making your house a home: let your personality shine through

whetheryou rent or own, your home should be a refuge from life's stressors, somewhereyou can go and simply "be." your home also should reflect yourpersonality. the pictures below capture some of my favorite design elements inour current home. it is almost impossible to take myself or life too seriouslywhen surrounded by same.

the cb2.complanters on our front porch remind me of oscar the grouch's home on sesamestreet. i wish he actually lived in one.

after yearsof unsuccessful attempts at keeping flowers alive in our east-facing planter,my brown thumb and i resorted to flamingos and already dead tall grass, whichturned out to be much less maintenance.

here's a closerlook of the flamingos peeking out from the grass. many of our neighborhoodshave mentioned that the flamingos make them smile when they walk by. mission accomplished.

these funand colorful blocks from fred & friends send a not-so-subtle message to ourguest bath users.

the œzin œpleaz is a shout out to my favorite summer dining spot in minnesota zorbaz on otter tail lake. yum.

this resindeer head sporting trendy necklaces is on my home office wall. doesn't everyonehave one of these?

thanks toharry allen's resin hand, our master bath hand towel doesn't end up on thevanity. two words: marriage saver.

my husbandand i are minnesota natives. do we love north dakota? you betcha!

thesegreat ceramic eye balls were a find at talulah jones, a denver treasure at 17^thand park avenue in uptown. they reside in a rustic bread bowl on our family roomcoffee table and judge me when i watch rhonj, one of my guilty pleasures.

red antscrawling up the wall. it might be time to call orkin.

more harryallen this time resin piggy banks. they fill the shelves that used to holdbooks, which seemed to have vanished from our house after we got ipads.

and finally, innermost bigoli pendantlight sort oflike a super cool multiple slinky suspended from the ceiling. tough not tothink happy thoughts when seeing this daily.