Nashville designer Amanda Burdge- Decorating ingredients for the real you

If you had to list the most absolute essential ingredient for your home, what would it be? For me, no place would be home without comfy down pillows, fragrant candles, custom draperies and fresh cut flowers.

Evon Kirkland Interiors

More importantly, if you have a passion for an item, do you find places around the house to put that item?  Do not let anyone tell you what you should or shouldn't do, simply because this magazine or that magazine says not to. Gone are the days of the "living room" for special occasions. Today we LIVE in our homes. They are our havens, our sanctuaries and our retreats. A refuge to get away from all the headaches of the day, and find peace. So isn't it important to find places for those special items even if you think you don't have the room?

Alison Whittaker

For example, if you have a dining room that is nothing more than a storage unit for papers, mail, sports paraphernalia and miscellaneous other items, and you really need a study, then turn that sucker into a study.

Margaret Norcott

In the wake of the tragic flooding here in Nashville, now more than ever, people are seeking refuge in the few items that are left. With the overwhelming devastation of loosing just about everything, now is the time to take stock. And this is a good lesson for anyone who's life has been turned upside down, and forced into change. 

Katherine North

Reevaluate your passions. What are your must-haves that encourage you to be who you are, and still remind you of where you've come from? As a designer I cannot tell you what ingredients to put into your home to create the blueprint of the real you. These are the items that are collected over lifetimes. But I can offer help to create atmosphere, serenity and help you develop a lifestyle with these items. I can offer solid decorating ideas and information, filled with options, options, and more options, so that you have the tools and the know-how to build that blueprint, that showcases the real you.

 I've no doubt that change, whether good or bad, always promotes renewal and reflection on the catalog's of our lives. We archive in our memories what is important and gives us value, striving to reach our end goals as quickly as possible, while overlooking the journey. Things are just things unless you make them the building blocks to enrich the real you. The pilgrimage of daily life that takes us on our unexpected excursions, be it long or short, expected or unexpected, the journey is where you will find a snapshot of who you really are today. The travels in between the destinations create a homemade prescription to life. Thus, creating a home filled with the ingredients that make you, you! Each recipe special and unique only to those that inhabit that residence, and a lifestyle to call home.

Don't forget to follow us on twitter! 

And become a FAN on our AB HOME facebook fanpage!