Our challenge for this post was to style an outfit using this room inspiration for our look. And the amazing thing? How different each of us interpreted the photo so differently!
Jodie’s (50+) Outfit: Laurel sent over a couple of room options for us to choose from for our collaboration. I ended up picking the above photo because I thought there were so many interesting details in it.
For myself, I tend to focus on the colors when I look at photos. I noticed the orange flower painting and decided to wear my orange dress. This is one of those dresses that I have in my closet for “good.” We all have those, right? And they don’t get as much love as my jeans. So I thought I’d try to see how it would work for a more casual, winter day. I’ve even worn it before on the blog for our lace series 3 years ago.
But I have worn this same dress since, so see it here on Monday’s daily outfit and here under an oversized sweater.
I’ve had this dress for over 5 years, yet it has the flared sleeves that are so in style right now.
I know one of the complaints about these sleeves is they can get in the way. However, if you get a shirt where the sleeves are shorter like this one or this one, then it wouldn’t be such a problem.
Since the rest of the room was basically neutrals, then I accessorized with browns and greys.
I knitted this infinity scarf with some alpaca yarn I purchased from my friend, Jean Anne. I ended up fastening the one side with a cuff link so you could see the pretty design. Otherwise the scarf scrunches up and you don’t appreciate the fair isle pattern.
The sunglasses could be considered a little silly, but I figured the photo was of a flower, so why not have flowers on my sunglasses?
In order to stay warm in the outfit, I ended up layering my dress over a turtleneck. Now I’ve never done this with this dress before, and as much as I like it from the front, I’m not sure it’s as cool from the back view? Then again, you usually see my bare back without a turtleneck, so is it much different?
My secret to keeping my legs warm? I’ve double up my hosiery. I have on a pair of nude hose under my fishnets. And what you don’t see in the boots are the fleece lined socks.
Dress: (similar here)~~Turtleneck: (similar here)~~Boots: (similar here)~~Scarf: I knitted it (similar here)~~Earrings: (similar here)~~Gloves: (similar here)
Nancy’s (60+) Outfit: Nancy interpreted the above room by starting with the photo of the flower.
She saw flower and grabbed her pants that have flowers on them. I thought this was such a great idea. After this she noticed the print chairs and so added some stripes to her outfit.
I remember when we first started styling 2 prints in the same outfit, and all of us thought it was overkill. However, now I think it’s a fun way to add some interest to an outfit.
Nancy added in turquoise accessories to this look. Even though our inspiration photo doesn’t have this color in it, that’s the joy of inspirations. It doesn’t have to be a copy cat, just a way to start an idea.
Both the necklace and earrings were a gift from our reader, Jude who we met up in Seattle. In fact, Jude made the earrings herself. Nancy doesn’t usually wear long earrings, so she ended up trimming the tassels on this pair to make them a tad shorter. I think that’s a fabulous reminder for fabric tassel earrings. If you find a great deal on a pair, but think they are too long, then don’t forget the option of altering them.
Print pants can be a fabulous addition to your closet.
I’ve heard many times that women don’t want to wear prints on the bottom half, yet it’s not that crazy. Many of us think that it will call attention to our bottom half too much, but in reality prints hide any bumps you don’t want to show off.
This pair would be fabulous at having the focus be toward your feet. Although many of you might say this pair reminds you of the 1970’s, they are quite lovely, . Then there is always the smaller print pants that aren’t so bold too.
Nancy added her sparkly poncho over her turtleneck, which acts as a nice solid to break up the two patterns.
I know personally, I don’t always think of wearing my ponchos when it’s really cold outside, but they work with layering so well. Heck, I found this one for under $20 or this plaid, reversible one for a great deal.
Pants: (similar here)~~Top: (similar here)~~Sweater: (similar here)~~Boots: (similar here)~~Necklace: (similar here)~~Earrings: (similar here)~~Bracelet: (similar here)
Charlotte’s (80+) Outfit: My mom looked at the photo of the dining room and focused on the light fixture.
With all of the circles in it, it reminded her of her recently thrifted coat that she purchased. I think you could also interpret my mom’s look as mostly neutral with some splashes of color, which is exactly how I see the Little Black “domicile’s” photo also.
Since the coat is a swing shape, my mom wore her charcoal leggings with it. I know, most of us think of leggings as tight, but my mom ended up purchasing a pair in a larger size so they wouldn’t be so tight.
The nice part about the term leggings, is there is quite a variety availabe. Such as the versions that look like moto jeans or that have a skirt attached.
In my opinion, a bright colored purse is always a good idea.
I think this is true especially if you tend to dress in neutrals or dark colors. Instead of trying to match your purse to the main colors in your outfit, you could pick one of the contrasting colors like my mom did here. Another fun tactic is to throw in a bright colored purse that doesn’t match at all. It will act as your focal point and make you smile.
Let me discuss mom’s winter accessories. All this winter, we’ve been showing different hats and scarves to keep us warm. So when my mom found this faux fur hat at the thrift store, she grabbed it up.
And I was so proud of her because she wore it all evening long at the restaurant too. I know most of my friends complain that hats mess up their hair. However, if you haven’t noticed, the younger generation doesn’t take them off. Look around next time you’re out and see. It’s almost like the old days, when the hat is part of your outfit.
Coat: thrifted (similar here)~~Leggings: (similar here)~~Boots: (similar here)~~Scarf: I knitted it (similar here)~~Hat: thrifted (similar here)~~Earrings: (similar here)~~Purse: (similar here)
So I’d love to know if your outfit has ever been inspired by home decor or a room! And how would you have styled this challenge?
We all laughed when we saw this fabulous wall mural as we were driving around town. Isn’t it so colorful and fun? What made us laugh? It’s the side of a pot shop. Trust me when I say these shops are all over, and they have the best designs painted on their walls. Well, heck, our outfits were inspired by a room, and a wall is part of a room…..
Thanks to one and all of you for your support. It means more than you know!
And make sure to check out Little Black “domicile’s” site. They have a fabulous Pinterest page, Facebook and Instagram too.
The Facts
Even if you wouldn’t consider purchasing your clothing online, it can be helpful to look through my links to see what is available! It certainly doesn’t hurt my feelings, if you click on them but don’t like them. Just so you know, one of the ways I make money from this blog is through these linked items.
Keeping in Touch
Are you registered for my email reminders to let you know when a post goes live? I’d certainly love it if you take the time to sign up and make sure all your friends sign up too!!
Do you ever wonder why you should connect with me on other social media sites? Well let me explain what I’ve been doing lately.
Sure you can find my posts on Facebook but I also love to share other people’s posts that I think you may like. Or my Pinterest page has all of our outfits in a nutshell along with fun inspiration from other women!
Right now, most of my time is spent on Instagram. Here’s where you’ll find many other of my outfits and plenty of musings about life and such. Sure, you may not feel like you want to add another social media site to your list. But I spend lots of time and effort to make sure there is something for everyone!
And if you’re new to the party, you can always see our outfits organized by categories, here. Don’t forget to check out the deals & discounts too, on this page.
Also, feel free to Shop My Instagram items.
Our room inspiration brought out many different kind of items, colors and prints that you might enjoy below.
