Top 9 Tips: How To Style and Accessorize Your Home Like a Pro
Deborah’s Tips on the Art of Styling
Do you struggle with accessorizing your home?
You are not alone. Even professional designers, stylists, and decorators can struggle with styling and finishing rooms.
Do you want to create a stylish and inviting home?
It doesn't have to be difficult or expensive. With a little time and effort, you can easily transform your space into a reflection of your personal style.
One of the most important aspects of interior design is accessorizing. Accessories can add personality, interest, and depth to any room. But how do you accessorize like a pro?
In this article, I will share my top tips on how to choose and arrange accessories in your home. I will also teach you how to create cohesive and stylish collections.
So whether you're a beginner or an experienced designer, read on for some helpful advice on how to accessorize like a pro!
Kitchen Reveal by dvd Interior Design : Rye, NY- Similar shelving here, here or here
I have been styling homes for over 20 years, and I've learned a thing or two about accessorizing. In this article, I'm sharing my top tips with you.
I believe that accessories should be chosen with intention and purpose. They should reflect your style and personality, and they should add something to the overall look and feel of the space.
I also believe that accessories should be used to create balance and harmony in a room. They should be arranged in a way that is both visually appealing and functional.
Finally, I believe that accessories should be updated with the seasons. This will help to keep your home looking fresh and inviting all year long.
I hope you find these tips helpful. If you have any questions, please feel free to leave a comment below.
“To style and accessorize is both art and science. “
Surrounding yourself with items that are meaningful can create essential layers for finishing any room. Reflect on your personal style with accessories and decor and you will be happy to be home every time you walk through the door.
Accessorizing enhances your home environment and brings you pride. It is worth your time to take the time to purchase and gather meaningful or beautiful objects to add style to each room.
Decorating with accessories is the final step in the design process, and the choices you make can make a difference in the overall finished room. Talk about an instantaneous update to your room, there is nothing better than accessories to uplift and change your space. I am sharing design strategies to help you take your decorating skills to the next level and improve the overall look of your home. - dvd
THESE are my top tips for accessorizing each room in Your Home
1. Create Layers and Update Your Living Room Sofa with Beautiful Pillows.
How to mix and match pillows!
The key is to not be too matchy-matchy but to keep it cohesive by following the basic formula.
A settee: a quantity of 2
A sofa: a quantity of 4. Use 1 floral or organic + 1 graphic, 1 stripe, and 1 small scale.
Select the trophy pillow and then build supporting actors around it. You will repeat the secondary colors that show in other areas of the room. Pillows can be trendy colors too since they are easy to change out.
I’ve been noticing lots of fresh florals and global painterly patterns popping up recently – I am in love with these pillows on ETSY.
So, do you have any favorite websites or stores for pillows or pillow combinations? Leave me a comment below, I would love to know where you source pillows and your favorites.
2. Create a Beautiful Tablescape across your dining room Table
No need to run out to the store and buy a bunch of new pieces to set your table—bring in what you already own and add a few fresh flowers from the supermarket.
High Point Market : ETU Home
Even better, you can use some foliage from your yard. It’s important to keep the table simple but pretty. Be sure to keep a clear view across the table, so guests and family can talk easily, without the interference of a centerpiece. You don’t want it to feel cluttered or distracting.
Use the rule of groupings: Designers often use the rule of three to start the decor process, but you can layer more depending on the serving items you have – add the runner, the placemats, and continue layering and adding special elements of the season.
A variation in the height of items, along with different textures keeps it interesting; you can play off the color of the table by going light on a dark table, and dark on a light table.
Use a tray! Trays are so versatile - great for serving, placing an impromptu bar, or preparing for later courses ahead of time.
Personalize Your Table with Place Cards: I found this on Etsy. (below)
Joanna and Chip Gaines residence.
Don’t forget to add foliage. Plants and/or flowers, either from the florist or if you can forage from your yard, that’s even better. “Bring the outdoors in. Add the seasonal essence of the outside environment. Don’t have summer foliage and flowers in your yard, then take a walk into the woods, or purchase your blooms.
Embrace the current season, and maybe even forage from your outdoor excursions in open spaces.( don’t pick flowers and branches from hiking trails, those elements are to be there for everyone. Seek off-the-path areas. For example, I collect my bittersweet branches from the side of the highway! “ -crazy right?
3. How to Style Bookcases and Shelving with Finesse
Organizing bookshelves and surfaces, and placing accessories in a pleasing manner can make or break a room.” -
Layer your accessories. Don't just add a few accessories here and there. Instead, layer your accessories to create depth and interest. This means mixing and matching different sizes, shapes, and textures. You can also add different heights and levels to create a more visually appealing arrangement.
Bookshelves are not just for books my friend. You can create groupings of items such as collections of similar objects - some small and some large; layering in small framed pieces of art and photos or acrylic blocks of color and favorite books.
Adding Accessories is part of the design process for your rooms. Not an afterthought. Don’t just fill them with lots of little things, be purposeful and selective. WHAT WE CHOOSE TO SURROUND OURSELVES WITH IS PROFOUNDLY PERSONAL. THE WAY WE DECORATE AND SURROUND OURSELVES WITH THESE ITEMS IS ALSO VERY PERSONAL. Yet, organizing and displaying items is sometimes the hardest part of decorating. Accessorizing homes is part of the designers’ tool kit because accessories need to mimic your design style, and colors.
Keep a color assortment that ties back to the rest of your home. We're all about making the home as cohesive as possible to create an overall vibe and story. If you have pops of black, then consider black frames for your art and photos. Remember your room color scheme is primarily 3 colors, and repeat them in your accessories.
And mix it up. I love a combination of different objects, like a favorite piece of art, a great large vessel, or a stack of boxes for hidden storage. This is also fun to intermix a few family heirlooms and beautiful glass vases. But just a few. Our go-to’s are a combination of materials - ceramic, glass, metal, and wood.
Fireplace styling: Jenny Wolf; House Beautiful
4. Style & Decorate Your Fireplace Mantel
Fireplaces create a sense of home for me, the feeling of coziness as a family gathers around the fireplace for conversation and memory-making. They are often the focal point of a room, so consider this an area to give some attention to and display a little bit about yourself. A collection of beautiful objects and items that you love often reflecting the holidays and decorating with greenery and holiday objects.
The fireplace is another space to use varying heights and colors. I like to think of my mantel as a place of changing scenery, a celebration of color, and the approaching seasons.
DECORATE YOUR MANTEL FOR EACH HOLIDAY…
THE ANCHOR: You can start by placing a large piece in the middle. It can be a mirror, a wreath, or a painting that is special. (If you are placing a painting, make sure it has a frame with glass to protect it from any smoke and dust.)
ASYMMETRY + HEIGHT: Add objects on each side, with some variation. If you have 3 candlesticks on one side, consider placing 5 on the other and play with scale. A small pile of antique books with a vase or seashell on top is interesting.
LAYERS: Think about adding SOMETHING TALL and something SMALL.
ORGANIC SHAPES: Handmade ceramics, the large seashell you found on the beach, a beautiful vase with faux greenery in keeping with the season.
Integrate similar colors as you have used in the rest of your home to retain the flow.
5. Style Your Bedroom Retreat.
To style your bedroom, I recommend you focus on your color palette first, then layer in drapery and create a main focal point, the bed, to complete your room with accessories that complement:
Color pallet: Use the 60-30-10 Rule. ( for all your rooms) It's a classic decor rule that helps create balance in your color palette for any space.
60% of your room should be a dominant color, 30% should be the secondary color or texture and the last 10% should be an accent.
Create the main focus with the bed headboard, and a piece of ART placed above. This is the main focus for setting the mood in the bedroom.
The bedroom wall color and area rug ideally are colors pulled from the art on the wall. Pull the secondary color from the ART, the color with smaller portions, and add elements into the room repeating the color.
Make sure you have Window Coverings. Layered drapery with blinds or sheers is a must-have for a styled bedroom.
Consider your lighting as an accent feature on your bedside tables or as pendants hung from the ceiling. They are decorative accents not to be ignored. Do not put just anything here, select with purpose these items.
Experiment and place lovely objects on your surfaces to accessorize and finish. Flowers, books, trays, pictures, mirrors.
6. Style Your Coffee Table: Use Items To Tell A Story
A Simple Tip for Decorating With Accessories is to choose quality over quantity. Be sure the scale of the objects is appropriate to where you are placing them. Don’t be afraid to combine textures and colors, and add layers. Again, a plant and foliage, along with objects that tell a little about you like objects from your travel adventures, a sea shell you found on the beach - maybe even a photo book about you and your family. Personalize your space and make this grouping a personal story about you.
Create a COZY VIGNETTE by Apply the grouping rule of 3 groupings of objects.
Have fun! Accessorizing should be fun. So relax, enjoy the process, and let your creativity shine through.
7. Add Foliage and Plants
For the finishing touch, make sure to add large beautiful plants and planters, or seasonal greenery and flowers, or amazing Faux Flowers. See our post Flower Power for the best faux flowers that designers use.
This room is an example of a beautifully styled room. Coffee table/ottoman with a large tray of objects to touch, bookcase layered with elements of art, sculptural ceramics, objects, and books, the side table lighting is sculptural and natural material that complements the woods and natural linens, and some florals or plants are a must. I can’t find the designer to credit here, so if you know, please let me know so I can credit them for a beautiful room.
8. Lighting in layers: 3 types for each room
Lighting can make or break a room. Don’t skip this step. A floor lamp defines a seating area, a sconce defines a wall area, and lamps are pieces of sculpture not to be overlooked.
Investing in good lighting is key when creating a scheme for a space.
Once all three types of lighting are in a room, they not only will illuminate the space to seem lighter and brighter but they will add multiple focal points using light. This will keep your eye moving around the space so it appears much bigger than it is.’
‘In every room, I like to have three different types of lighting. I tell my clients that there should be 3 layers to have in each room. They typically will consist of “overhead lighting,” which will come from the overhead fixtures you have, “diffused lighting” which can come in from the indirect lighting on Art in the room, and “task lighting” which will come from directional lamps or task lights that are essntial for when there is no sun.
9. USE MIRRORS IN A ROOM FOR DRAMA
The best way to use Decorative Mirrors is to create drama and reflect light into space.
Also, pay attention to what is reflecting back at you? What do you see in the mirror, is it the ceiling? If over a fireplace, you may want to tilt it so it reflects the room setting, and window or interesting light fixture.
Creating an endpoint to a long hallway is another great method for mirrors. You can create a dramatic effect by placing a full-length mirror on the floor and resting on a wall. Long passages and hallways are most suitable for this placement or just hang multiple mirrors as a collection together on the same wall.
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These are all pieces that I would have in my own home. Each is inviting, timely, and each piece can be mixed and matched to create a unique look together.’
Recap
Home Accessory Ideas
Lighting such as floor, table, and pendant lamps are finishing touches for any room.
Baskets and bins for storage.
Books and magazines.
Vases and other glassware. Do you have a collection you would like to showcase? Show your favorites, not everything you own, just the showstoppers, and keep the display clean and well-spaced between collections.
Candles and candleholders.
Natural elements such as flowers, seashells, twigs, and plants.
Mirrors, art, and photos.
Rugs and doormats.
Add event scents and aroma to create a setting and environment.
Use items in vignettes to tell a story.
Decorate with accessories to make any space feel complete.
I hope you enjoy this article and find it helpful. As always, I love hearing from my readers, so please feel free to leave a comment below or tag me in your photos on social media.
Happy styling!
Deborah
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When designing a space, you may want elegant and welcoming results, yet not know the steps to achieve this goal. today’s rooms are more a curated collection of elements with the tricky need for balance.
This post is part of my email series and free guide: Top 5 Decorating Secrets and Design Steps for Creating Great Rooms. These are the essential steps in creating an elegantly balanced room that designers use over and over again.
Choosing your style
How To Select The Right Rug? Check out our latest how-to's + design tips to find the perfect rug for your space. Interior designer Deborah von Donop reveals her 7 rules for choosing rugs for interior design.
Layering in Lighting
How to Select the Right Paint Color for your room and a few color suggestions.
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Learn the basics of home decorating, including design principles, decorating styles, and answers to decorating challenges.
MEET THE AUTHOR: Deborah von Donop
Deborah is the mom, wife, and design lover behind dvd Interior Design. She is obsessed with creating a timeless and authentic home. She has been an Interior Designer since 2003, guiding clients with functional layouts, the best products and finishes, and sharing her expertise in kitchen design and cabinetry. Deborah writes weekly and is also a contributor to Aspire Magazine, iBlog, Lush Design, a speaker on social media and digital products, and more!
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How To Style and Accessorize Your Home Like a Pro
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Design Your Best Life: I hope this post and the step-by-step process and focus on different areas in your home to style, will give you a visual reference to follow as you’re styling your own home! Im looking forward to hearing your thoughts. Styling is an important layer for creating a comfortable and balanced room with all the fixings.