To find your decorating style, take note of what you already have in your home, such as furniture, accessories, and paint colors. If these make you smile, they’re your style. Create a Pinterest board of rooms you love and study both what you have and what you want to match up with a style. Answer 10 easy questions to discover your unique interior design style.
The quiz works quickly and is fun, taking less than 2 minutes to get personalized results. Interior design styles are like different flavor profiles for your home, and understanding them gives you a framework to explore what resonates with you and build a space that reflects your personality. There are many popular interior design styles, ranging from modern to traditional, to lesser-known styles like boho or glam.
To identify your interior style, take a tour, play detective, create a mood board, change your name, unlock the keys, and start applying your style. Walk around your house like you’re visiting an open home, noticing the colors you use and if there’s an overarching style. Check out Decorilla’s ultimate guide to decoding everything you need to know about the top 20 interior design styles for 2024, from California Casual to Scandinavian Farmhouse.
To nail down your decorating style, find correlations in spaces you like, focus on the colors you love, create a vision board, and gather prints and patterns you’re drawn to. This quiz will help you discover the exact trending yet timeless style that is totally you.
📹 How to Style Your House: 10 Easy Tips Anyone Can Do in Any Space on Any Budget
Today I’m sharing my Top 10 interior design tricks and hacks. How you can make your home look classy, cohesive and cozy on …
How do I know what my house style is?
Investing and collecting over time can help you find your design style. Instead of decorating your space in a day, let it evolve over time. Personal value pieces can move with you throughout your growth, while trendy pieces can quickly fade out of style. Avoid fast furniture and trend-focused aesthetics, as they can quickly become outdated. Remember, your design style should evolve with you as you grow.
How to explain interior design?
Interior design is a professional practice that focuses on creating an environment that meets human needs. It involves art, science, and business planning to create creative, sustainable, and functional solutions that align with the architecture of a space. IIDA’s designers represent a network of active local design communities worldwide. By partnering with local chapters, IIDA can use design as a tool for creating change and creating space for all.
How to decide interior design style?
Interior design styles may be explored, including Art Deco, Traditional, Industrial, Scandinavian, and Mid-Century Modern, in order to identify those that resonate with the individual. One may combine and contrast diverse stylistic approaches to create a personalized space that reflects one’s distinctive preferences. This process entails considering one’s favored colors, materials, and whether the desired ambience is modern or traditional.
How to determine the style of a house?
Architectural styles play a significant role in determining a home’s design. Victorian homes feature large wraparound porches, bay windows, and scalloped wood siding, while Craftsman homes have open porches, gabled roofs, and jutting eaves. Tudor homes have pitched roofs, large chimneys, ornamental framing, and columns, while Colonial homes have columns, wood siding, and symmetrical design. Homebuyers often encounter architectural details like round columns, square front porches, stucco versus brick, and gabled roofs.
Understanding these styles can help homebuyers determine if their windows belong to a Colonial or traditional home and how to match the expansive front porch addition with the original house’s architectural style. Knowing the basic architectural styles and explaining them to real estate agents can help them choose the right houses to show homebuyers.
How do I know interior design is for me?
Interior design requires an artistic and creative approach, with an innate sense of style and the ability to create beautiful designs. Designers must be able to select furnishings, fabrics, and design spaces that fit clients’ needs and lifestyles. They must be attentive to texture, color, lighting, materials, and spatial relations, and understand how color combinations affect emotions. They must also grasp the scope of a project and transform it through the design process using drawing and plans.
They must stay up-to-date on the latest trends and products, materials, and styles. Personal and communication skills are also essential, as interior design involves interacting with clients, vendors, architects, contractors, and other suppliers. Designers must be able to adapt to working with different personalities and maintain a strong sense of professionalism.
How do I choose the style of my house?
Designing a new custom home can be an exciting and overwhelming process. With so many beautiful homes available, it’s essential to take inspiration from your current home, avoid getting caught up on labels, give yourself permission to change your mind, and consider talking to a custom home designer. However, it’s crucial not to get too caught up on labels and to give yourself permission to change your mind.
To make decisions easier and keep the process enjoyable, consider the following tips:
- Take a look at your current home.
- Don’t get too caught up on labels.
- Give yourself permission to change your mind.
- Consider talking to a custom home designer.
- Consider talking to a professional designer if you’re unsure about your style or preferences. By following these tips, you can make the process of choosing a design style for your new home more enjoyable and enjoyable.
How do I know what style I have?
The article provides seven tips for developing a great sense of personal style, emphasizing the importance of knowing colors, coordinating them, investing in timeless neutral pieces, being objective about body shape, taking creative risks, combining outfits with accessories, and becoming attuned to personal preferences. It also mentions the style of famous women like Audrey Hepburn, Carolyn Bessette Kennedy, and Coco Chanel, who emphasized personal interpretation of their style through selecting colors, cuts, fabrics, and shapes that celebrated their best features and spirit.
How can I describe my house?
To sell a home, detail each room’s features, such as flooring, fireplaces, built-in wardrobes, and fitted appliances. Describe any outdoor space, such as a rear garden with flower beds or a driveway with two cars and access to a local footpath. Appeal to your audience by mentioning features like a child-friendly garden or proximity to local shops and nightlife, to help potential buyers understand the home’s lifestyle.
How do I find an interior design concept?
A design concept is developed by an interior designer after a discussion between the client and designer about the goals and objectives of the space. This phase showcases the designer’s creativity and helps clients make informed decisions. Different interior designers have their own methods, but there is no specific formula for this process. The first stage involves discussing the client’s goals, color scheme, furnishings, and other elements with the designer. The goal is to understand what the client wants so the designer can provide the appropriate solutions.
How to pick a theme for your house?
In today’s digital age, selecting an interior design theme can be overwhelming. To make the right choice, consider your home location, preferences, lifestyle, architecture, and time. There are numerous beautiful options available, but it’s crucial to choose one that complements your style. To make the process easier, consider your preferences and lifestyle, ensure it complements the architecture, and take your time. If you’re struggling to choose between themes or can’t put it all together, here are some tips to help you choose an interior design theme that reflects your style in the best way possible.
Can I be an interior designer if I don t know how to draw?
Students starting an Interior Design Diploma or short-course often ask if they need to be able to draw, but it is essential to have some level of ability and confidence in their sketches. Sketches are the first starting point for planning room layouts and finer details of the scheme. Learning perspective and scale is crucial for the success of a sketch, and computer software can help, but hand-sketching is the best way to grow confidence. Naqiyah, a hand-rendering pro, shares a guest blog to help grow confidence in sketching in interior design.
The process starts with a dot and then a line, often overlapped with multiple lines to create forms or spaces. Lines are honest and represent what the student imagines. Before sketching, it is crucial to be sure of the objective of the idea.
📹 6 Hidden Details That Make a Home Look Amazing: A Design Deep Dive
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Dawn…I just had to let you know what you are doing is making a difference: I have been on this journey awhile now, but today was the 1st day that I looked at the dirty dishes & my VERY first thought was “I need to further reduce our inventory,” NOT “what a terrible person I am” or “why doesn’t my family help more.” My family helps & I am not terrible.😊🎉
Dawn, as your personal interior designer I’ve been commenting to you for several years to raise your curtain rods to just below your ceilings. I know you will have to buy new curtains, but it is worth it! I commented to Tom on his most recent article to do this on your rental homes too. The windows will look so much bigger you will get a better rent.
Thank you for another great article. One tip that I have for a bedside table is to keep items that you use daily/nightly in a basket and then tuck the basket in the bedside table (mine is a cupboard) every morning when you make your bed. That way, for the daytime hours, the bedside table surface is clear of loose items. Thanks again.
Six months ago we downsized and moved 4 states away. I am so thankful that I discovered your articles about 5 years ago. I had been decluttering for a couple years before our move. It made the move so much easier! After the move I decluttered some more and I love my peaceful house. These decorating tips are not new to me, but it was great to hear them again. I will be rethinking some of my decorating.
Dawn, Our house is 1/2 the size of yours. Recently,my Hubby & I cleaned everything out of my sewing / craft room & he painted it a light color to make it brighter. We’ve only brought a few things back in because I love the empty look. I know the sewing / crafty stuff needs to come back in eventually, but right now I’m enjoying it empty. 😅 Great article. 😊
This was great. I listened to your podcast with Myquillyn as well. My one tip I would give anyone … Don’t fight your house. Let it be what it is. There are ways to put a little pizzazz in your home but trying to make your ranch style house a Tuscan villa is expensive and could end up being disappointing as well.
I started Admire Don’t Acquire about 10+ years ago. It was an epiphany I had when I saw a beautiful shrub as I was driving through a neighborhood. As an avid gardener with a showplace garden, I would have to buy that shrub but that I thought to myself, “I don’t need to buy another thing that I probably won’t plant right away. It’s enough to have seen it here”. I used to buy hundreds of dollars worth of plants in the spring of summer, now I might buy 4 planters for my window boxes and patio. It’s actually a relief.
Best advice I’ve learnt from 7yrs of perusal youtube is that I deserve a space that reflects my personality, I’m squealing with delight to come home to it, to fill it with my love and laughter, to declutter and organise in my way and to do it all on my budget, in colours that calm or excite me and mix a couple of styles and all be intentional. Also have furniture and items that work for you. I recently made a skinny bedside cart on wheels so I could move it out to make my waterbed in a smaller room. The firewood boxes are also on castors so I can vac under them and wheel them to the front door to load without bringing in wet shoes and slip or bring in mud. Most importantly, if someone doesn’t like your style, that’s their opinion and not yours. Take advice that works for you.
You, Dawn, and Myquillin combined have made the absolute BIGGEST impact on my home. My home isn’t “done” yet but even with four little kids, my home doesn’t feel overwhelming and it’s a peaceful place to be in (most of the time 🤣). You helped with decluttering and she helped with LEARNING design! 👏🏼 what a power team
Hi Dawn, great article and tips. I’m 60 and married 38 years. In the past (over the decades) I have changed my decor sooooo many times and have had different colors on the walls in my home. Now I find that I just want everything clean and bright. I have a very light wall color now throughout my small home and I’m loving it! I want little pops of color. It feels calmer and refreshing. ❤
Just wanted to share this with you. I’ve been perusal you for a while now picking up your great tips. The other morning I was looking all over for my favorite drinking glass…. I burst out laughing when I opened the cabinet and there it was. Washed, dried and put away after I used it the day before 😊 This NEVER happened before..it would be whenever i used it the day before, probably half full of whatever I was drinking. I thought of you and smiled. Thank you for all the blessings you are bringing to my house and life 🙏
Terrific, terrific article, Dawn!!! Thanks to you, I’ve hushed our kitchen and LR and put almost nothing back! Loving the hush!! You have inspired me (an 80-yr-old subscriber) to declutter everywhere, and I am endlessly grateful to you for the joy you exude as you and your wonderful husband and children all pitch in to make your home so minimally cluttered and maximally beautiful. One question: with six people in your family, how does it work out at mealtimes with four chairs at the kitchen table, and four stools? None of my business, but I always wonder when I see these! Gratitude to you in heaps and heaps!!!
I mentioned to my kiddo that I wanted to hush their room and then forgot to do it/didn’t have time. They kept reminding me and today we hushed the living room first. It’s amazing how much had accumulated and how much bigger the space is just by clearing off the surfaces and floors. There’s still furniture and bookcases that are full (but not overfull) and it’s still pretty amazing the difference. I don’t have many places to stash the stuff from the rooms, so we can only do one at a time. Next will be the kid room, followed by entryway, dining room, and kitchen.
Dawn,I will never be a minimalist or do I want to be but I have decluttered so much! I love to decorate but making sure I am tasteful and no where as much. I live with a decor for a week or sp and see how it makes me feel. If I walk into a room and I feel calm and love the little touches, it makes me happy. It is easy to get too cluttered with decor. I am being very mindful but still being true to me! Thank you for all the wonderful information!
Dear Dawn – besides being inspiring and helpful on my journey towards a more simple and joyful home, your content is always sincere and “friendful”. Thank you! Credit to you for being such a warm and open person in your articles; being interesting AND warm is not a very common combination on Youtube. Thanks for being a role model.
It was fun to hear about color rules…..we have neutral walls furniture but everything else is colorful! Im an artist and my kids love to paint so artwork and colors everywhere is for us! I also feel like repeating greens in decor and houseplants can become almost like a neutral just blend in. Idk definitely not everyones cup of tea but we like it and seems to be enjoyed by visitors.
Also for wall colors etc, there is cool vs warm. Warm for a more cozy vibe and cool when you want a more open or spacious feel. For me it’s pretty much just keep experimenting with arrangements until it looks and feels right. Decluttering was major Bcuz it helps to simply be surrounded by all the colors and textures and things you love. Kinda like clothing. When every outfit is one that you love. Decor can be like that too. I found it sorted itself out a lot easier once the stuff I loved was no longer getting lost in all the meh kind of stuff I kept around.
I have sold my house and settlement is Friday, I’m decluttering to move into a motor home. I have emptied everything out of the linen cupboards and wardrobes, my clothes are in packing cubes . I don’t have the motor home here yet so everything is on the kitchen table. My kitchen cupboards are almost empty also and my laundry room, so freeing to see what I have chosen not to take with me and as I put things in the table I am revaluing what I thought I need and the decluttered pile is growing
I painted my two tone walls white and put black curtain rods as high as possible (rods are extendable). It has added 1ft of height to the ceilings and I actually stand straighter in my 9ft high rooms. I can’t tell you how much this has given me a wow factor and refreshes my soul. I’m going for neutrals now even though I love colour. My highlight colour is green so the greenery feels cohesive with the rooms. I’ve painted a lot of my furniture including the firewood boxes black for the contrast. It also disguises the functional items like the wood box. I painted my bedhead white and have removable covers over the foam piece so I can wash them and change them up. Large decor is more intentional and makes it more sophisticated. Best hack was to have the hoarder move out and now I have space to happy dance in. I’m making the yard much simpler too so I don’t need a whipper snipper or hand mower, just the ride on.
The best interior design rule that l use is trust your taste. If you really are drawn to a colour, pattern, texture, shape then use it. Your wardrobe of clothing will give you a strong direction of the colour palette you like and the style of clothing will indicate the interior design. For example my clothes are red, blue, green in different shades and neutrals of white, gray and black. My furniture and decor pieces are in those colours with the main wall paint colour a warm white. My clothes have streamlined shapes without bows and frills. My furniture is also streamlined rather than ornate. I enjoy colour. For me colour energises and inspires.
Decluttering has absolutely been a huge design tip for me! We live in an old house and it’s a rental so there’s really very little we can do to fix it up. But I’ve found that even in an old house, the less stuff I have the easier it is to keep clean and the better it feels. My motto….I may not be able to have a nice house but I can definitely have a clean house. And that’s easiest by having less stuff!
I’ve had trouble deciding on colors when acquiring new household items (bookcases, appliances, storage bins, etc.) fearing I would regret the color in a few months, so I’ve defaulted to white for many reasons… it goes with everything, it’s calming, it looks clean and neat and doesn’t weigh down the space. So far the strategy is working 😄
I have learnt so much from you over the years, my house is less cluttered although it was always clean and tidy, I’ve always love the show house look and I do decorate seasonally and my home is always welcoming not where people need to take shoes off (we have good quality laminated flooring) and I don’t go tidying be hind guests🤣🤣. It’s strange you should bring up big verses small as the other day I swapped out larger ornaments for family room window sill instead of all the small bits and it looks so much better. I love the book you featured she has lots of great ideas. If I had the room and my husband wasn’t using garage (no sawdust getting on things) I would have kitchen appliances stored in garage which is just off utility room and have more empty space on counter tops. Take care xx
I’m so happy to have found your website. Decor does not come naturally to me. I have an idea of what I want but don’t know how to put it together. The combination of your voice, the tips you give, and how you are breaking it down makes decor and simplifying so much easier, and the idea of having an attractive living space so much more attainable.
This article (the “quieting” part) reminded me of the time you suggested I get rid of my back saver mat in the kitchen. You giggled and said something like, “get better shoes!” I really need my mat … but not every day! So I hide it until I need it, and WOW! My kitchen looks so much bigger and tidier! It was as impactful as stowing my toaster oven! THANKS
Hey lovely lady, we don’t know each other, but you are my cleaning buddy 🙂 I heard in a article of yours that you work full time and homeschool. I have a 13 year old that would like to homeschool next year, but I work full time and so does his dad, so I’m not sure how to do it. I know there are homeschool fb groups that I can ask, but I feel like you are really real…any tips? Tricks? Am I crazy to consider it? I did homeschool all my children for 2 years, but then I had to go back to work and I feel a little unsure that I can do it. Do you use programs? Homeschool on the weekends or evenings? Anyway, it’s off topic, so don’t worry if you don’t answer, I just thought I’d throw it out there. Love your articles, you have been a delightful cleaning partner!
I really like decorating and making my home looking cozy, bright, minimal BUT I feel that it’s a bigger challenge when you want your house to have a minimal look as well. So often I try to subtract, take away things, move them around etc and I’m very careful about things I’m about to bring in to my home. The tip about scale is very useful for me! I have big windows and quite large rooms and I want fem things, so the things need to be larger to make any impact at all.
I have always had my curtains rods extend 4 – 6 inches away from the window frame and the curtains full looking. BUT after my small children would use the longer drapes for tents and the pets decided that the longer drapes make great places for sleeping, I shortened the expensive drapes so they are 5 – 6 inches from the floor. Sometimes desperate measures must be made that do not follow designer styles. LOL Great points made in the article. Thanks for sharing.
Love your articles. You have taught me so much and inspired me to go thru my closet and kitchen and start letting stuff go. I come from humble beginnings and got into the habit of having so much stuff to make myself feel like I was successful. Now I’m realizing what a mistake that is and stuff doesn’t make one successful. Now, if you’d tell me how to convince my husband to let things go, I would be forever in your debt. He has clothes he hasn’t worn in 20 years but he won’t get rid of them!! I think he’s a secret hoarder.
I’m an artist, so I sometimes take a picture of a painting and convert it to black & white…boom instant Notan, and I “see” where the light is or isn’t. The camera sees without bias, and has helped me spatially arrange my open concept living/dining/studio, and “see” if I have populated my accent color throughout. I have a track on my studio wall like a gallery to hang my paintings, so they can be moved and changed….you still have to “arrange”, but it works for me.
You will be so glad to make the investment in good stainless steel rolling shelves from Lowes in your basement. They are wonderful. Each shelf can hold 200 pounds! Buy the locking wheels and you can easily move them to clean underneath. All shelves are adjustable to your needs too, so you don’t have to be afraid that a spring flood in the basement will ruin your storage. . I loved mine, and made my church very happy when I had to move away. Get them now. The price only goes up.
Hi Dawn, I wanted to share one of my favorite designers is Rebecca Robeson on YouTube. I have been perusal her since she started her website. She offers Design Sessions for $10 a month. I have learned sooo much from her regarding design. As you were redoing your curtians I could hear her in my head “we dress walls not windows”, she is the best designer I have ever seen and she is self taught. The principle of window curtians applies to shower curtian too. Put them as close to the ceiling as possible. Rebecca has a heart for teaching, check her out you won’t regret it.
On curtain rods I put mine up 3 inches below the ceiling and for width you need about 6 to 8 inches per curtain panel beyond the window. So my big bedroom window is 62 inches glass but 69 with trim. So I wanted 2 panels per side of 52 inch wide curtains for 104 total inches wide of curtains per side. Each curtain pulled back beside the window needs at least 6 to 8 inches to pull back so due to space and positioning on the wall I chose 14 inches past the trim for the rod hanging width to the end. I could have used 10 inches per panel honestly but it’s a big window and i wanted space for art or furniture to sit. So my rods are 97 inches hanging width . Finials stuck past if you have them. I have blackout rods which curve flush to the wall so it’s pure hanging every inch. My ceilings are 9 foot. So I chose 9 foot curtains which puddle a bit but could be hemmed up flush with the floor if I preferred. Don’t get shorter curtains it shortens your room. Always floor length. That’s my tip on window. Oh and get double hang rods so you can layer sheers beneath the solid side panels if you wanted. It’s an upgrade if you sell your home and leave them.
Hi Dawn, I know this is a long shot, but we purchased a helix mattress 3 years ago based on your recommendation. I am having some issues with it now, and unfortunately their customer service is less than ideal 😟 if you are still working with them, I was hoping a word from you might help us out in this situation. Thank you in advance!!
Dawn thank you so much now instead of trying to find a home for things I try to find things to rehome! It’s like everything is free game if I can replace it for $20 or less and I don’t need it now then it’s gone it’s such a relief and it has helped every facet of my life and I really really really really really appreciate you!
This was fun. I see you got your gold faucet! Just a thought. You might consider changing the kitchen cabinet hinges to gold to match the pulls. It would look more intentional. The new light is so pretty. I always thought those home shows where the family wanted to move because they needed more space were funny. What they really needed to do was declutter and put things away. Something you said reminded me of this. It was fun to see the clip of the kids with Tom in the home improvement store. They were so little!
I have learned that I don’t like yellow walls. It can look so faded / old on gray days and doesn’t brighten up a room on a cloudy day at all as people probably had intended. White is best in my opinion and then have daylight lighting or even yellow light. It’t kind of a pet peeve for me. I feel like yellow is a color for light and for flowers. Never walls, or clothing. Well and for accents it’s are okay, I guess. 😂
I LOVE the one about contrasting vs blending. At our last home, we had a dark blue accent wall in our living room. It wasn’t intentional, but I LOVED that the TV (big and ugly 😅) blended in with it. Our walls have otherwise been very light colors, but I’m keeping this in mind for when we settle down in a home. I definitely want my TV to blend in when not in use rather than to stand out so much. Great article! And I love your pinkish shirt!
The kitchen is always the heart of the 🏡 I feel ❤ Also that green kitchen is fun!! Sea foam color, vintage look. Reminds me of my KitchenAid mixer color 😁 We have white walls and cabinets too; very small house hubs built in the country (on 15 acres in Iowa 🌽) also did 10 ft ceilings which love!! Makes it look bigger and can go up with storage 👍
Dawn just wanted to say Hi I liked tennis ball comment. You have taught me: When things are misplaced, put them back now. If you have 15 mins between things, reorganize on area. In daily living, my permanent habit now is to reassess items as I go through my days. It is not a conscious effort ( it is almost automatic from the training and practice you gave me) It always makes me happy and gives me a boost in mood to do so. My home is more functional and easy to maintain now. My motto is “Do small changes that can make a big difference.” 😊❤ thank you from the bottom of my heart.
Love learning and being reminded of different design rules! I don’t know if this is something I learned from a past article or if it just felt natural, but I have zig-zagged both colors and shape/weight. For instance, I have our tea pot, toaster, and rice cooker zig-zagging and matching baskets beside each. It brings great visual balance and feels less intrusive for this cricket living with a butterfly 😉
Excellent tips. Thank you. I have antiques, ( my father’s high chair from 1921, then mid-century modern, then retro. Sooooo, my mind is spinning as I moved into my own apartment two weeks ago. I’m going to do, ” ME,” and use your advice, also. Thanks so much for still contributing great content for us viewers.🙌😇
I accidentally bought curtains the exact same color as my walls. I see colors sometimes off from what they are, particularly like cream, beige and white or black and navy. I got the curtains home and they were exactly my wall color as opposed to the contrast I thought they would be. I decided to try them anyway and I knew to hang them farther out than the window but wow. When I hung them, my apt looked way bigger 😅
Love your articles & your hair style is so pretty and flattering!! I created a family gallery wall using 2 sets of varying size frames (7 gold with beige matting for total of 14). The identical frames and and matting really created a cohesive display. I had failed in the past but found success this time by laying out the photos on the floor like a puzzle to create the best collage configuration. I also borrowed a recent idea you shared to have your spoon rest to match your other kitchen decor. I found one to complement ours – just love it!! Thank you & we love you too!
Mom told me many years ago when you’re decorating, group items in 3’s, 5’s, 7’s. When you have 2 items sitting on a shelf, it looks weird, sort of off. Pictures on walls-odd number groupings work much better. There’s always exceptions. If 2 items are the same they’re okay together. Such as bookends or those huge 2 piece picture sets. So your globe with the little blue figurine needs one more item. Or the globe can stand alone. A matching set of those tall stick trees (they’re fake) would look good on that bureau. One on each end. Or a set of tall thin lamps. Again one on each end.
Choosing only imagery that evokes positive feelings (and eliminating anything that doesn’t) is a design tip I hit on unconsciously. From nature themes to joyful smiles and calm relaxation, it subliminally adds up. Even when my house was VERY(!!!) cluttered & messy people told me it just felt good and I think that’s part of why. 😃 Plants also help! ❤🪴
Wow! This was such a helpful article Dawn!! Thank you for always providing such usable content and motivation!! I always feel pumped up to try new things after perusal your articles. I think one things I’ve learned over time is use bigger pieces on my walls and not clutter with lots of small pictures, etc. And my last house I had too many “gallery” walls, so it felt like too much. At this house, I’m trying to pick statements that I absolutely love or have created myself, which makes my home feel more personal and cozy
I loved seeing these rules in action! I love Myquillyn and preordered her new book to add to her others in my library! I love the changes you have made so far and look forward to your article with all the changes put together! It was great seeing the flashback article including your kids, they were so small! It has been fun perusal them grow up!
One color tip, aside from the zip zag of the accent color in a bookcase, is to have the accent around the room. It’s a psychological trick that will make the space feel more put together… Your eyes will pick up on the pieces and see cohesiveness but most of the time most people will sense the room is put together but won’t know why. You can do this by creating lines of three or triangles. No firm rules… just don’t limit the accent to one or two walls (portions of the room). Move warm textures around the room as well for coziness or glass or high glass ceramics for brightness. Also, you can have small items but use them as an accent. For example, I have a few small items on my mantle but they snuggle up to larger pieces and there are more larger pieces than small ones. They can top a few books that are stacked, etc. But they definitely should be in a minority. Little jewels among bigger pieces of jewellery.
A tip that I recently learned is about balance. If you have shelves on both sides of a fireplace, make them mirror copies of each other. Start by using your zig zag technique on one side and then match the other side with similar colors and shapes and placement. I had spent 27 years trying to figure out why I didn’t quite love my design.
I have to echo the comments that say you make a difference in our lives. We are in the midst of getting our home electrical system upgraded, which means that every single room has to be cleaned and cleared for the electricians to be able to work in that space. I have been decluttering for years now, and the difference in the amount of inventory that I have to manage is quite noticeable. I am taking this opportunity to further scrutinize what we have, and clearing out even more as we go room by room. I cannot even imagine how I would have been able to provide clear working space if I had not downsized our belongings. Even my husband has been more on board with paring down, and we love the open feeling that our space now has. I have asked everyone to really be intentional when they return things to their space. I even went to a grand opening of a Balsam Hill outlet, and was able to walk through there without feeling like I needed to bring anything home. Thank you Dawn! You have shown that minimalism does not mean that a home cannot be cozy, and I really appreciate this article with design tips. 🥰💐
Awesome thank you. I bought more expensive quilt cover set and quilt in king size for a queen bed and I had purchased at the right time as it had discount. It feels so much better a love the colours but it covers the bed so much better. My son liked it a lot. I bought him one. The down side we match 😁.
I LOVED this article, it was so informative. I am having a hard time with my living room right now. I have a dark, navy blue sofa with a dark oriental rug and inherited beautiful dark antique desk and drop leaf table. I love the pieces but they are all dark and I want to lighten up the sofa with some color other than just white since there is no other accent color in the room I cannot decide on throw pillows. I love dark green and tans and I’m unsure of what patterns to add ….just don’t know what to do. I love your sofa and the colorful throw pillows, but I don’t know how to get that look with all the dark colors already in the room. My walls are taupe and the rug has a tanish color in it. I would love to change things but cannot afford any big purchases to solve the problems. Any ideas.
Help! I’m in an apt. with hideous fruit wallpaper on most of the kitchen walls, so there’s blue, yellow, white, and a whole lot of red because of the apples. LOL. Our curtains are red, kitchen rug is red, BUT, our back wall where the sink is, etc., is painted royal blue! I don’t know who on earth designed this. Lol. The cupboards and drawers are very old-fashioned too and are a dark brown color. I’m trying to do what should be a simple project…paint an unfinished wood crate for our kitchen table, but I have NO idea what color it should be. The table and chairs are second hand and also a dark colored wood. Any suggestions would be welcome! Ha ha.
Great content Dawn. I wondered whether you’d ever consider painting one or two of your doors white/ivory… When you showed the eider view of your living room – entryway the closet doors make a different patch of colour. Also your bedroom door being wood colour brings the percentage of ‘pink’ in the room… I’m a colour nerd…. Apologies for mentioning. Maybe on examination it won’t catch your eye… Just occurred to me in passing. XG Ire
You changed the cabinet hardware and light to the gold colour but left the faucet and shelf brackets in nickle/black. These need to be changed too. Not a fan of your overall look. Looks pretty “blah” no interest in any of the rooms just “blah white”. I have been a decorator for 56 years and I am not liking this color scheme at all.
Minimalism and decor/styling……… hmmmmmmm. Seems to be a lot of purchases go on that are pointless. Those walls are now shouting – hush up! You do you but increasingly this is starting to feel like ‘content’ that moves away from your core purpose. Maybe time for a re-brand the minimalist decor shopper.