All women love jewelry, right? Well, accessories are just like jewelry for our homes! Often times, clients call me and say, “Lauren, help! I have my big pieces…sofa, chairs, occasional tables but the room just does not feel finished.” In other words, it is my job to pull the room together; find the earrings, necklace and scarf that will complete the ensemble. Sometimes the accessories can be the most difficult part of the design process for my clients to visualize. Some general rules of thumb are: think in odd numbers, scale, scale, scale, and color and texture--think pop!
First, our brains want us to decorate very symmetrically. Sometimes symmetrical is okay but often times not in accessorizing. For example, when placing candlesticks, think about using three instead of two. Using odd numbers, 1, 3 or 5, provides visual interest for our eyes to be drawn from one object to the next as opposed to boring our minds with matching sets of objects.
Another example of smart styling uses scale to create a unique display. When accessorizing a bookshelf or entertainment center, try to place objects of different shapes and sizes together to create an interesting arrangement. You may want to combine picture frames of different sizes or stack one frame on top of a book to give it more height than its companion frame. Just like placing objects in odd numbers creates visual interest, so does arranging items of different heights, widths, and diameters together. A large beautiful mirror could be framed by two sconces on either side. The smaller scale of the sconces will allow the gorgeous mirror to pop in the room and be automatically noticed. Think about your sofa, ideally, your pillows are arranged so that you have a couple of varying sizes and shapes. A unique pillow arrangement can also make a bed look full and luxurious and styled just right.
The last element to accessorizing is color and texture. Remember those pillows we just placed? Well the fabrics that they are in are just as important as their size and shape. Varying the textures of the fabrics as well as the prints and colors will provide the wow factor in a room and can serve as the thread that ties everything together. If you have a neutral palette in a room but want to warm up the space a bit, bring in a bold color in items such as pillows, a snazzy ceramic jar or a large bowl on the coffee table. Repeating the pop of color in a few elements helps the plan to make sense. If you have a room with bold colors, try using accessories with more neutral tones. For example, an ivory throw on a chocolate sofa would lighten up an otherwise heavy piece.
When planning a whole room design, I always make sure to leave room in the budget for accessories. Once the large pieces of a room are in place, the necessary accessories become more visible. Therefore, they are the last pieces to go in a room to add the finishing touches and to give the room a cohesive and finished look. Although small, accessories can be difficult to place yet crucial to the design plan. Remember to consider your color scheme, size and scale, and truly force yourself to push the envelope and bring in pieces in odd numbers. Allow yourself to have statement pieces such as a wow mirror or a large ceramic artichoke or lamp that screams unique find! Play around with your existing pieces and let your creativity flow! And don’t forget, accessories are like jewelry, sometimes you just have to splurge on that perfect piece.
