Lesson 1: How To Start
This one is about understanding the approach– what makes a colorful home feel joyful instead of chaotic, and why it has nothing to do with following rules.
We’re calling it Silly Goose aesthetic and if that delights you, you’re in the right place!
Where do we begin?
This first lesson is about the approach itself– what makes it different from just throwing color at a wall and hoping for the best, and why it creates homes that feel joyful without looking chaotic.
Here’s Where We’re Headed
This is what a joyful, colorful home actually looks like– and I promise it’s more achievable than you think.
- Playful and a little unexpected
- Thoughtfully curated (but it doesn’t take itself too seriously!)
- Colorful, but not overwhelming
- Eclectic, but not chaotic
It’s a home that tells a story. That makes you smile when you notice a tiny detail– a smiley face spatula, a charming rabbit print, a party goose holding a birthday candle tucked on a shelf.
Discovering your silly goose aesthetic
For a long time I assumed there was a right way to decorate, and that everyone else just… knew it. Like there was some secret handbook I never got.
I’d scroll Instagram and feel worse instead of inspired. I’d stand in my own living room, knowing something was off, wanting it to be better– and having absolutely no idea where to even begin.
I’d buy things I loved in the store and get them home and feel that sinking feeling when they just didn’t work. (And I didn’t even know why they didn’t work, which somehow made it worse!)
I figured some people were just born with it. They had the gift. The eye. The thing.
I was not one of those people.
Or so I thought.
Spoiler: you don’t need ‘the gift’.
You need the method.
What’s the method?
At some point I stopped looking for the handbook and started paying attention to what was actually working in my own home. What did the spaces I loved have in common? What made them feel joyful without feeling chaotic?
Slowly the answer emerged.
It was colorful, eclectic, delightful– a way of layering things you love without it feeling like too much. A way of making confident decisions instead of just hoping for the best.
To set yourself up for success I want you to follow the action items below in order to do your own home inventory. This will be the foundation for learning how to use a layering technique in your styling.
Lesson 1: Action Items
Walk through each room and note down 1-3 things that you love in them.
What do each of those things have in common? (color, material, nostalgia, pattern etc.)