Always and Never

Lauren of Dear Golden tagged me to list my always and nevers when it comes to home and decorating. Another fun game of tag started by Anabela of Fieldguided. If I have it right this time, the idea is to list 5 things that are always important to you in your interior design style and 5 things you'd never want to incorporate.

My always . . .
1. Family pictures. I like them on tables, dressers, or bookshelves, or on one wall together in one place, (usually not mixed with other artwork).
2. Plants and flowers. For plants my favorites are grape ivy and maidenhair ferns. Unfortunately, our cat tries to eat and play with, and subsequently throw up, any houseplants I bring home. She loves to nibble on flowers too, and seems to like knocking over vases as well.
3. Hardwood floors. I don't mind carpet in bedrooms so long as it's a neutral color, but in the main living spaces I like hardwood floors. I like cement or tile floors, too.
4. Flea market and thrift treasures. I like things that have a past life, which often show wear--surrounding myself with things that are chipped and broken make me happier than most things that are are shiny and new.
5. Repurposed things. I like to see things serve a purpose other than their intended purpose, like the metal cart in Lois' room that we use as a changing table and my new flower frog pen holders. We don't have a whole lot of repurposed pieces in our place. This is more of an always in theory for now.

My nevers . . . keep in mind, these are just my personal preferneces for my own living space.
1. Overhead lighting. I like overhead lighting if it's something like a chandelier on a dimmer, but not full blast. It's too harsh for me. I prefer lamps.
2. Open closet doors. I always keep closet doors shut. If our closet door is open when I get ready for bed, I have to shut it before I can sleep. It gives me the creeps to see them open! I don't know why. I think it has something to do with creepy clowns.
3. Plastic mini-blinds. I like bamboo or matchstick blinds.
4. Beds with one or two sad flat pillows. That sounds weird, doesn't it? I like lots of pillows.
5. Beds with no headboard or backdrop of some kind. I like all kinds of things behind beds--we have shutters, and I like mantels, stained glass, a window, or shelf as a bed backdrop.

Now I tag Michelle of Armas Design and Rebekah of Little Byrd Vintage. The cute brass Home Sweet Home is from Rebekah's etsy shop.