"Woodsy" Design Elements

My interior design tastes have gone through a lot of changes over the years. I went through my poster decorating phase in high school. In college I continued with posters but moved on to more sophisticated versions such as reproductions of Japanese wood block prints and surrealist photographs. When i got my first apartment I started making more conscious design decisions and went through an Asian decorating phase.

When you get married or move in with a partner you take on a whole new decorating challenge. You have to create a space that merges your two styles and becomes not overtly feminine or masculine, something that maintains a bit of gender neutrality while still reflecting who you are as a couple and as individuals. I always think seeing how couples decorate and combine their households is really interesting, and when I got married I was excited to give it a try with Eric. In the end it is all about finding the common ground, what design elements do you both love? For us it came down to natural materials, specifically wood.

If you've ever been to mine and Eric's house (our current rental that is) you probably will have noticed that we like things that are made out of wood, things that have a tree motif, or things that remind us of the woods and/or being outdoors. We plan to continue this trend in the new house and even amp it up a little bit. Playing off our house's exposed wood beams and trim and emphasizing the "cabin in the woods" feel that we love so much will be a priority. We also plan to infuse things with a bit of industrial modernism but for this post I am focusing on the "woodsy" elements.

To start with here are some woods and camping inspired products that I am craving from etsy

 Tree Slice candle stand braggingbags Rustic wood floating shelf wrenwoods Smokey the Bear Note Cards EmsOddsAndEnds Tree Bark Ring MarcusBerknerJewelry Feather desk Lamp portrhombus Campfire Pillow maverickjune Tree Pillow Cases MARIESCOSYCUSHIONS

As I was lusting after all of these woods inspired home items I decided to take a look around at what we already have and I realized we are well on our way to creating the cozy cabin feeling we want in our new house by virtue of already owning a lot of natural wood items and woods inspired accessories. I took some pictures of some of our very own woodsy design elements and here they are.

Wood kitchen items all gifted to us by friends and family, we love natural wood grain!

Our wooden cooking utensil collection

Vintage camping inspired TV tray my parents got for us

A painting I did in 2007 inspired by a hiking trip to the North GA mountains

Branches shower curtain given to us by good friends Susie and Richie for our wedding

Woodsy bedroom curtains from Ikea

Natural wood shelf Eric picked up at a thrift store, perfect for storing my painting mediums!

Tree wallet I got Eric for Christmas, not exactly a home accessory but it fits the design theme

 Surrounding myself with things that remind me of the woods makes me feel pretty good inside, like I am going on vacation to the mountains. I can't wait to put all these things to good use in our new space where I think they will fit in very well.