Text by Nancy Johnston
Have you seen the show on television where someone is trying to sell their house but can’t generate any interest at all until a professional interior designer and his team show up? They remove the clutter and bric-a-brac, move around the artwork, accessorize, and do a little painting and a little furniture rearranging and then almost immediately after, the place sells. And why wouldn’t it be easier to sell after seeing the dramatic transformations that the right accessories in the right places can accomplish? Don’t we all want our homes to look and feel as visually appealing and comfortable as possible for our own personal enjoyment? Then why wait until you are selling your home to make it a real showstopper?
What really sets your home apart from everyone else’s is the atmosphere you create inside. And that’s where accessorizing comes into play. Accessories are what turn a house into a home. They bring unity to your design, theme, mood or color scheme. Whether you are looking to refresh existing furnishings or do a complete room or home makeover, accessorizing is your answer.
Hiring a professional interior designer is your best course of action if you want a whole home makeover. Their expertise in staging and access to quality accessories is unparalleled. When hiring a designer makes sure you choose someone who understands your tastes and personal style since you are the one who will have to live with and (hopefully) enjoy the results.
If you want to do it yourself there are several important points to keep in mind. Pick a focal point for each room, whether it is an existing room feature such as a fireplace or a large bay window, or something in the room such as artwork or a piece of furniture. Take everything away that distracts from your focal point. Then slowly add accessories that complement or lead your eye towards it. Remember the first rule of accessorizing: all accessories must coordinate with the theme, style or mood and color scheme of the room. You wouldn’t mix traditional gold frames with western clay pots and so on. Once you decide on your theme stick with it and use accessories to enhance it. Your color scheme should be carried throughout the house and continue right into your accessories in places such as the matting and framing of artwork, lighting bases, floral arrangements, candles and bedding.
Some easy ways to accessorize are with custom flower arrangements, large impressive pieces that repeat your theme such as plates, vases, sculptures, pots or boxes. Lighting, used either discreetly or dramatically depending on the effect you are trying to achieve, is very important when it comes to adding atmosphere. Frames and books can also be used to accessorize and can be less expensive than some of your other options. Keep in mind more is not necessarily better so don’t let the accessories overpower your focal point.
Accessories are the best way to make dramatic changes without changing much at all!
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