An Arkansas author returns to her home state today on a tour promoting her book "Create the Style You Crave on a Budget You Can Afford: The Sweet Spot Guide to Home Decor."
Desha Peacock, 39, grew up in North Little Rock, and she remembers driving through the Hillcrest neighborhood in Little Rock with her mom when she was younger.
Go & Do
Author Talk & Book Signing
‘Create the Style You Crave on a Budget You Can Afford:
The Sweet Spot Guide to Home Decor’
When: 4:30-6:30 p.m. today
Where: Nightbird Books in Fayetteville
Cost of book: $19.95
Information: sweetspotstyle.com
"All the houses are very different and eclectic and historic. All of that really speaks to me," Peacock said.
When looking at these homes, she said she decided this was the kind of place she wanted to live.
"I think that experience and that neighborhood definitely influenced me, and it comes out in the book," she added.
Peacock noted she later lived in the Hillcrest neighborhood, but she now resides in Brattleboro, Vt. Her first stop back in Arkansas to discuss her book will be today at Nightbird Books in Fayetteville. The book was released June 6 and costs $19.95. She will have at least 20 copies with her at the event. She added that the first printing of the book is sold out, and a second printing of 5,000 copies will not be available until October. Peacock is an award-winning television show producer/host and lifestyle blogger on sweetspotstyle.com, and she describes herself as a stylist.
Peacock said the book is a budget guide that is like an "inspirational how-to," and it combines personal development with home décor. She noted that she feels like there is a "shift in our culture right now where people are taking more control over their environment and over their thoughts so they can create the life they want to live." The book integrates this concept into home décor, creating a physical space in people's lives that feeds them.
"I call it the sweet spot," she said.
It is self defined, so it can be bringing beauty, joy, calmness or other emotions into life through personal space, Peacock said.
She believes the book helps people figure out their personal style.
"I encourage them to think about what would make them feel good in their homes," Peacock said.
For the book, she interviewed 17 people with varying budgets about their stories and how each has created a sweet spot home in life. She hopes this will inspire other people to figure out their style.
In the book, Peacock suggests different activities to help a reader define his own sweet spot.
"Some of them are self-reflective activities to get them to think about how they want to feel in their space," she said.
Peacock also walks the reader through how to make a vision board, either online or offline, by collecting different images he is drawn to and visually inspired by, and she describes how to analyze those images.
Peacock's book features a chapter on color and color theory, using both Eastern and Western modalities. In this chapter, she writes that "there are many studies that suggest color can impact our feelings and lives significantly." If someone has no idea where to start with color in a room, he can reference this guide to color meanings, which notes that red can be energizing, yellow can be happy, and white can be calming but also not good for certain personality types, she said.
"Color theory is fascinating, but at the end of the day the best way to choose color is by using your own inner guide, or intuition," she said in an excerpt from the chapter "Using Color to Create the Feeling You Desire."
Peacock also suggests people set a budget and not go over it.
"You can't be in your sweet spot if you're going into debt," she said.
She said if someone finds something he really likes that is out of his price range, she encourages him to get creative and figure out how to create the same look for less. She added that she has a chapter in the book on time versus money, so if someone has a lot of time but not a lot of money, he can shop around and find items for less. Some of the places she noted in her book to peruse include thrift stores, vintage and antique shops, flea markets, Etsy.com and Craigslist.org.
She noted that her personal design style is a mix of eclectic and bohemian. In her own house, she uses neutral tones on the walls and decorates with pops of color because she loves change.
"My palette changes a lot according to trends and according to what I'm inspired by."
Peacock hopes people will leave the Nightbird Books event and "be inspired to go back home and look at their home and figure out how they can adjust things in a way that feels good to them so that they can create a better life through their space." During her talk, Peacock plans to share tips with people on how to create their sweet spot home on a budget, adding that some of these are not in the book. She noted one message she will share that is part of the book, though.
"Sweet spot style is all about self-defined beauty and joy. Let go of pleasing others and make sure to create a place that you love."
NAN Life on 07/23/2014