When Inspiration Starts to Look Like Everyone Else

When I purchased my home, I had a different idea of what made a home look and feel beautiful.I thought everything needed to be top of the line and brand new. I had certain furniture brands I loved (and still do) and in my mind, those were the pieces I needed to create the home I've always wanted.

Then 2020 happened.

Furniture that used to take weeks had lead times of two months, then four, then six. I told myself I’d just wait it out. Eventually those estimates stretched even longer to sixteen weeks. Then twenty four and I got tired of waiting. That’s when my husband introduced me to estate sales.

At first, I wasn’t exactly looking for traditional furniture. But we’d walk through these beautiful homes and every once in a while I’d find a piece that had this luxurious European feel to it. Because of the architecture of our home, I fell in love with the Parisian style. Which is different from what I had been searching for online and I started loving it. I started mixing traditional pieces with modern ones. Something new next to something I found at an estate sale. I stopped caring whether everything came from a store or a showroom. My home started to feel more like me and that's what mattered most.

Which is probably why I’ve been thinking so much about what I’m seeing on social media now. I still love looking online for interiors. I save rooms, discover designers, I find things I would have never known existed before. But lately I keep noticing the same things. The same chair, same lamp and even the same coffee table books. The same “you need this” recommendations. And listen, I bought my fair share too. That’s actually what made me start questioning it.

Could it really be possible that we all love the exact same things? Or have we just seen certain things so many times that we’ve started believing we love them?

I fell into that loop, until I realized some of those pieces didn’t actually bring me joy. At some point, inspiration stopped helping me discover my taste and started telling me what my taste should be. Now, before I bring something into my home, I ask myself two things: do I love it and do I actually want to live with it, it can be expensive or inexpensive. All that matters is that I actually want to live with it.

That hasn’t stayed confined to decorating either. When I stop rushing to keep up with whatever’s trending, I started paying closer attention to my space, how it makes me feel and even how I move through everyday life. There's something grounding about it. I'm no longer chasing the next thing everyone else is buying. I'm just living with a little more intention.

That’s the real difference between being inspired and being influenced.

Inspiration should give you ideas,

It should never decide your taste for you.

Diana A. Hampton