Aren't accessories and decor the funnest thing to do when styling and designing a home?
A home is just not complete without fun, purposeful, unique, and well styled accessories.
My go-to shop for decor are the following stores: Home Goods, Target, Hobby Lobby, country stores, antique malls, and anywhere you can actually go and see things in person, touch them, and feel them.
I feel like decorating or staging a home for the final reveal is one of the most important things to breathe life and soul into a home.
And for me - I must be physically present and style the home, it's the only way I can get the look I want, by being in the space, feeling it, and styling it with an artistic touch.
I usually shop till I drop and I gather as many accessories as I can think of that I 'think' will work in the space.
I shop for vases, flowers, plants, decorative trays and objects, spheres, pillows, blankets, baskets, and anything else that catches my eye.
I always bring more stuff than I will need - and sometimes I even borrow things from my home that I know will work - and clients usually purchase everything I bring and style the home with.
I want to share a few tips and tricks with styling, and I spoke about this in previous blogs, but I think it's important, so I will share my tips again.
DO THIS FIRST:
Shop your home and gather any items you think you can use, reuse, recycle, or upcycle to add to your home. Any heirlooms you love, photos from favorite travels, unique frames, a vase that means something - anything with meaning. Bring it all out in the open, and start playing around with placement.
SHOP FOR HEIGHT:
Try to buy items that are tall, such as candle stick holders, slim vases, tall plant, or anything similar. Height on a table will create interest when paired with shorter objects.
ADD TEXTURE:
Texture is so important. If you home is very sleek and you have a lot of similar elements, such as shiny, glossy, metallic objects, you have to soften those surfaces with texture. Add rugs, plants, flowers, pillows, and objects that have a more interesting visual tactile.
USE THE RIGHT COLOR:
When you go shopping for color decor - make sure you pick hues that are similar to those of your existing furniture and fabrics. Finding a close color match can truly transform the space. Color that has the same tone will add harmony and continuity in the space. This is one of my most important tips!
SHAPE IT:
Find interesting shapes to decorate your home with. I found this unique shell sculpture at Home Goods - I love the organic element, naturalistic feel, and unique shape and interest it brings into the space.
USE ORGANIC ELEMENTS:
Add organic element also by adding fun twigs with a natural feel, plants or flowers, branches, shells, rocks, pine cones, or anything you can find in nature. Best of all, you can pick these up in the wild yourself, and spray paint them any color you want to bring in that COLOR element. I paint sprayed these branches black so they would fit into this space better - but you can use ANY color you want - or need to add fun interest into the space.
DECORATIVE TRICKS:
Use books to elevate smaller objects! Books are such an inexpensive way to add interest - and usually, most of us have stacks of books laying around in our home. Best of all - you can wrap book covers with any paper you want to create a more cohesive design element. Use newspaper, magazine covers, scrap paper, colored tissue paper, wrapping paper, you name it! Get creative!
DEFINITELY GET SOME PLANTS:
I always use plants in home staging and styling. And yes, I always use faux plants - they look as good as the real thing! The only place I use REAL flowers is on the dining table centerpiece! But plants are one of the biggest design gems - they add so much life, color, texture, height, interest, organic and natural element to the space. And don't be afraid to overdo - you can never have enough plants in the space!
DON'T FORGET ABOUT WALL ART:
My last client had quite an extensive art collection. We sorted through it all, and selected the ones that would work beautifully in her space. We did have to re-frame all of them, which was important, as we added similar color tones to the matting and frames to make them work perfectly in her newly designed space. Best of all, all her art is original and unique - and they all tell a story.
* TIP: Hang art so that the center of the art is about eye height - that helps appreciate it better!
STYLE AN ACCENT TABLE:
Find a unique, proper size accent table for your space. My client didn't think she needed an end table in her living room, but once I placed this one in her home, she instantly fell in love with it! End table not only give you style, shape, color and texture (depending on what you pick), but they are a functional furniture piece!
8TIP: Ideally, an end table would be about the same height as the arm height of the sofa. This particular table is a bit shorter than what I'd like it to be, but the table was so fab, we had to keep it.
There you have it! These are my most important styling tips I can share with you! Do you have one you'd like to share?
If you have a design question or dilemma, join my free facebook group and get professional advice.
XOXO,
Sonja