Close your eyes.

Imagine you are the best version of you possible.

What do you look like? How do you walk? What are you doing?

I saw a post this morning on Facebook of a man who wanted to live a “heart-minded” life. I love that thought. I’ve been on my own “heart-minded” journey for a few years now, and the more I get into it, the stronger the urge becomes to live authentically.

The same desire I have for myself and others, of course, runs into my interior design work as well.

I loved how Alexa Hampton puts it. She says she “brings out the best version” of her clients when she’s hired to decorate for them. Isn’t that beautiful?

So when you say you want your home to look like “x” (input a store), I can’t wait until the design process gets a little further along to where we can move beyond that image of that certain store in your head.

Because you are not “x”.

You are you.

“But wait!” you say, “Didn’t you ask me to find images that resonate with me? You asked what stores I liked to shop in.”

Yes. Yes I did. But I need you to know something.

These aren’t the end point we are trying to get to. They are simply starting points to leap off of. You are so much more than that image or that store.

So this is my challenge for you today. Gather those images and think of your favorite stores. Then take a minute to feel the most precious moments of your life.

Where are you? Who are you with? What are you doing?

If you are working with an interior decorator or designer, share those things with them. Help them “weave the memories of your life” through your house (as stated so eloquently by Barry Dixon). Be open to some creative direction. See that you are far more than a store.

You are you, and your home should look like you too.