Inspiration abounds when creatives gather ideas and share their journey. Instagram and design sage Jodie Kammerer is all for collaborative exploration with her twin sister Julie. Together they run the blog The Design Twins, where they share their decorating exploits and ideas. “Last year was really the first year I started to get into farmhouse décor and collecting vintage pieces,” Jodie says. “My style is constantly evolving.”
Flea Market Inspiration
After discovering farmhouse chic, Jodie let a little chippiness into her heart and explored flea markets for inspiration. With each addition to her home, from chalk paint to vintage linens, her Contra Costa Country, California, home grew cozier. It also became uniquely The Design Twins, the design and décor business she runs with her sister.
“Even though Julie is in Seattle, we talk by phone many times each day and send photos back and forth for design advice all the time! Her home and my home are both the result of our joint efforts. We each have strengths and weaknesses, and we help each other when we can’t come up with a solution. Just like anything, a second opinion always helps,” says Jodie.
Farmhouse Adventures
As an Instagram trailblazer, Jodie explores beyond the tried and true to discover new design territory. “It’s part of my Gemini nature to love many styles all at once, so I am never fully committed to a specific style,” she shares. “Rather, I like to pick and choose elements of different styles to create my own interpretation.”
The dining room wall is the most flexible design space Jodie could wish for, wide open for interpretation. She collected window frames, silver platters and tobacco baskets, which give her a chance to play with the composition. “That dining room wall must have changed a half-dozen times,” Jodie says.
It only takes a few pieces to give you the freedom to compose exciting new designs. One way to shake things up is with a little asymmetry. For some, this is quite a challenge. “I usually go for ‘perfect’ and symmetrical, so this look was me getting outside my comfort zone,” Jodie says. “Keeping the total neutral, monochromatic color scheme helped unify the space for me.”
The blessing of the farmhouse style is that in-progress designs can still look amazing, even as you finesse compositions and palettes. Wear from daily life is natural to the rustic aesthetic.
Flexible Groundwork
Melding Jodie’s style with Christmas décor was easy because her color palette is reserved. “I tend toward neutral basics so that I can change up seasonal décor with colors to match my mood,” she says. “My style is very eclectic, much like my fashion sense.” Jodie’s neutrals enable her eclectic tendencies, because they create visual calm. This palette may seem simple, but it is challenging to pull off. “Over the last couple of years, being on Instagram has really inspired me,” Jodie says. “My somewhat basic, neutral décor has undergone a transformation.”
It’s part of my Gemini nature to love many styles all at once, so I am never fully committed to a specific style,” she shares. “Rather, I like to pick and choose elements of different styles to create my own interpretation.
Jodie discovered the difference between simplicity and subtlety. She keeps most of the palette light with cream curtains, white walls and chippy wall hangings, but some of her furniture is dark enough to create a dynamic contrast without disrupting the palette. The natural, earthy tones are given further complexity through textiles and textures.
Some of Jodie’s Christmas decorations are demure. Her fireplace is covered with holiday themes but the stockings, bunting, and mini trees keep it gentle. The dining room table bursts with cheer, but the only colors are a touch of red on the runner and the natural greenery on the plates and the centerpieces.
Going All Out
Even in a monochromatic cottage, the holidays can be a time to let loose. Jodie celebrates with a Christmas tree swathed in plaids, decked out from top to bottom. “What I love about decorating for Christmas is that there really are no rules. There is no such thing as ‘too much’ Christmas,” Jodie says. “You can embrace any style you want and make it your own.”
The dining room table bursts with cheer, but the only colors are a touch of red on the runner and the natural greenery on the plates and the centerpieces.
Jodie has fostered a less-is-more aesthetic, which gives her the flexibility to be as subtle and sweet or as loud and brassy as she pleases. Each year is a new opportunity to play with her look. “It’s only for a month, which appeals to my love for change,” Jodie says.
Since Jodie thrives on innovation, she’s wise about how she spends her décor budget. “On a tight budget, plants and flowers are an affordable way to change up the décor and add color to my basics and neutrals,” she explains. Greenery embellishes every possible space. Wreaths hang from the kitchen cupboards, above the bedroom’s headboard, over windows and on the dining room wall. “For Christmas, my favorite part of my décor is always the tree and the greenery!”
Want more holiday decor inspiration? Check out this Christmas kitchen tour and this colorful holiday home filled with flea-market style.
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