Your Guide To Home Decor

In this chapter, we'll go over the best practices for using decor and accessories. It's a general rule of thumb that less is more when it comes to home decor. If you are basing your work off of a client's pre-existing furniture and decor, for every new piece you purchase, at least one original decor piece must go. You want to ensure the accessories in the room don't make it feel too cluttered. Your goal in using accessories is to highlight features and add color to the room. Decorative items are the most inexpensive way to freshen or add a new look to a room, but because they are so easily had, if a decorator is not careful these items can quickly overtake the home. Of course, the only exception to this rule is the client. You may, on occasion, get a client who loves the more eccentric “over-done” look. For some, that’s what makes them feel at home. And if you’re working with a client that wants a room done in that way, because they plan to live in it and that’s what they love, well - you give the client what they want.

TIPS FOR USING ACCESSORIES

1) QUALITY OVER QUANTITY 

Mass produced items are inexpensive and readily available at your local home goods store, but that is not what you want to fill your clients home with. When it comes to room accessories, less is more. One specially chosen, unique piece may work better in your space than loads of tiny knickknacks that have no value beyond price. Use 1-3 accessories that are your biggest visual points, then accessorize with a few additional pieces to accent your focal points.

2) PROPORTION MATTERS

We’ve all seen homes where home owners have mistakenly chosen a tiny rug in a coliseum-sized room. And those awkward walls where the too-large piece of art is crammed into a too-small space. Before choosing and/or placing accessories, take the time to study scale and proportion and what fits best in the space. Understand the rug size that will fit perfectly into the room and the wall art that will be placed on the walls without being too big or too small. You want your decor to be visually proportional. 

3) COMBINE TEXTURES & COLORS

Accessories can and should be used to add visual interest and contrast in a space, and accessories can easily and inexpensively be altered or exchanged to fit changing moods, styles or seasons. You don't want to base your whole decor of a room based around the holiday season, but you can easily add accessories for the holiday that brings the room together for the festivities. If your client loves color, but is too concerned with splattering bright yellow on the walls, you can brighten up a neutral room by using accessories to pull in the color.

4) ASYMMETRICAL ARRANGEMENTS

When arranging accessories, try going for balance instead of always focusing on symmetry and group smaller items in odd numbers - in threes or fives. Visually appealing doesn't mean the room has to be cookie cutter to look good.

5) LAYER ACCESSORIES

Large accessories should be placed first and sparingly, with medium and small-sized accessories filling in and adding balance where needed. Several small accessories can give the “feel” of a large item when grouped, but don’t forget to leave some breathing room. Not every nook and cranny in a room needs to be filled with decor.

HOME ACCESSORY IDEAS
Below is listed a very small sampling of home decor items that you can choose from to accessorize and enhance your client's home. Remember to mix colors, layers, and textures by choosing pieces of varying heights, widths, and styles. For additional contrast, mix vintage items in with new.

• Lighting such as floor, table and pendant lamps.

• Baskets and bins

• Books and magazines

• Vases and other glassware

• Candles and candle-holders

• Natural elements such as flowers, seashells, twigs and pinecones

• Mirrors, art, and photos

• Rugs and doormats

• Pillows, cushions, and throws

• Themed or specialty collections

• Birdcages and other hanging decor

Down filled pillows are a little more expensive, but worth the investment. Poly filled pillows lose their shape in a matter of months. If you are using leather furniture, poly-filled pillows will never stay on the couch, they’ll always slide off. Use lumbar pillows for the middle of couch or use them to accent chairs. That way, they are functional without taking up too much space on the chair. The couch pillows need to blend with the chairs, and the chair pillows need to blend with the couch.

USING LAMPS:

When decorating with lamps, always go bigger than you think you should. Lamps are a great accessory to the room as focal points. If your client already has lamps with great bases, you can simply update the outdated shades. You want to go with a barrel or drum lamp shade shape, please, whatever you do, get rid of any pleated shades! They are such an outdated look. Be sure the colors in the shades blend well with the rest of the colors and undertones of the room. Again, it doesn't have to be matchy-matchy, but you do want it to have the same undertones, if not the same pops of color you are using for the room. When purchasing lamps, always buy in sets of two. You can use sets on the end tables of a couch, on a couch sofa, etc. Buying lamps in sets of two really help complete the room and give it a "clean" look.

DECORATING TABLES:

When decorating table tops, you want to use an odd number of accessories. It ends up looking the most visually appealing. Stagger your heights, it will add a lot of dimension to your decor and really pull everything together. Be sure the theme of the decor, as well as the colors, blend well with the rest of the furnishings and decor in the room. Books can really come in handy in these scenarios, to add some height and dimension to your pieces. Books are also popularly used in table top decor because of their colors and overall look to tie the room together.

You can use a variety of random decor, it doesn't all have to "make sense." Just make sure it goes together cohesively. For example, using the same 3 shades throughout the decor will really help make it blend well. Trays and bins are incredibly popular when used in table top decor, it really helps corral the decorations on the table together. And be sure to use pretty things functionally. For example, you can use a beautiful cup or vase to store pencils, or a beautiful plate to hold change. Don't just look for generic, plastic containers for functionality. Find unique things that can take place of the container and use that in its place. You can use a fun cup to be the "pot" for a pretty plant, etc.