INTERIOR DESIGN IDEAS

   Written by Cynthia Aiken  /  Atlanta’s own Interior Designer

Home décor accessorizing is one of the most personal aspects of decorating. There are no formulas, no special magic, no right or wrong way. Just what is right for you? The personality of your home should express your personality and lifestyle. Accessories can pull the room together and create a warmth and coziness. 

The accessories used in a room give a personality and creates a mood to the room. Books are beautiful things.  I like to use cocktail table books for decorating.  I tell my clients to purchase books that reflect their interest. People’s lives are expressed in little details in the same way a room’s personality is expressed with the home décor accessories used to compliment your room. You love flowers? Show them off. You have dogs in your family? Use them as a theme in your decorating. Do you like to needlepoint? Then bring out those pieces and have them framed or made into pillows. The paintings we cherish, the books on the bedside table all proclaim who we are. And nowhere is this more apparent that in decorating. What we select for our walls, tabletops and bookshelves says who we are. When you hear people say your home looks like you, you should feel you have succeeded. Coco Chanel said, ”An interior is the natural projection of the soul…”

The personality of a room hinges on its objects and accessories. Just for fun, play “Who Lives Here”. Look at your room, does it tell the personality of the owner? Do you have family photographs around? Photographs are very important for accessorizing your home. It’s what tells you details of the lifestyle of the person living in the home. Now look at your own house with new eyes. Is it saying what you want it to? Does it express you? Maybe the carpeting from a previous owner has always bothered you. Why not get rid of it, and enjoy bare floors and the hunt for a pleasing replacement? Perhaps some colorful pillows or a soft throw would make your sofa more inviting.  Sometimes the simple addition of a fresh candle can boost a tired room.  Home décor accessories are the most telling additions we give to our homes.

 There are a few basic rules for placement of objects. Balance and Shapes are important, see what works well together. Round with rectangular? Narrow, high objects with long, low ones? As for size, generally keep taller and heavier items in the rear. Mixing textures is always interesting; a pile of old books on a marble topped table. Break up matched or themed sets with something unrelated. An example: the silver tea set placed, not on a silver tray, but on an oval oak one. Display like things together can make for an interesting grouping.

Home interior art has a way of setting a tone in a room. A collection of prints can turn a hallway corner into a small gallery. A narrow wall can become a dramatic gallery by hanging a group of prints from floor to ceiling.

Shelves are another place for display that will capture the eye. Objects give a house character. We accumulate things over time. We cherish them and display them prominently. Enjoy moving your favorite things to new places. Display the things you love in places where you can see and enjoy them.  These are a few of my INTERIOR DESIGN IDEAS… I hope you use them to make your home a showplace.