I Am Home: Chrissy Powers

Our homes offer us a lot of things like shelter, safety, and comfort. But what are the ingredients to a strong, positive self-place connection? If you asked five different people, you’d get five different answers because what makes home, home is unique for everyone. Our homes aren’t just aesthetically pleasing, but psychologically, socially, and culturally pleasing as well. Some people need complete tranquility, others need to be continually stimulated, and still others need some mix of both. I always say you don’t really know someone until you’ve seen their home. So I created a series I AM Home to showcase those elements, both tangible and intangible, that make people connect with their homes.

For this installment of the series, I’m excited to present Chrissy Powers— wife, mom, licensed therapist, and self-professed “eternal optimist.” Chrissy’s zest for life reverberates through her magnetic Instagram account all the way to her e-courses, coaching, blog, podcast, and therapy services- whew! While it seems like a lot, all of her work is focused on helping people overcome emotional roadblocks and trauma so they are free to live an authentic, fulfilling life. It’s her passion, and flows out of her in such a natural way. I just love Chrissy’s energy and it extends to her home too! Just one look at her home, and you can see it is a happy, loving one.

Aesthetically, Chrissy’s home gives off a carefree, California, beachy vibe. A perfect backdrop for a growing, active family. I wanted to know more about how her home uniquely supports her and her family; and she generously agreed to let me pick her brain. Here’s what she had to say.

Living room photo by Meghan Branlund

Trulery: How would you define home?

Chrissy: Our home is streamlined, coastal with a hint of vintage.

Trulery: What makes your home, feel like home?

Chrissy: I feel most at home with cozy comfy items, clean spaces, and with my family around me.

Reading nook

Trulery: What’s one thing you learned about yourself as it relates to your home?

Chrissy: I’ve learned that I’m eclectic, and because of my ADD, I like clean and simple spaces.

Trulery: What’s one piece of advice you would give to anyone struggling to make their home feel like home?

Chrissy: Make your home yours with art and items that soothe you!

Bedroom sitting area

So what can we learn from Chrissy’s responses? First and foremost, Chrissy’s openness about her ADD is such a gift to the many people who struggle with it, and feel disillusioned about their ability to lead a productive life. Chrissy’s fullness for life shows it is possible, and she uses her home to do it. What aspects of your home can you alter to minimize the impact of any deficits you may have?

Secondly, Chrissy shows us it is the people in the home that make it. That might sound cliche, but if you look at pictures of her home, her family is what makes it invigorating. Of course, she has cute stuff, but it’s pictures of her kids running around, her being silly, and her affection towards her husband that make the cute furnishings pop. You are your home’s best accessory.

Thirdly, know what furnishings or objects you connect to. Chrissy said to fill our home with art and items that soothe us; but in order to do that, we must be attuned to what that is. So how do we become attuned to what we connect to? I’d say it takes a little bit of work on our part. We need to be aware of what is happening around us— what are the trends, what do they mean, how are others putting things together? Warning— this is different than being overly concerned with what others are doing and trying to keep up. It’s about educating ourselves, and learning how to be inspired by others in a way that benefits us, not hurts us. In the end, we should have a better understanding of what furnishings are suitable for us.

What parts of Chrissy’s home style or interview resonate with you?

Highlights from Kips Bay Decorator Show House 2017

Hi There! A few weeks ago I had the opportunity to attend the annual Kips Bay Decorator Show House for the first time. I made it to the show house last year but couldn't go in because I had my baby with me (no kids under 6 admitted). I'm sure you can imagine the frustration of getting all the way there only to be turned away. So I was even more determined to go this year, and went with my friend Maribel. This year the event was held in a 1905 Upper East Side mansion that just happens to be on sale for a modest $26,800,000! (no biggie) It was an absolutely beautiful home with a winding staircase, elevator, and 12 feet high ceilings. Here are some of the highlights captured by my premium iPhone 6 (unfortunately, I left my camera).

This room was designed by Nick Olsen of Nick Olsen Inc. and I loved his bold mix of patterns,  textures, and styles. It's as if someone just effortlessly threw a bunch of stuff from different decades together and it works. Oh, and that wood veneer wallcovering?! It made me want to go to a tile store and start putting up floor tile on my walls. It's such a creative alternative to wallpaper or paint. 

I adored this room by Billy Cotton with its luxurious fabrics and moody vibe. Word has it that (and I may be botching this up a bit) the room was inspired by a heartwarming story involving a fashion designer and a elderly woman.  The fashion designer became fond of an elderly homeless lady nearing the end of her life and decided to put together a room for her using all the old fabrics and trinkets she acquired throughout her lifetime. I loved the story and could really envision this bedroom belonging to an elderly woman who lived her life to the fullest, and had the remnants of beautiful fabrics to show for it. 

This black marble bathroom by Scarpidis Design is everything. Its so luxurious, and I love that they accessorized it with cactus plants. It gives the bathroom a slightly bohemian vibe and makes the full-on glamour space feel accessible. 

This is one of the hallways in the home. I've been looking for a settee like this with its feminine lines and luscious velvet texture, for some time. It feels like something that could be from the 80's or from the 30's, and I could see it in a bedroom with a stack of books next to it like so, to keep it from looking too precious. 

This room designed by Neal Beckstedt of Neal Beckstedt Studio, had a modern worldly vibe to it. It feels like the home of someone who has traveled, and each piece is a stand-out. 

Duo design team KristenKelli put together this room packed with pops of color and patterns. I imagined this being the home of a really tanned Miami couple who loves to party.

This room by Ken Fulk was just about my favorite, and it comes complete with a full back story. The theme of the room is M'adame's Magical Menagerie; and as the story goes, the lady of the house, Madam F., outlived three husbands and is known for putting on colorful dinner parties. She lives in a well-appointed home with a lovely garden and has a growing secret collection of wayward zoo animals in her garden. There are fully fletched out secondary characters like Mikhail, the butler who believes in doing things the right way; and even the animals have names and traits like Frances, the unforgiving elephant, and Genevieve, the languorous leopard. Don't you just love when a room is inspired by an elaborate story? It really helps to make the room come alive and in this case, feel magical. See more pics of this room below.

This double width staircase makes the space feel so grand, and that decorative wall? It's hand   painted.

The delux basement was kept dark, moody, and upscale with it's sumptuous fabrics, and gold and black marble finishes (see below). It's perfect for a Great Gatsby style party. 

And I leave you with this striped ceramic parrot. Its a cool way to update a traditional accent, don't you think? All in all, I really loved all the patterns and textures in this home and felt inspired to incorporate some of it in my own home like the leopard print wall-to-wall carpeting or black marble. What inspired you the most about the show house this year?