Adding to your home décor and elevating your style and look doesn’t always have to be uber expensive. While high-end products will secure you the finish and look you might be craving, it doesn’t always mean you need to splash the cash to get an elevated look and feel for your décor.
The devil is in the detail, as they say, and adding in that extra element and pulling your chosen looks and style together will give your home much more of an impact than just how much you spend on an item.
If you’re ready to add luxury to your home, these tips are for you.
No Matching Furniture
If you want to elevate your look, then matching furniture can detract from the overall picture you are trying to create. You want to invest in stylish pieces that complement each other and don’t entirely match but work well together anyway.
Styles and pieces that look cohesive can really give your décor an extra edge than simply buying a matching set. Draw up a Pinterest board and pull together different ideas and styles; take inspiration from home décor accounts, social media, or even TV shows to see the kind of products they style together to help you see how different furniture can work together and how you can incorporate this into your home.
Rule of Three
For example, when styling empty spaces or grouping furniture or accessories, always do so in an odd number. An odd number is instantly eye-catching and appealing to the eye. Three is the ideal number as it’s not too much to take in at a glance.
Suppose you want to add visually appealing elements to a room and don’t want to spend any money or much money; then look at how you place your accessories. Group cushions in threes, add pictures to units or shelving in groups of three and so on. This is an easy way to add a visual element that instantly upgrades your look.
60/30/10
Your colour palette will significantly affect how elegant and stylish your home looks. And while no one set of colours can do this for you, it all depends on your style, preference, and overall look you’re going for. There are some rules to follow.
If you’re going for an understated look, muted or neutral colours will work better. Your colour scheme must also complement the style and shade of the furniture, the room, and the rest of your house.
As a guide, it’s best to stick to the 60/30/10 rule, which means that 60% of your room or home needs to be in your dominant colour, 30% in your secondary colour and 10% in an accent colour.
They can be any colour you like, but this rule will help you know how to add colour to give you the look you want to create and not ruin your goal.
Declutter
Having piles of clutter everywhere won’t help you add a wow factor, far from it. So before you make any other changes, look at the items around your home, declutter and reduce the stuff in the house. From here, you can then find appropriate homes for everything so you don’t have piles of anything anywhere at all. Even if you create a “Monica” closet where it’s hidden, just don’t have it on display.
Take it room by room so you’re not overwhelmed, and be strict about what you actually need to keep and don’t just have something hanging around for the sake of it.
Be Subtle
Let’s say you want to go for a nautical theme in your bathroom. The temptation to add overtly “boat-themed” items in the room can be a lot, But while this does scream “nautical”, it won’t give you the elevated style you are aiming for. Instead, look for understated options that tie into this but aren’t in your face. Use hues of green and blue to mimic the ocean; whites and gold can even add to the effect. Soft lines, round accessories, colours and ornaments that mimic items you find on the coastline will all help you. Jute, rattan and cotton are ideal materials for furniture, mats, etc. Less is more when it comes to styling a room on a theme. You want to be familiar, not over the top, so you can pull different colours and elements without resorting to being too garish.
Lighting
Lighting is the second most important design element of a room. You need your proms to be flooded with light. That’s a given. However, how you style windows, the type of lighting you use, and the colour and brightness will play a part in creating the right lighting level in your home.
You want as large a window as possible in your rooms, and while this is not always possible if you have small windows, they need to be clear to allow the light in.
If you are using artificial lighting to create light, make sure the bulb you choose works with your chosen design, be it coloured fighting, bright white lights or warm hues. A bright white light works better in décor featuring whites and greys, for example, while warmer lighting shades can be optimal for rooms designed to evoke feelings of comfort and relaxation.
Be mindful of the style of lighting you choose, too. If you are going for a minimalist look, an overstated lighting feature can be enough to add impact and elevate your style without being too overwhelming, but for a room that is wavy on design elements, keeping it simple will work better.
Fitting and Fixtures
The type and quality of your fittings can make a statement. Take shelving, for example. You can put up various shelving styles, but if you want to make an impact, you should consider how you style and hang the shelves.
Recessed shelving is ideal for smaller rooms; having the shelves and walls painted the same colour is a popular trend for many reasons right now, and it can be an understated way of increasing practical room elements in a stylish way. But if you are choosing protruding shelving options, look at the hardware you use. Raw Steel Lipped Brackets can add a little something extra to wooden shelves; metallic hanging wires can be another feature that makes your shelves stand out for the right reasons, and being mindful of the material you use for the shelf itself will help you to create wow while still retaining its purpose.
Create Definition
If you have larger rooms that host more than one activity, creating a definition in the space can instantly revamp how it looks. While separate rooms are more common in the UK, more modern homes are being built with open-plan specs, and people have the option to renovate their homes to incorporate this trend, too.
If you have an area in your home that is for cooking, dining and relaxing, for example, use rugs or furniture to create a definition around each space so people can instantly see what happens where.
It can be using a rug under your dining table, placing a sofa facing away from the dining area to signal this is the relaxing space or having a bar or island in the kitchen to indicate the end of the dining space and the start of the kitchen. In the absence of walls, the placement of your furniture can be instrumental in helping you create a definition to elevate your style and ensure that your décor stands out without becoming one big room with no focal point.
Elevating your home décor style can be as simple as tweaking the placement of furniture, reducing clutter, and opening up windows to add more light, or it can be a complex renovation that helps you build a space that does what you need it to. But these simple tips can be instrumental in getting you from where you are now to a home style that is sleek and stylish.
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