Styling Basics: 8 Favorite Accessories to Finish Your Space

What provides a space that look? The key lies in the use of a favorite accessories. These are the types of items that decorators and stylists reach for again and again. Read up on eight of the top accessories to give your space polish, along with foolproof combinations you can use with confidence.

Kerrisdale Design Inc

1. Books. Books instantly warm up and customize a room. If your surface is crying out for many interest, consider adding a pile of books — or only one great big coffee table book. If the dust jacket is too active or has colors that clash with your decor, eliminate it.

Urrutia Design

Foolproof combo: Books + tiny products. Probably the quickest and easiest way to style a table is with a pile of a couple of novels, topped with a trio of little objects. Keep in mind that they should not be overly fussy or heavy, otherwise actually reading the novels will become impossible!

Corynne Pless

Foolproof combo: Bookcase + color-coded publications. Designers have been organizing books by color for a fun and quirky approach to style a bookcase for a few decades now, occasionally to the terror of book fans. Try that. You may be amazed at how easily you remember where a particular novel is based on the color of its cover.

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2. Small items. A favorite of decorators the world over — and the bane of organizers and neatniks, little decorative items should be utilised in moderation. Choose pieces you love because of their aesthetic value, since they have significance for you and since they serve a beneficial function.

Kerrisdale Design Inc

Foolproof combo: Small objects in a bowl. Give small items, like seashells, balls or river stones, more presence by putting them into a bowl. You most likely don’t need to buy a bowl — only look in your kitchen cabinets or china hutch for something you are not using.

Dana Frieling Interiors

3. Plants. For me, an area doesn’t feel finished with no living plant. There’s something welcoming and buoyant about an energetic green-leafed plant which makes a space feel like home. Read up on houseplants and select plants that will succeed in the mild conditions of your room for the very best outcomes.

Foolproof combo: Fiddle leaf fig tree + jar. A decorator favored, the fiddle leaf fig comes with an elegant form and big, luxurious leaves. The texture of a woven basket makes a fantastic pairing with this tree — put a pot and saucer inside the basket, and then enhance it up on a vacant kettle if you want to fake a taller look.

Dufner Heighes Inc

4. Bookends. Beautiful and sculptural, consider bookends as little works of art you can use. Put a set on your dresser, kitchen counter or in the nursery.

Foolproof combo: Credenza + bookends + novels + lamp. Design a credenza from the dining or living area with a table lamp and a tiny choice of books sandwiched between bookends. Arrangements usually look best in odd-numbered groups, so try adding a third item, like a clock tray, to complete the look.

Martha O’Hara Interiors

5. Chunky items. Too many tiny items may look fussy and cluttered. Ground your arrangements and make a bold statement with a big chunky vase, jar or basket.

Favreau Design

Foolproof combo: Chunky basket + wood. Stock up on firewood and also fill a bare corner with this favorite decorator finishing touch. Select a big, hefty basket having a strong shape, and then fill it to almost brimming over with chopped firewood.

Lynn Kloythanomsup

6. Picture frames. Statement art has its own place, however a few smaller photographs and bits of art go a long way toward making a home feel comfortable and private. Remember, you don’t need to keep every little image on display in any respect times — rotate, rotate, rotate! Store what isn’t currently being used in a drawer and pull out fresh pieces when you get bored.

Foolproof combo: Picture rail + tiny frames. Feeling a little cautious about performing a full gallery wall? Get your feet wet with a simple image railroad. No matter what you set on it, it’s bound to look great … and you can change it on a whim.

7. Trays. There isn’t a space in the home that could not make good use of a tray. Try one on your bedside table, in the kitchen corralling the spices, in the bathroom for toiletries, in the entry for mail or on your coffee table to get books and candles.

Foolproof combo: Tray + novels + small, medium and tall items.
Start with a little pile of books on your tray. Put a small object (the size of a big seashell) on top. Next to the novels, put a medium and a tall thing, like a medium-sized candle along with a tall vase with flowers.

Cynthia Lynn Photography

8. Tall objects. Tall objects are a home stylist’s key weapon. They could draw attention away from something gruesome (like the TV) and fill visual openings, like that space between your bedside table along with the peak of your headboard. Try a tall, narrow vase filled with flowering branches, a potted topiary or tall candlesticks.

Foolproof combo: TV + art + tall thing. Draw the eye away in the big black box by hanging art on the wall around and over it. Complete the job by putting a nice tall decorative item to one side of the TV.

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