Have you ever looked longingly at a home decor magazine and wished you could style your home like a professional interior designer?
Let me tell as an interior designer, I look at this these photos and wish the same thing at times. My home is more of the real-life variety than magazine home on most days, which is perfect for me.
What if I told you that with a few easy steps you could style your home like a designer. It is possible and you can make your home look more photo ready by following a simple decorating formula.
These 7 steps apply to any place in your home; bookshelves, console table, dresser, counter, etc. that you want to accessorize.
What is Styling Your Home?
Styling your home is what I call the icing on the cake. It is the finishing touches that complete the design to make it unique, add character, color, texture, and define a style or theme.
Designers use accessories to style homes. These accessories often consist of accent pillows, decorative objects, wall art, plants, flowers, and baskets or storage boxes.
The art of combining these items in a room is what styling your home is all about. And doing this may seems like rocket science but it is not. Follow the guide I use when styling my home to create a designer look to your home.
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Choose a Focal Piece
The first step to styling an area in your home is selecting a focal piece. This centerpiece will anchor the overall arrangement of home accessories.
What makes a good focal piece? Mostly your focal piece is something larger in scale. Items that are often used are large artwork, photo or mirror.
Another collection can also make beautiful focal piece, instead of having a single item.
Most often the focal piece is placed in the center of the arrangement.
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Pay Attention to Crowd Control
Step two is crowd control. I have seen rooms that are packed with so many knick knacks and mementos that you cannot even see the counter. When you begin accessorizing a room pare down your furnishing to your favorite items. The number of home accessories will vary depending on what you are styling.
For instance, you will need less decorative items to style a console table than a whole built-in bookshelf. However, in general, my suggestion is to leave 25% to 50% of negative space.
Also, remember that too much of a good thing, like too many accessories, is a bad thing. Paring down your home accessories will make your home styling look less cluttered and haphazard.
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Create Groupings of Accessories
Step three in styling your home like a pro, is creating groupings of accessories. Whether you are decorating a console table, bookshelf, or wall, creating small groupings of home accessories is key.
What do you use in your groupings? Well you may not like my answer…anything. I know that doesn’t seem like much help does it. But before you click off my blog, let me explain this further to make grouping easy.
When you look at professionally designed rooms, the accessories used to create groupings varies completely from one group to the next.
However, items that work well to create interesting groupings are books, vases, figurines, candle sticks, trays, fruit, small framed art or photos. Mixing accessories creates interesting vignettes that will give your home a designer look.
A key point to remember when styling, is there should be overall connecting theme between your home furnishings.
This is a excellent way to create groupings with books, jars, and other accessories.
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Add Accessories Varying in Height
When styling your home with home decor another designer tip is adding accessories with varying heights. Blend in objects that are tall and short to add interest and character.
Adding items that are taller will draw your eyes, and shorter accessories will keep your eyes at one level. Mixing tall and short objects draw your eye around the whole area, making your styling a focal point in the room.
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Layering
The fifth step to styling like a pro is to layer your home decor. Similar to varying the height, overlapping and layering accessories creates a dramatic arrangement.
Don’t worry if some items are partially covered by another item, this is the idea. By layering your decor you create interest, depth and an overall vignette that looks pleasing to the eye.
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Add Some Color
Home accessories are an ideal way to infuse some color into a room. So when styling your home add accessories in a color or colors that coordinate with your overall color scheme.
Now every decorative item doesn’t have to be a color, in fact it is better if not everything is a color. This goes back to the key of adding variety…variety is the spice of life.
As you style, blend together accessories with accents colors and others that are neutral with no color. In my previous post, How the 60/30/10 Rule Will Inspire Your Decor, I covered how only 10% of a room’s color should come from the accent color and 90% comes from the main and secondary colors.
When accessorizing, remember 10% accent color to help you avoid adding too much of a good thing.
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Add Lighting
Adding lighting when styling a room is sometimes an optional step. Depending on what and where you are decorating you may not need lighting or have room for a lamp.
For instance, adding a lamp in a bookcase may be difficult because of size. However, if you are styling a console table you could consider placing a lamp on one or both ends of table.
Lamps will add height and if you use two lamps on either end it will create symmetry and balance.
Some areas of your home where you may accessorize additional lighting options are welcome (example: lamps behind a sofa are the perfect reading light option). Be sure however that the lamps are size appropriate for the furniture, and this goes for the other accessories as well.
BONUS TIP
A good way to not get bored with your home accessories is to change or swap around the accessories throughout the year, perhaps quarterly, to give your home a fresh new look.
I know I get tired of my home accessories throughout the year, and have a desire for change. Buying new decor every time I get bored with how things look would get expensive.
By swapping around home decor instead of buying new accessories I save money and you can do the same.
Time to Get Styling Your Home!
Styling your home like the a pro is not impossible. It is just a matter of knowing the right steps and how to arrange home accessories in an interesting way. In the end when you follow these easy steps the results will be an exquisite focal point in your home.
I hope these tips help you when you are decorating your home or apartment. With this guide you can now style anything in your home and everyone will think you had professional help.
What is your favorite home accessory in your home?
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