Tips on Accessorizing Your Home

When you think about interior design, you most likely think about furniture choices.  Choosing the right color furniture and the right size to fit your rooms as well as the right fabric and the correctly placing it so that it looks aesthetically pleasing.  In reality, interior design also includes a lot of other things like paint and, of course, accessories. There are many ways to complete a design with accessories and many types of accessories that you can use to do something like balance out a space, fill an empty space or bring a pop of color to a room.  What you might not think about is that accessories are also a cost-effective way to design.  They can be used to bring a luxury, finished look to your home while not breaking the bank.

Plants and Artwork

House plants are a great touch to bring life and color into your design.  Whether they are artificial or live, remember that they’re a great accent but don’t over do it.  You want to use them to bring a freshness into this room but not make it look like a jungle.  A little goes a long way when it comes to plants.  Use different heights to give the impression that a space is taller and different breeds for dimension. When it comes to artwork, less is also more.  You want to use artwork for similar reasons as plants, to bring color and dimension to a space and to tie your furniture colors together with paint colors, etc.  But don’t fill every single wall with a painting or mirror.  That will only give your house a cluttered look and take away from what you’re trying to achieve.

Accent Tables and Chachkas

Small tables in various shapes help to finish off your design.  They give your furniture a completed look and, once again, fill spaces.  And you don’t have to spend a fortune on them.  Some of the neatest looking tables can be repurposed from an estate sale or at your local thrift store.  I love a good table refinishing project.  It gives you lots of satisfaction in a weekend project that doesn’t take too long.  And what’s a chachka?  It’s a small inexpensive item that gives you an expensive look.  A vase for example can give you the color and sparkle you need for your design and they come is many different sizes and shapes.  Another example might be a bowl or and urn or a floral center piece. 

Curtains, Pillows, and linens…oh my!

The best way to complete a window is to put some curtains up.  There are so many fabrics to choose from.  Use heavier ones in the winder and lighter weight ones in the warmer months to give your room a seasonal feel that matches the time of year.  My favorite is velvet in the winter and it’s practical, helping to keep the cold air out and insulate the windows.  And don’t forget patterns.  You don’t want to over do it with patterns on your windows but don’t be afraid of it either.  Pillows and linens also make for a great seasonal décor if used in the same way as your curtains.  Change out your pillows and your bathroom, bedroom, and kitchen linens to match your décor or even for a holiday.  Linens in general, soften a room and fill up empty spaces as well.

Littles

I call them littles.  I’m referring to items like old books, photo frames, bowls, vases, and other random finds.  There are tons of choices when it comes to littles.  You can find them at your local home décor store, and you never know what they will be.  Using things in unique ways can bring a splash of interesting to your home.  It can be things like recycled barn wood, old tile or and old wood ladder for hanging throws on.  Just use your imagination or do like I do…check out the internet for ideas.

For more design ideas or to find out how we can help stage your home, click here to learn more about the Priority Group and Sallie Elliott.

Christmas Mantles and More

Tis the season and today I’m going to show you how the merriest people deck the halls. It’s traditional for most folks to put up a Christmas tree but some go the extra mile with mantle decorations and others love to really jazz things up with a Christmas village. There are so many ways to mix it up with mantles and villages…garland, lights, moving parts, tiny people, not to mention colors, glitter, and artificial snow. Creating an indoor winter wonderland is something that some of us take very seriously. Myself included.

Go with What Works

I personally like a more traditional look with a little bit of holiday floral inside to make my mantle décor a real showstopper. I also use it as the center piece of my room, drawing the eye to it as soon as you walk in. Warm burgundies, gold and creams are the theme with just a little bit of greenery. I love the way it’s set with a higher level in the center as the thriller, some medium level items as the filler and still some lower level items to finish it off. It cascades down to the left and right of the thriller and fills up the mantle, but I finished it off with some family heirlooms on each end to help me remember my grandmother who gave them to me. That completes the emotion I wanted for my personal mantle.

Get Creative. No Offense Rudolf

Everyone loves something a little different. For a more interesting, and rustic, look this designer went with antlers. Yes, antlers! It’s hard to imagine but this design would go really well in a winter cabin up in the mountains someplace. Check out how the designer uses the antlers as the center piece and then throws in a pop of color with a red berry garland swag to contrast the cream-colored mantle. It’s pretty ingenious. The oversized pinecones and the pine boughs tie it all together with a little bit of bling brought in by the gold jingle bells scattered throughout. This one is a real creation that most people would not think to put together.

Keep It Simply Silly

For those of you who are city people, there’s a style for you as well. This design took a black fireplace and turned it into a sheik Christmas display. What really accentuates the entire thing is the circular mirror topped off with a hat of greenery which matches the greenery on the mantle itself. Accents of brass candle holders and reindeer really give it a quiet elegance while at the same time giving it a little shine. The gold and cream-colored beaded garland draped down and across soften the entire design and give it some added class. The forest green plaid and fur stockings blend in with the dark paint while still adding color. And finally, white twinkle lights give the entire thing some sparkle. Nicely done!

Let’s Put a Little Bling in this Thing

You’ve got to check this beautiful spectacle out. As much as I like the ever so popular buffalo plaid, there’s something to be said about an overstuffed mantle with big, bold splashes color. If you’ve been hanging on to those multicolored lights and decorations waiting for them to come back into style, you’ve arrived. This is a multifaceted color and sparkle mix with mesh ribbon to give it a full look and a little greenery thrown in for good measure. I personally love how playful it is. It gives me that feeling of when I was a kid and rainbows were all the rage. Unlike the matched and color coordinated look, with this mantle, you can add almost any color and texture you want to the rest of the room and they will blend nicely. A coordinating Christmas tree would be just darling. Don’t be afraid to go for it when you’re doing up your mantle. Color is your friend.

It’s a Wonderful Life

Anyone who knows the movie will understand it when I say that a friend told me my Christmas village looks like Bedford Falls. And that’s exactly what I was going for. That hometown, I wish I lived there, feeling. Village people, as I call us, are just grown ups longing to play with toys again. Collections are not usually my thing, but someone bought me my first little white church as a gift and from there on in, I was hooked. Since then, I’ve added tiny homes, businesses and people. This year’s addition, compliments of my wonderful mother-in-law, is a skating pond with people that actually skate. Sound silly? Maybe but it has brought me and the folks that follow me on Facebook, loads of joy. Adding fake snow made everything feel more real believe it or not. And it helped me cover up the wires that bring power to the lights inside the buildings. I topped off the entire thing with multicolored twinkle lights just to bring some pop to it all. Hopefully, you love my little town as much as I do.

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