As I get ready to put out my Easter decor this week, I am thinking back on how everything I’ve learned about creating a cozy home and decorating has come from a lifetime of watching my momma do the same. She has such a great eye for design, and it wasn’t until I got married and settled into being a homemaker myself that I realized just how much she’s taught me.
If you are looking for ways to freshen your home’s decor this spring but aren’t sure where to start or how to achieve the look you want, here are a few simple tips and rules of design I’ve learned through the years. And at the end, I’ve included a few words from my mother as well, along with pictures of her current spring decor. You can find her on social media under the handle The House Dresser, where she shares design tips and inspiration, thrift hauls, and features the booth she has at an antique mall in our area.
Decor Basics
When decorating a space, here are a few things you can keep in mind
#1 - The rule of odd numbers.
This is something my mom taught me many years ago that I think about any time I am redecorating a spot in my house. For instance, when creating a gallery wall of more than two items, having an uneven number of items in the collage just looks better and more balanced. You would think an even number would be better, since that sounds more symmetrical, but trust me, in this case, odd is best! This rule also applies to a table centerpiece, a fireplace mantle, etc. Basically any time you are creating a grouping of decorative items, keep it at an odd number.
#2 - It’s all about balance.
When putting together a “vignette” of decor on a surface, keep in mind the visual balance of everything. For example, if all the items are about the same size or height, it won’t look quite right. You want the items to be varied in height for a more visually pleasing look. And when decorating something like a mantle or a long table, you want to find a balance there too in the distribution of the decor, where it doesn’t feel like one side is more “top-heavy” and the other side feels empty or too small in comparison.
#3 - Try and try again.
Sometimes you won’t know what is going to look good until you get started decorating. When changing out my decor, it’s usually a lot of trial and error to find exactly what grouping of items I like together. Now, I don’t buy new decor often and am usually pulling from the same collection of stuff I have used for years, but I like variety and don’t usually decorate the exact same way twice, hence my need for trial and error in finding what is going to look good. Finding a new way to display the same items can be a challenge, but it's also fun!
#4 - Let your home be a reflection of YOU!
In the culture we live in today, which is highly commercialized and inundated with social media, we can feel a lot of pressure to have our lives look a certain way. Dress in a certain style, have a certain type of home, decorate that home in a certain aesthetic, etc. Of course, there is nothing wrong with drawing inspiration from sources online (that’s the point of this article, isn’t it?), but if what the world says is cool and beautiful doesn’t reflect your own personal style, values, etc. don’t feel the need to comply with that! Our homes should be a reflection of the people that live inside them and should be filled with things that bring us joy, whether that fits with the current trends or not.
#5 - “Thanks, it’s thrifted!”
I don’t know about you, but my favorite kind of shopping (other than book shopping!) is thrift store and antique store shopping! You never know what sorts of gems you will come across. And if you are trying to decorate on a budget (whether you’re decorating a whole house or just refreshing an already decorated space), thrift shopping is the way to go! As I mentioned in the last “tip”, there is no need to conform to the idea that you need to buy the latest and greatest new thing. There is nothing at all wrong with buying used and old stuff! And personally, I actually prefer the classic look of vintage and antique pieces, the quality of old, solid wood furniture, and the curated look of a space that has been decorated with items collected from various places over time, rather than with all brand new pieces.
#6 - Everything doesn’t have to match perfectly.
This might sound counterintuitive to creating a beautiful space, but it’s true. You don’t have to stick with the same exact shades of three or four colors and that’s it. You can actually have a wide variety of colors and shades of those colors and it still look good! As long as the colors compliment each other and blend well, rather than clashing starkly against everything else, it’s fine. My house is decorated with neutrals like white, light gray, and brown along with the colors blue and green. But these colors can come in various shades and some touches of colors like soft pink, mauve, or light yellow are also often mixed in. I know for something like a commercial space, it’s better to keep things more tightly “on theme”, but when it comes to your home, I feel you can take a lot more liberty with your color palette and still have a beautiful, cohesive space.
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Decor tips from The House Dresser (my Momma!):
Here are some of my personal "secrets" to finding your own personal decorating style:
- Your personality reveals your style.
Do you want to decorate with patterns or with solids? Do you like lively colors, pastels, or earth tones? The colors you like to wear may very well be those that will make you feel comfortable in the rooms of your home. It’s that simple! You can identify your decorative style by simply examining your personality.
- Start with where you are NOW.
The important thing to remember is you cannot do everything all at once or be embarrassed if you can’t. Time has a way of filling empty rooms and inspiration often comes with time.
- Decorating with STYLE is mostly a matter of being yourself…. But your most creative self.
It’s a matter of taking your tastes, your personality, and your possessions and helping them show their best face to the world! When you “HIT” on the right decorating style, your home will reflect more of who YOU are.
If you are asking, "Where do I start?"
Try asking yourself these questions:
Do you like sparse rooms or cozy clutter?
Are you looking for a dramatic or a serene effect?
What are some of your favorite pieces of furniture? Why do you like them?
Once you know the answer to these questions and have some items that you already love, you can build upon that foundation.Go with your gut! Trust your instincts. And don’t purchase anything you think will “grow” on you.
You can also go “window shopping” in those places that you sometimes find yourself wistfully wishing you could afford! Collect ideas and remember the styles you see that you love… Then find more affordable ways to decorate your home in the styles you have found!
Pick up some home décor magazines, go onto Pinterest and pin pictures and ideas you see that you LOVE. Visiting some model homes or show homes to get ideas is a great idea too. Dreaming doesn’t cost you a dime!
THEN… The real fun begins! Once you have compiled your notes, pictures from magazines, and pins on Pinterest, that will give you a pretty good idea of the STYLE that will best reflect YOU!
FOUR SECRETS to “Tell your Story” in your home décor choices:
When decorating a room, first choose a STATEMENT PIECE.
A statement piece is the one thing that is the “compass” for the rest of the room. It can be anything that inspires you and you LOVE. Whether you already have it or shop for it, the piece should stop you in your tracks! A statement piece should be timeless for you. In other words, it should be something you can keep for many years and will stand the test of time.
2. Identify the FOCAL POINT of the room.
Having a focal point in a room will automatically elevate the space. It draws the eye to something you love and away from things that aren’t finished or don’t suit your style, and it gives you something to arrange the rest of the room around. It’s a blessing if you have an obvious beautiful focal point, like a fireplace, picture windows with an amazing view, or a wall of built-in cabinets or shelves. But if the room does not have an obvious focal point, here are a few things you can try:
- Add a faux fireplace mantle to a large blank wall and style it as you would a real fireplace.
- Use a mirror that looks like a window or non-functioning shutters or doors that create a point of interest in the room.
- Use large furniture pieces as a focal point. Bookcases, an armoire, or a large hutch are great examples.
- A large-scale piece of art can also serve as a focal point in a room.
- You can group a bunch of smaller items on a wall to create a gallery wall and create a bigger visual statement.
3. BRING ON THE LAYERS
I love to layer colors, patterns, and textures to make a room look more interesting. The most beautiful rooms are ones that have a lot of layers happening. These layers can be dramatic, or they can be subtle and monochromatic.
The 3 most important decorating elements to keep in mind as you’re adding layers to a room are color, pattern, and texture.
One of my favorite ways to add layers to my décor is to use books (vintage or colorful hardbacks I've collected at garage sales or thrift stores). You can use a short stack of books as a pedestal to raise objects such as a small lamp, clock, or picture frame, or stack large books horizontally on a bookshelf with a decorative item on top of the stack, just to name two options.
4. Don’t forget the importance of COMFORT.
If a room doesn’t have comfortable furniture, if there isn’t a reading light next to a chair or a place to put a drink down, a room just won’t feel right. When a living room is decorated just to impress company, it fails for everyday living. Instead, create a cozy seating area where two people can sit together and enjoy a conversation. We want our family and friends who come to our home to feel comfortable enough to curl up in a chair or the couch and just feel at home.
Loving what you already have:
The key to AFFORDABLE decorating is creative SEEING: learning to see new possibilities in your old stuff. Before you go out shopping for furniture and accessories, try going on a “treasure hunt” in your own home! When rearranging my decor, I will clear off all the surfaces in a room and gather the décor items in one central location. Then, I “shop” my own décor and begin to re-style the room using the things I already have but in a whole new way!
Exodus 20:17 says, “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house.” Playing the comparison game is a sure way to steal your joy and contentment. Forget "keeping up with the Jones'". No two homes are the same. Rather than focusing on what you don’t have where you live, bloom where you are planted, and enjoy the treasures you do have!
I love this scripture found in Isaiah 32:18, “My people will live in peaceful dwelling places, in secure homes, in undisturbed places of rest”. We should recognize that a beautiful home is not an end but a means to a GREATER END… creating a pleasant place that reflects God’s love, beauty, and care to our family and others who visit our homes.
