Personalize Your Property: Making a House Feel Like Home
Most of us have an idea in our head about what our homes ‘should’ look like. We browse Pinterest, Instagram, and blogs and view perfectly styled homes, many of which look very similar because they all follow the same trends. While using these images for inspiration can be useful, don’t forget that ultimately our homes are personal to us. They should be decorated to our own personal tastes. This is how a house really feels like a home, and it allows us to feel happy and inspired by our surroundings. If your property is currently a little boring, here’s how you can spice it up and add personality.
Add Texture
Bringing in different textures to the room makes it look interesting and exciting. You can do this in a variety of different ways. A selection of decorative cushions in different fabrics and soft throws draped over furniture works well. Rugs are a great way of adding texture to wooden floors, and flowing curtains over the top of blinds can look homely and finish the window area off nicely. Don’t be afraid to mix materials either. A wooden dining table for example can look incredible paired up with some industrial looking metal chairs. A mirrored dressing table or gloss wood desk could look cool with a transparent acrylic ghost chair. Have a think about different textures that would work well together for a surprisingly awesome finish.
Add Colour
Another way to add interest and personality to a room is with color. If you’re a fan of neutrals, this can be a scary concept, but it doesn’t have to be. You could add a little color with a cushion or two, a piece of art, some faux flowers or a couple of lampshades. One or two splashes of color against a plain backdrop can look really effective. Choose an accent shade that works well with the rest of your décor. Some typical color combinations are gray/blush pink, black/white, black/red, navy/yellow and cream/duck egg. When you’re planning out your color scheme, you could take a look online for color combinations that look great together and look at rooms which have been decorated in a similar way.
Think About Wall Décor
Bare walls can make a room feel stark and uninviting, even if the rest of the décor is styled nicely. You could display a piece of art you really love or lots of different smaller pieces in the form of a gallery wall. You could hang a mirror, a clock or put up a shelf to display some decorative items. You don’t want it to look too fussy or cluttered, but a few key pieces can really help to tie the room together and make your home more interesting and personal. Another way to add interest to the walls is to use statement wallpaper and create a feature wall. In living rooms, this is often the wall which has the fireplace on it. In bedrooms, it’s the wall behind the bed. It can help ‘break up’ a bland, blank canvas, and balances nicely when the other three walls are plain. People can be a little dubious about statement walls, but you don’t have to pick really bold and ‘out there’ wallpaper. If bright and bold isn’t your kind of thing, go with a neutral in a subtle design. It will still bring interest but without needing to venture too far out of your comfort zone
Think About Lighting
Lighting in the home should never be an afterthought. As well as being practical (for seeing at night!) it also allows you to tailor the ambiance in the home and set the mood for whatever you’re doing. Whether you’re eating, watching tv, doing a craft or just socializing, you’ll want different kinds of light for each task. A couple of different lamps around the room with different bulb brightness will allow you to adjust the light as you need. Alternatively, you could consider ‘smart bulbs’- you can adjust the brightness of these through an app on your phone so are handy to have. Your overhead lighting is just as important. You could go with a ceiling fan such as https://www.mylightingsource.com/store/categories/1480/Casablanca-Fans. These can be useful for keeping your home cool in summer and look stylish too. Alternatively, you could choose a design that fits with the theme of the rest of your room. For example, a glittering chandelier would work well with a vintage or glamorous theme. Something with metal and exposed bulbs would look very cool and industrial. Spend some time working out what would look best in the room based on the size, style, and materials.
Have Fun With Furniture
Furniture is a big investment, it’s certainly not something you want to be replacing every other year and so when you buy you want to get it right. For this reason, choosing fairly classic pieces is the answer. This is because they won’t go out of style and will work with various décor changes over the years. However, there are still ways you can have fun with furniture. For example, you could invest in a classic sofa, but team it up with a bold accent chair. This would be a lot cheaper to buy and also replace in a few years if you fancy a change. You could go with a fun color or pattern, and use cushions in similar colors on the sofa to tie them together. You could invest in a solid dining table but buy stylish on trend chairs to go with it. Again these could be replaced in future for less money than buying everything again. You could even find a cheap, solid piece of furniture such as a sideboard or chest of drawers from a junk shop and upcycle it. It costs hardly anything to do, but you get an interesting and unique piece of furniture to decorate your home with.
Tia, and TipsfromTia.com is trying to keep you looking good and
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