Your home's accessories are the finishing touch that can elevate any room, whether it's a bedroom, living room, dining room, or kitchen.
They add personality to your room, but also add color & texture that brings your entire decor style together.
However, it's easy to go overboard and end up with a cluttered & overwhelming look.
You must know how to select the best accessories for your home and also how & where to use your accessories in order to create a polished and cohesive look.
Here are several interior design tips & tricks to help you master the art of accessorizing and make your home look its best.
Stick to a Color Scheme
Select a color scheme for your room to use in your accessories and repeat those colors throughout your room.
For example, if your living room has a blue accent wall, you can add blue throw pillows, a blue rug, and blue vases.
If your bedroom has a pink color scheme, you can add pink curtains, a pink throw pillow, and a pink rug.
Sticking to a color scheme ensures that your accessories work together and look cohesive instead of clashing.
Having a cohesive color scheme will make your home's decor look intentional and well designed.
Many people like to select a color scheme by selecting a large focal point item (such as a large rug or large piece of art) that has multiple colors in it, then using 3 or more colors in that item to use as the color scheme. Repeat those 3 or more colors throughout your room at least 3 times. You can use a darker and lighter version of those colors also for added depth and dimension.
Layer Accessories
Layering different accessories, especially items from different stores that nobody else has put together, can create a more interesting and unique look.
For example, you can layer two different, yet complementary, throw pillows on a sofa or on your bed to add depth and dimension.
You can also layer different rugs on top of each other to create a cozy, plush, and inviting feel (which is common if someone likes the colors in one rug, but it is too small for the room, so they put a bigger rug underneath that is the correct size).
However, it's essential to not overdo it. Sometimes less is more. You don't want to have to remove 10 pillows off your bed every night before going to sleep!
Only use two or three layers at most to avoid overwhelming the look.
Don't layer more than 2 rugs else you might create a trip hazard.
Mix Textures
Mixing accessories of different textures is another way to add a unique touch to your home with interesting contrast.
For example, you can add a faux fur throw blanket to a sleek leather sofa or a rough woven basket to a smooth glass coffee table.
For an interesting modern look, you can mix an elegant crystal item in front of a rough exposed brick wall.
For a unique traditional look, you can put soft velvet upholstery on a worn vintage dining chair.
Mixing textures adds tactile interest to your look and creates a cozy, inviting feel.
Use Statement Pieces
Accessory statement pieces are decor that is bold and/or oversized to stand out and draw attention to become one of the focal points of your room.
These statement pieces could be a unique piece of art, a bold rug, an oversized lamp, or a colorful vase.
Statement pieces add personality and flair to your home and can be used to create an amazing focal point, but you don't want your room to be filled with too many focal points else it might look overwhelming.
Try to aim for your room having at least 1 focal point, however no more than 3 focal points for an average sized room.
Pay Attention to Scale
When choosing decorative accessories for your home, make sure to pay attention to the scale of your items (how the size of your accessories compare to the other items in the room).
This basically means that you need to choose accessories that are the right size for your space, which is not one-size-fits-all.
Be aware that many accessories found at cheap accessory stores or big box stores are knock-offs of originals that were a good scale. When the manufacturers make the cheaper accessories, they cut corners in many places, including making the item smaller, so cheaper mass produced items are often too small for most homes.
For example, if you have a large living room, you can add a large area rug to anchor the space, however don't try to put a small rug in a large room else it will look weird.
If you have a small bedroom, you can add a smaller rug, however a bigger bed requires a bigger rug. See the article Rug Size Guide for a Bedroom for more information.
Vary Heights
Varying heights is another way to add interest to your accessories.
When adding accessories to a surface, try to use one short, one medium, and one tall item.
Do not arrange the items from shortest to tallest or tallest to shortest. Mix up the sizes to create variation.
If you want to add height to a shorter accessory, consider stacking decorative books underneath it.
You can add more than 3 accessory items, however accessories usually look best in odd number groupings, such as 3, 5, or 7 items together.
Varying heights creates visual interest and makes your accessories look intentional and well thought out.
Use Natural Elements
Using natural elements is a great way to add warmth and texture to your home decor.
Natural elements can be stained wood or living items.
Hardwood floors are extremely popular for adding a natural feel to a room. You can also consider adding luxury vinyl tile floors that look very similar to hardwood floors, but make sure to get the ones that look as much like real hardwood floors as possible.
Some of the best ways to add living items to a room is to add a live plant or fresh flowers. Both of these will make a room feel less sterile and more happy. Plus, many plants will actually improve the indoor air quality.
Mix in Some Vintage and Antique Pieces
Mixing in a few vintage and antique accessories with your other new accessories is a great way to create a unique and eclectic one-of-a-kind look.
Most home accessories in stores today are produced in enormous quantities that you can often see the same accessories in many people's homes. Using vintage and antique items greatly reduces the chance that any of your friends will have the same items.
For example, you can pair a vintage rug with modern furniture, or mix vintage and modern artwork on your walls.
You can add an antique vase on top of a contemporary dining table or an antique ink well on a contemporary desk.
Antique or vintage books with a fabric cover (instead of the modern day paper covers) are good to use as accessories because they add a richness to the overall feel of a room and are an interesting conversation starter.
Using vintage and antique accessories creates a sense of personality and history in your space, and can add interest and depth to your home decor.
Edit Your Accessories
Make sure to edit your accessories regularly and remove any accessories that no longer fit or that are no longer needed.
You might choose to do this once a year or every time you purchase something new for your home.
Editing your accessories ensures that your home is always looking its best and it also prevents the dreaded clutter from accumulating.
If you have accessories that you no longer love, consider selling them or giving them to charity so that someone else can appreciate them. Once they are gone, you might determine that you no longer need any accessory in that space or you might be inspired to put something completely different there.
Don't be afraid to experiment by moving your accessories around from room to room instead of just keeping the same items in their original room.
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