Haughty By Nature: Hotel de Haughty

Martha Stewart Living has been magically showing up in my mailbox recently. I didn't subscribe to it, but I sure ain't complaining. (Perhaps it’s a hint from the decorating gods? Or maybe someone in the subscription department seriously effed up.)

There's only one problem: reading it knocks my (rather high) self-esteem down a notch. Everything is so cute! And original! And colorful! I could never come up with those kind of ideas. Though, in some cases, that could work in my favor. I’m pretty sure pom-pom fringed curtains are about as attractive to men as naming a love fern and blabbering about your cayenne pepper and lemon juice cleanse.

In all seriousness: when it comes to home decorating, I have no taste. If I weren’t roommates with Elise, who picks out everything from my furniture to my color scheme, I would probably have a mattress on the floor and a beer can pyramid in the corner. (I did sleep on a mattress on the floor for the first six weeks in our apartment, until we hosted a dinner party and I realized Elise’s room looked like something out of House Beautiful and mine looked more akin to Animal House.)

Part of this might stem from a hesitation (or disbelief) in putting down roots. I grew up a Navy brat, became a nomadic college student, and then disillusioned New Yorker. Renewing my lease this fall will be the first time I’ve lived in the same place for twelve consecutive months since I was twelve. It’s time to put some pictures on the walls.

That said, I did a forced march through IKEA yesterday, where I stuffed a cart full of picture shelves and frames that were meant to make my room look like it was staged for a Pottery Barn catalog. I had a mild panic attack on the way to the checkout, however, and ditched my cart, saying I “just wasn’t ready” to make the purchase. What if there were cuter shelves out there? What if I could find cheaper frames? (Hey Ensley? It’s a trip to IKEA. Not a marriage proposal.) Maybe decorating, like my putting down roots, requires baby steps as well.

Below are some inspirational images I blatantly stole off the internet. Maybe my room will be decorated by 2013. For now, at least my mattress is off the floor.