How Makeup Helped Me Decorate My Deck (and Some Sweet New Finds at Marshalls)

Oh, gosh. So, I’ve always thought of myself as home-decorating challenged, mostly because I get overwhelmed by all the choices. Too many options, and I completely shut down, but this weekend I finally figured out something major (I think), and it’s related to makeup, which kind of blew my mind…

I learned that if I take certain… I don’t want to call them rules; I’ll call them themes instead. If I take certain themes that I know work for me when I’m putting together a makeup look, and apply those themes to decorating, it makes things so much easier!

Contrasting elements

Like when I’m putting on makeup, if I incorporate contrasting elements into whatever I’m doing, that looks right to me. Whether it’s contrasting colors or finishes or something else. Like, for example, satiny skin with glossy lids and a matte lip. There’s something visually appealing about combining different finishes together, because when the finishes are too similar, it reads as flat or monotone.

When I went to Marshalls to look for good deals on pots and things to decorate “the lady sanctuary,” I had that idea of contrast in mind as I picked out plant stands, of all things. I thought that if all of the potted plants ended up being low to the ground, it would look too monotone, and too much like just one note, so I got some plant stands of varying height.

Then I took it a step further with some other contrasting elements, like, some of the stands have straight legs, and some have curvy legs. Some are newer-looking with a black wrought iron finish, and some have more of an aged bronzed finish.

When you consider the stands individually, they look like a random mishmash, but when you see them all together with the different heights, the curves, the lines and the colors, it works!

Repetition

Another thing that helped me a lot: the idea repetition. When I’m doing makeup, I like to repeat certain elements. Say, when I do a sharp cat liner, I’ll add a hot pink matte lip with razor sharp edges, and then I’ll repeat the pink theme with a pink blush to go with the lip. I like how those little echoes tie things together, so I had that in mind as I picked this mosaic side table…

It has cool blue tiles on top, and the color is similar to the color of one of my pots.

Oh, and side note, I planted phlox in that pot! I dunno, but I guess that’s a big deal because the lady who rang me up at the gardening store made a big to-do about it, and how she hadn’t seen phlox in 15 years, but somebody special ordered it for a big design project, and the store ended up with some extras.

It’s pretty! And cat safe.

So repetition can be a good thing in makeup AND home decorating. But things don’t have to match perfectly (and probably shouldn’t).

Go with your gut

Don’t overthink it. If you like something, there has to be a reason. Like with makeup, if I’m unsure what lip color to wear with a particular look, I’ll grab a few shades and try each one, because sometimes the technical rules of what’s supposed to go with what just don’t feel right. You gotta trust your gut.

I did that with everything for the lady sanctuary — the flowers, the plant stands, even the yellow watering can. If I reacted positively to something (and if it was in my budget, of course), I went with it.

You gotta trust your gut.

The fun extras

And because I was at Marshalls, I had to leave with a few fun extras. 🙂 Like this cute cat cup by Portobello By Design. It’s made of sturdy bone china, so hopefully El Hub won’t accidentally break it!

You know how there are the shelves with knickknacks and whatnot by the checkout stand in most stores? I found this gem hidden behind some fugly mugs while I was waiting forever and a day in the line at Marshalls.

I also snagged a couple of these $4.99 foaming hand soaps by Michel (I’ve seen them at two other stores in my town for $10.99 a bottle!). I love these because they get out all the gunk but don’t dry out my hands.

I also got these fun clocks by Cynthia Rowly…

I’m totally a print person. The kookier and more whimsical the better!

So I’ve decided to just embrace that.

Not gonna overthink things, remember?

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen