While I'm on a home decor kick, I wanted to share a few of the ways we've truly taken our home decor to the next level. I'm not talking about just adding a plant in the corner of your living room--I'm talking about ten things you can do throughout your home to take your home decor up a notch. I hope these ten tips help you as you are decorating your home!
Upgrade your light fixtures //
The key to upgrading your light fixtures is to ensure that they match throughout your home. You want your house to flow from entryway to the kitchen and even in your bedrooms. In my office, I opted for a gold light fixture versus black fixtures that are in our entire house but still flows, because it's a similar shape/design.
I found most of our light fixtures on Wayfair and would open tabs next to each other or put them in my cart so that I could see them all at once to make sure they'd flow together. If you're as much of a home decor lover like I am, I made a vision board with the light fixtures, rugs, and main furniture pieces to see how everything would flow together.
Add contrast //
All-white home decor is out. I thought I always wanted an all-white house, because I love everything clean and farmhousey. However, to keep an all-white house clean is quite hilarious actually. So, over the past couple of years, especially after Chris and I got married and started to find our home decor style. We began by first adding in grays, and then navy, and now we've painted our family room a super dark navy, and I'm obsessed.
Contrast when done right helps add a little more depth to your home decor. Start by adding in little pops of blacks or navy. We added contrast with black hardware on our white cabinets, black curtain rods and light fixtures against our creamy walls, and added a pop of color in our dining room with a vintage Coke bottle blue clock as the focal piece.
Upgrade your furniture //
It's time to move on from your college dorm room furniture or heck, even your first apartment furniture. We've replaced our master bed and spare bed with new ones that aren't from IKEA, upgraded our couch, and even got new bedside tables over the past few months.
The key to upgrading your furniture is to choose things that will last and be timeless. You want to purchase key pieces that are high-quality, too. We've waited and upgrading things in phases, because trust me, it's a little costly, but if you save up and upgrade room by room, it makes such a huge impact in your home.
Refurnishing your home doesn't happen overnight unless you drown yourself in debt (which I don't recommend at all) so take it slow, and upgrade where you need it the most.
Change out cabinet & drawer hardware //
I talked a little bit about it here, and one of the easiest ways to upgrade your kitchen & bathrooms is to update the hardware! Amazon seriously has some of the best hardware, and it's very affordable. We changed out the builder grade silver hardware for matte black, and I never thought that a $30 set of hardware would change my life. haha!
Changing out the hardware can add contrast, update outdated styles, or add a much-needed function if you didn't have pulls before! In our bathrooms, we only had knobs, but we added the same cabinet pulls that we have in our kitchen in our bathroom, and it instantly made our bathroom look a little more luxurious.
Add accent rugs //
Not only are accent rugs gorgeous and add your sense of style in a space, but they also help designate spaces throughout your home. Our main level has our living room, kitchen, and dining room, plus a little nook, so it could be very easy for the different spaces to blend together in an unorganized fashion.
By adding an accent rug in our living room and dining room to help ground those rooms. In our nook, I added a small faux fur rug to make it an inviting and cozy space. Our kitchen is an L-shape, so it kind of grounds itself, but it never hurts to add an accent runner!
The best advice that I can give when choosing your accent rugs other than making sure they're all going to match and flow throughout your home, is to check the product details and look at the pile. In your living room, you can totally do a cozier, higher pile rug if you choose to, but in the dining room, be careful with the texture--especially for cleaning purposes. We opted to do a jute rug to make it easier to clean if food were to fall on it.
In the bedrooms and entryway, keep an eye on your doorways, because if it's too high of a pile, your door won't open or close. Last tips, but if you have hardwood floors, make sure you invest in rug pads so they don't slip!
Replace posters with framed art & photos //
Okay peeps, it's time to take down any and all posters you have taped to your walls and replace them with framed art and beautiful photos with mattes. If you have to have posters on the wall, be sure to frame them to give them an elevated look.
I love, love the way mattes look in frames and love these ones from Target! The way the black frame and white matte contrasts on our walls is simply stunning in our dining room.
Hang your curtains high //
Hang your curtains high and immediately watch your walls look taller and the room look bigger. When we hung our curtains, I was amazed at how luxurious they made our home feel.
A little hanging tip, I hung it about halfway from the top of the ceiling to the top of the window and put the bracket out about 3 inches from the window. I didn't want them all the way up to the ceiling, but close enough so it elongated our wall.
The only place we hung a curtain that I didn't use that measuring technique was on our sliding glass door on the main level because we have 9' ceilings. The curtain would have been way too high, so I put it at a visually appealing and symmetrical height. I matched it to the top of other decor in the space to help with the flow in the room.
Use the same color temperature in your lightbulbs //
Whatever you do, make sure that every lightbulb in your home is the same color temperature. The color temperature is the color that it glows. When Chris and I go into people's homes or even to retail stores, sometimes they'll have different hued lightbulbs throughout, and it gives us an instant headache. Be mindful of this when choosing your lightbulbs. Our personal favorite is Soft White 2700K.
Keep a consistent & cohesive style //
Consistency is key to creating a beautiful space. From the colors you choose to the textures, you want them to flow from room to room. On our lower level in the family room, we have whites, dark navy, and brown tones, and as you go up each floor, it gets lighter and lighter, however, the theme and color palette still stays the same. Think of it as looking at a paint swatch. You can still choose different colors, just choose cohesive colors. When in doubt, stick with neutrals and add in slight pops of color.
Choosing a style to carry throughout your entire home can be hard--trust me. When we first started designing our home, I thought I wanted everything to be super farmhousey, and that's just not the case anymore. Though we still love the farmhouse look, we've mixed it with a mid-century modern twist.
Sometimes it takes a little bit to learn your style, but once you do, it's a beautiful thing. If you ever need inspiration, scroll through home decor feeds on Instagram or scroll through Pinterest. I am always on Pinterest looking for new ways to style rooms and looking for ideas on furniture options.
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Purge & remember less is more //
I've lost count of how many carloads we've brought to the donation center and how many bulk trash days we've taken advantage of since we've moved. The key is to purge anything and everything you're not in love with or do not have a sentimental attachment to.
When trying to purge your home, I suggest going room by room. Start in the closet or cabinets and go from there. When we purged our garage, we filled my husband's car up and a few garbage loads, too. If you're not using it or don't need it, chances are, someone else needs is. Less is more, my friends.
Cheers to a beautiful home!
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