Our story so far: We developed a mission statement for our design style in the converted church that emphasized comfort and order.

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After researching interior designs styles on the internet and being tempted but ultimately rejecting words like bohemian and eclectic, I settled on this summary of our style:

Our decorating style is
rustic transitional
punctuated with elements of
warehouse,
farmhouse,
barn house and
house of worship.

Rustic transitional: Note that transitional is the noun, rustic the modifier. Transitional is defined as bridging contemporary and traditional design with inspiration from the industrial era, heavy emphasis on an open floor plan and leaning toward clean, straight lines but incorporating thoughtful details. Refined would be balanced by raw. The adjective rustic suggests elements such as exposed bricks, stone, raw steel, rough-hewn or distressed wood and metal, especially tin, aluminum and wrought iron or rusted metal.

What was warehouse? Think of a warehouse loft with open space, exposed steel, exposed brick and industrial light fixtures. Salvaged architectural pieces, especially antique doors. What parts of warehouse did I want to avoid? Nothing cold, greasy or noisy.

For me, farmhouse was an antique flea market look showing signs of wear. Distressed wood. Oversized clocks. Vintage mirrors. Candlesticks. Elements needed to be functional but should be soft and opulent. Not: Mason jars, cute cows or country tchotchkes.

Converted barns had that same open space as lofts and warehouses, but barns also had exposed wood beams, hearths, barn doors and large chunky pieces. Oh, and animals, which I would incorporate with faux animal hides. What of barns did I reject? Anything dirty. Not our aesthetic. Especially not for a Virgo.

And naturally, the inside of our home would have to reflect the outside. It was a house of worship, so we would adopt the belfry and bells of all kinds, organ and piano elements, pews, niches, large windows, stained glass and flowing water (which brings to mind to baptism and new beginnings). Crucifixes were OK, I decided, but not to excess; no Virgin Mary statues in the garden.

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We can thank poet Robert Louis Stevenson for today’s post title.

Tomorrow: Our design style even had a personality. And ten commandments. Read about them here.