Two weeks ago, I was enjoying a quiet dinner with a friend at Decca when Gen Sohr of Nashville’s design firm Pencil and Paper Co. walked in. I immediately fan-girled. Panic over whether or not to say hello, send a drink, or feel completely ashamed of what I was wearing set in. Finally, when I stopped flapping and caught my breath, my dinner mate asked what it was about this woman that made me such a fan. The answer? Her style, because it’s so unlike mine.
I whipped out my phone, and opened Pencil and Paper Co.’s Instagram, leading my friend through shots of wacky patterned floors, Scalamadre zebra walls, red and white scalloped bed linens, and wallpaper-on-wallpaper looks into her powder room at home. Perplexed, my friend told me that this life looks like nothing he would have expected me to be attracted to.
Brightly colored walls, fun clothing, pattern everywhere… it’s just not me. I’m a lover of black and white, of bold contrast, of neutrals. From my checkered marble floors in the kitchen to the coffee-stain print in my bedroom, I revel in monochrome. There’s something comforting to me about such an easy color palette in life, yet, I have so much appreciation for those- like Gen Sohr- who live so far outside of my black and white box.
It took so long for me to find my own style, especially within my home, and I’ve written before about what it should feel like to really walk into a house and feel as if it’s really yours. For some- like me- that may mean clean areas, black accents, and fresh floors. For others? Bright rooms, pattered wallpaper, chintz, and stripes. There is beauty to be found in each type of decor, but to have such a passion and such a head-first dive into one’s own style… that’s what’s truly inspiring.