Bringing Some Personal Passion To Your Decor
For those who want their home to look more like their own space rather than a showroom, then creativity in decor is likely to be a focus. You want the space to reflect the people who live in it, not just a sense of style that anyone could pick up in a magazine. As such, here, we’re going to look at a range of strategies that can help you really put some personal style into it, infusing your space with a bit of yourself so that it can feel true to you while still looking good.
Collect inspiration
If you stand in front of your room and try to think about how you can add your own personal sense of style to it, it’s not uncommon that you might find yourself lost in ideas. It’s the dreaded blank page syndrome but for home decor instead of writing. Inspiration can strike like a bolt out of the blue, but if you don’t catch it, it can vanish just as quickly. As such, you should make an effort to collect your inspirations so that, when the time comes, it’s really easy to pick out the ones that work best for any given space. Creating a Pinterest account and pinning the images that catch your eye is one of the best ways to get started with this.
Don’t rely too heavily on thematics
You may well have certain themes, whether they be natural, nautical, artistic, or otherwise, that you really love. However, they don’t make up the entirety of your personality and your interests. Committing too hard to a theme can leave little room for other aspects of your personality to shine through. What’s more, if a space is too heavily thematic, it can look more like a themed hotel room or a display place rather than somewhere you might actually want to live. If you want to start with aspects of design that incorporate a theme, go with it, just don’t be afraid to let the aesthetic evolve and deepen with layers beyond that. Slowly pull the various aspects of your passions into your design.
Incorporating art prints
Art prints can add an elegant yet timeless element to any space, making them a popular choice in interior decoration. Make an impressionable statement in any room with art prints – whether classic paintings or contemporary pieces from all periods – which add classic or modern style. Art prints offer something for every taste and space! Art prints offer an opportunity to support local artists and the greater art community, and should reflect your overall design aesthetic and reflect your changing personal style and interests. Rotating art prints regularly is another great way to keep your space feeling vibrant with reflection of who you are as an evolving individual.
Make good use of photos
One of the easiest ways to make sure that your space reflects the people who live in it, as well as the things that they find important, is to put up a photo wall or any arrangement of photos to display you, the people you care about, and the experiences that you want to bring with you. As inconstant as memories can be, a photo wall can be a lovely way to give them some permanent place in your home, and there are all kinds of different photo wall patterns you can find to not only make good use of the space you’re hanging them in but to make it an eye-catching focal point.
Accessorize!
If you feel like your space is looking a little bare and lacking a little personality, then it may well be that you simply haven’t given the main furniture the accompaniment that it needs. Accessorizing is your opportunity to customize the look of furniture and to compliment and contrast to forge your very own look, whether this means using cushions and soft furnishings to add a little extra color and design to a couch or chair or creating a vignette to catch the eye and cement the theme and aesthetic of a space. If you’re not certain just how you want to accessorize just yet, there are plenty of inspiration posts that can give you room to explore your imagination and find what appeals best to you.
Take the time to find unique furniture
There are all kinds of furniture trends that are hot at the moment, and there’s nothing wrong with adhering to them if, for instance, the Scandi style or the modernist takes of the day appeal to you. However, if you’re looking to really bring a sense of personal style, then you might want to look at the trends of yesteryear, as well, as well as design styles that haven’t quite caught in the mainstream yet. Look for the more artisanal and boutique furniture stores that might be around you if you want to see designs that you’re not likely to find in others’ homes. You don’t need to strive to choose entirely unique pieces, just let them stand out naturally to you.
Let color take over
A lot of interior design gurus are more afraid of color than they should be. Modern design can often strip away anything that ‘stands out’, is too ‘gaudy’, or too ‘individualistic’, but you don’t want to limit your access to one of the most creative visual languages around. Whether it’s through paints, textured surfaces, or soft furnishings, don’t be afraid to keep adding layers to the colors in your home. Of course, you might want to find and stick to a palette if you don’t have a great eye for color theory and mixing, but don’t be afraid to choose colors that go beyond the beige, gold, white, and black that dominate so many modern spaces.
Give your interests time to shine
Do you have a hobby that is a key part of your life? Have you made achievements in sports, music, or other fields that are an important part of your past? Is there a form of art that you love with all of your soul? Then don’t be afraid to let it shine. Certain schools of thought in the decor space think it a little too trite to incorporate your hobbies and interests into your decor, but you have to ask yourself: who are you decorating for? Are photographers from an interior design magazine going to be showing up at your home, or do you want your space to feel suited to you, first and foremost?
Bring your travels with you
If you’re a lover of travel, then, just as with hobbies or art forms that you’re into, you shouldn’t be afraid to let your home showcase that aspect of your life as well. Of course, you can always include travels in your photo gallery wall, as mentioned above, but you can forge a deeper connection between your space where you are now and the places that you have been by displaying a little bit of them, as well. This could mean something as simple as having a postcard display, with a card from every place that you’ve been, or you can create a little souvenir display. You might want to avoid the most blatantly touristy pieces, however, and find those that are attached to real memories that you made there.
Make parts of it yourself
What better way is there to let your personal sense of style shine through, and to be passionate about your decor choices, than to make some of them yourself? There are all kinds of DIY projects that you can find on the internet, but if you want to maximize that personal connection, then it’s recommended that you go with a truly handmade approach, not just something that you can cut out to follow instructions. For instance, even with some basic macrame tips for beginners, you can start to make accessories that can make use of fabrics of all manner of colors and designs. Taking up a decor hobby that allows for some versatility will always be a great way to inject a space with personal style.
Zone your home to your needs
Nowadays, the mode of thinking that separates homes by rooms alone is getting a little outdated. Especially if you’re living in your space alone or you’re the one who primarily uses the various spaces, you’re more likely to find that you use spaces for different activities. As such, you should customize these spaces to fit these purposes. Are you in need of a space that can act as a home office to help you get your work done? Is a reading nook the perfect thing to help you relax in the evening? Perhaps a zen meditation zone is just what your home has been lacking. Zone your home to your needs to ensure it meets practical, and not just decor, needs.
Keep practicality in mind
While all of the tips above can ensure that you’re able to express yourself every bit as much as you like, you should also keep in mind that the living space still needs to be a space that you can live in. You want it to remain functional, practical, and comfortable. As such, you might want to avoid cluttering any given space with so much that you can’t relax in it, and you don’t want to focus on decorative elements so much that you lack the practical spaces for work, meal prep, places to get dressed, and so on. Don’t forget your needs.
The above ideas are not an exhaustive list of ways you can really put yourself into your own decor, but they should definitely offer an idea of how you can get started and hopefully will inspire some creative decor ideas of your own.
