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Have you ever wondered what it is that professional décor stylists know that gives the rooms they design that clean, oh-so-polished, classic look, every time? You’ve probably looked around the rooms of your house and struggled to figure out what’s missing from your style of decorating. How come you never quite seem to have it — whatever "it" is?
So here we go — get ready to totally transform your surroundings:
Go for the Evocative
Never use decorative items simply to fill space. You should add items of décor to a space only because they speak to you in some special way. For an item to make the cut and qualify to be on display in your home it should give you some type of really powerful, positive emotional reaction. Every single item should offer it's own "wow" factor. If not, you are far better off to leave the space empty until such time that something that really moves you comes along.
Memorize this simple rule and stick to it steadfastly: “If it doesn’t add, then it detracts”. It’s a simple phrase but every good interior designer will attest that the concept is worth it's weight in gold. What it is telling us, in other words, is that if the object you have placed in the room doesn’t immediately do something to give the room an extra dose of something very special, then it’s actually taking away some of the visual power and energy the room already has — that means it has to go!
Assemble Selectively
When grouping objects together in décor, say on a shelf, mantle or hall table, be sure the objects relate to one another in some way through use of a theme. To avoid the hodge-podge effect and to achieve a pleasing sense of unity, there needs to be at least one common element that ties the various pieces together. That common element will most often arise from color, texture or pattern.
So, say, for example, that you have a table on which you want to feature a lamp, a framed photo and a pillar candle on a decorative candle base.... One way these might all relate to one another is if the candle base is a tone of gold, the picture frame is a tone of gold and the lamp shade is a tone of gold. In this instance, you have related all of the items together through color.
Another alternative might be to choose a picture frame that is smooth and shiny, a lamp shade that is smooth and shiny and a candle base that is smooth and shiny. In this case, the objects may not share a similar color theme at all, but what they do have in common — what unites them — is their smooth and shiny finish or texture. If you were to use pattern to unite all three objects, you might select a picture frame that is stamped with a leaf pattern, a lamp that has a shade covered in fabric with a leaf pattern and a candle holder with small leaf designs engraved into it.
Cherish Simplicity
Keep clutter to a minimum. When you love décor and you love to decorate, it is easy to get carried away with cramming too many decorative objects into one space. It can be difficult for some of us to avoid doing this when we are lucky enough to have so many lovely things that we completely adore. We want to display them all at once so that we can enjoy them, but that will often backfire, resulting in what will ultimately end up looking like clutter. When this happens, the various objects compete with one another, and it has a very unsettling effect on the eye. Pieces that would have looked awesome had they been displayed on their own end up being part of one big visual circus. Don’t overdo it. Learn to recognize when enough is enough and when you’ve crossed the line into too much.
When you follow these simple but fabulous tricks used by professional decorators and stylists, stunning décor is easy as well as fun to accomplish every time. Why not put these ideas to work for you today? Go redo a room in your home — or the entire house if you are feeling so inclined — right now, using these winning principles. A fresh new look in 15 minutes — what better way to make both you and your home feel fabulous!
Copyright © 2006 by Linda Kevich. All Rights Reserved. Permission is granted to reprint this article provided its contents and by-line/resource box remain fully intact and are not altered in any way. This article may not be changed, modified or edited in any manner unless express permission by the author is granted in writing.
