When it comes to styling a space, the key to making it feel warm and inviting is depth. It’s about mixing layers of textures and items to really pull a room together. It’s about grouping display items together to create interest, and picking the right colour palette.
For instance, most people layer their bed. You’ll pick the perfect sheets, the perfect doona and then you’ll pick about 10 throw cushions to pop on top (which I’m sure the husband loves having to take off each night!). The key here is finding the right mix of textures in order for them all to work cohesively; and the best way to really ensure that is to pick a particular shade and mix up the cushions by having details and interest, even by changing up the fabrics you pick. Linens work well against delicate woollen cushions, and you can enliven it with soft velvets. By adding interest in the cushions, you can keep the bedding neutral and let the detail in the cushions take the stage. Add a lush throw and you’ve successfully layered your bed!
THE PHOTO WALL
When thinking about layering, take a step back and think about something as simple as a photo wall. You can find so many beautiful frames for your family snaps that layering and building on this is so simple. Decide how you’d like your photo wall to be. Would you like it to be a single, symmetrical line? Or what about mix of shapes and sizes (this is how I’ve styled mine), or perhaps even a uniformed grid? Whatever you’d like to do with it, you can mix this up by having frames of the same colour. Be sure to play around with different frame styles, such as some with simple mounting boards and some without. You can pick a solid frame, a delicate frame, a frame that is intricately sculpted. By keeping this consistent, it allows you to then add a little interest to what can sometimes feel like a dead space. Often these are done in hallways, which allows visitors to stop and take notice, to give them something to look at as they pass through.
HOMEWARES
Everyone has pieces in their living rooms on cabinets, on sideboards in their dining room, on bookcases in their office, little trinkets that can be keepsakes from travels or simply beautiful pieces they picked up while wandering through the shops. It’s so simple to layer these without it looking cluttered. In same cases, more works better grouped together. To get this right, it’s best to play around with heights. Colours are also important here. You need colours that work harmoniously together and don’t jar the eye. When grouping, you need to allow somewhere for the eye to rest and take on what you’ve got happening.
For instance, I’ve found a galvanised tray large enough to hold a water pitcher I’m using as a vase, a small glass jar I’ve also used as a vase and my fav candle sits in front of these, alongside a timber Kiwi bird I picked up in Auckland. The colours are white, yellow and black but they work together. My eye as time to rest and take it and nothing clashes. This sits on one side of my sideboard which means I can still use the rest of it for anything I am serving in the dining room if we have people over for dinner.
By doing these simple little tricks, you’ll find that there is so much in your home that you can layer, things you wouldn’t have ever thought about layering before. It also gives you a nice excuse to do a little shopping for some key pieces, and who doesn’t love that?