Hi friends! After a couple of days of my business and design advice I’m back today with another fabulous guest. Karen Davis of Karen Davis Design is here to share her true life lesson on the importance of being authentic. Enjoy! xo, Tobi

The best advice given to me was from my grandmother, “You worry so much about what othersthink, just be yourself.” In 2005 shortly after her death, I went to Oprah’s “Live Your Best Life Tour” live event in Dallas, TX. There Oprah said throughout “Be authentic, Be yourself.” Wow! It was like my grandmother was right there. It pushed me to make the decision to venture out with my own business creating beautiful interiors that embrace family and really connect the client with their home. Be Authentic, Be Yourself!

With those thoughts in mind, I was in for a surprise and another life lesson…

So here I am starting my design business then the “incident” occurred. My daughter was two and loved to color. I was in another room working, when I thought “I don’t hear anything.” I had that mommy feeling of “something’s up.” Well, when I walked into our family room, I found her doing some decorating of her own with a black Sharpie, on herself and on “my ottoman!” I immediately tried to clean the ottoman, leaving her with black Sharpie markings all over herself! After calming down and while cleaning her up, I had this “aha moment!” I had forgotten what being a kid means and that I was a “Marker Girl” too when I was young and really I am still one today. My house at that time was not designed with my family in mind nor for that matter authentically me. It was just designed!

I really wasn’t following the advice. So after the incident, I made the decision that I should decorate around our family’s lifestyle including my own, and started advising clients the same. While we do discipline when these things happen, you just need to get a sense of humor and design your home to be able to handle the wear and tear. Since my Marker Girl was born I have been on a mission to design homes beautifully with the family lifestyle in mind. I learned how to let my inner Marker Girl out. Trust me it is fun!

If you’re looking for some family friendly design tips for your own I thought I would include a few of my favorites here:

#1 Tightly woven fabrics with a high thread count are always the better choice for upholstery pieces. This helps hide the wear and tear of daily use, not only for kids but for pets as well. Indoor/Outdoor and soil release fabrics are ideal. Really dark fabrics are the hardest to clean unless they are leather or patterned.

#2 My favorite accessories are bins and trays, an easy way to disguise all of the non-decorative items than can be in family spaces. Keep the style and color of them complementary to the overall look of the room.

#3 My favorite rug is carpet cut to size and bound. It can create a custom look, but can still be cleaned like a regular carpet.

Here’s to being yourself!!

-Karen

www.karendavisdesign.com

Blog: The Adventures of Marker Girl – www.karendavisdesign.com/blog