Beginner Decorator Design 101: How to Style Your Home with Everyday Items

Ladies,

Homemakers are the manager of the home, and one of the most important parts she manages is the decor. People think of decor as being add-ons, extras, froofy, maybe just optional. Decor is not optional. Decorating is not just a hobby. Decorating is a part of the home, and it is a part of the homemaker’s job. Decor is already happening in your home. Everything that needs to be in the home is a decor item. Can you see it? That’s a part of your decor! Being the manager of the home means assessing these items to make them as beautiful as possible.

The sunrise and sunset could have been dull and the earth would still rotate around the sun. But God designed beauty into the very fiber of functionality. Bees need the nectar, but they are attracted to the flowers because of the color. Beauty is a signal; it is used in the process of making things happen. We cannot separate it out and call it frivolous when it is the very mode of operation. We cannot dismiss the value of beauty when we experience God’s glory in a sunrise or sunset.

People pay good money to experience the beauty of a luxury hotel. The homemaker is designing this beauty for her home that they pay to use every day.

Like a hotel, a home has to have certain items to function such as towels, dishes, blankets, etc. Here we have an opportunity to make these necessary items, beautiful items. If you have struggled to decorate, start with your essential items and make these items pretty! Look at all the decor items that are necessary items:

1) Window treatments to fully block light for sleep.

2) Lighting to see the room – can it get any more basic that this? We need lights placed strategically to read and to just see each other!

3) Beds require bedding to keep us warm and beds are a large portion of the look of the room.

4) Bathmats, towels, soap dispensers. These items have to be there, so they might as well be the best-looking version of that item.

5) Dishes, towels, and silverware can be a lovely visual aspect of the kitchen and dining room.

Make these items pretty!

1) Window treatments

Buy large rods rather than flimsy small ones – they give presence and structure to the window. Hang rods 4-6 inches above the window never right on top! Buy curtains that touch or puddle on the floor – longer length looks higher end and elegant. Consider curtain tie backs for a feminine classic window treatment.

2) Lamps

Whether bedside tables, side tables for sofas and chairs, or even miniature lamps for countertops in the kitchen and bathrooms for special ambiance, there are beautiful lamps at thrift shops. Aim to add 2-3 lamps to large rooms such as the living room, bedrooms, dining room, etc. Placing lamps around the room enables you to turn off overhead lights for softer indirect light. Lamps give style, ambiance, and necessary lighting.

3) Bedding

Go bigger on everything. Have a queen bed? Use king size toppers. Get fluffy quilts, things that look poofy make the bed look softer and more inviting. Use pillows that fill out the pillowcases and shams so that they look full. Wilty thin pillows degrade the look of a bed. Use at the very least 24×24 size throw pillows for a couple big ones, then maybe something a bit smaller in front but nothing small. Small decor pillows make a bed look less comfortable, less regal, less styled. Fill out the look of the bedding and it will look cozy and plush.

4) Towels

First of all, buy all matching towels, not a mish mash of different colors and textures. Light colored towels are nice because you can bleach them, and neutral colors tend to look higher end. Buy enough to have extra towels folded or rolled in a visible location for “decor” like on a shelf, in a towel rack on the wall, in a basket, etc. Having them visible is also helpful to guests who may need a towel.

5) Dishes

Buy a beautiful dish set that makes your heart sing. It can be floral, embossed, antique looking, colorful….just love it enough to be excited to use them every day.

Now that your everyday essential items are beautiful, you can add to it more decor that is less “essential”.

But did you ever ask what the point of a vase of flowers is on the table? Or did you just admire it? Did it just uplift the tone of the room? Did it just make you smile? That is a form of “essential”.

You make known to me the path of life;
    in your presence there is fullness of joy;
    at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

Psalm 16:11

Happy Homemaking!