For those who are new to Diva by Design and my blog “The Diva’s Home”, welcome! Today is an exciting day for me because I have rented booth space in a new Antique and Collectibles shop in downtown Harlingen called 4 Ever Memories. Lately, I have been showing at Jackson Street Market Days in Harlingen on the first Saturday of each month. It’s fun and I get to meet people in person to let them know about my interior decorating business as well as my vintage home decor finds.
Each month I have more and more people asking me if I have a shop of my own. While I am not to that point yet, I decided to rent a small space so that you can find me in person and not just online. If you’re in the neighborhood, why not go by and visit? The shop’s Grand Opening is today!
How to Add Height to Your Home Accessories
You can get some good ideas on how to place accessories in your home from retail stores. When you purchase accessories for your home, buy things in different sizes. If you find that you have lots of things that are small, they can get lost in the crowd. If that’s all you have at the moment, you can solve the problem with the tip below.
One of the biggest secrets to placing accessories like a pro is to use “lifts and levels”. Remember Christopher Lowell? He says that all the time. It’s a good way to incorporate height in your display when you have lots of small items. Notice how I have used the bamboo stool to add height here:
Not only have I used the bamboo stool, but I also have the white terracotta stand to add a middle height to the display. Notice the tall floral arrangement and how it bridges the gap between the tabletop and the memo board hanging behind it. It overlaps, but doesn’t hide the piece and brings it into the arrangement on the table.
The bamboo stool with the glass tray does the same thing for the framed needlepoint on the other side. And in the middle is the other stand to give a better view of small items. High, middle, and low. The height lends importance and interest to the grouping of objects and helps the eye travel over the display.
How to Use Odd Numbers in Your Home Accessory Display
You can see how I used odd numbers in the display above. One large floral arrangement, three objects on the “wall”, five things on top of the bamboo stool, etc. Not every grouping has an odd number. It’s a guide and not a rule. Though you can call it a rule since breaking them is okay when you need to! You could say that they tray with the small frames is an even-numbered group because there are seven frames and one tray to make eight. Or you could say that the frames themselves make an odd-numbered group. Either way works.
The reason to group your things in odd numbers is because it ends up to be more aesthetically pleasing. If that sounds too much like a “snooty designer” way of putting it, just say it usually looks better that way. đ
How to Accessorize by Color in Your HomeÂ
You can group like items, collections, or group your things according to color. Here, I used color. My basic palette is pink, burlap tan, and gold. Yes, there is some silver and white thrown in, but I started with pink. The silk roses, cylindrical vase, Depression Glass trays, and the small bottle. I love the look of pink and gold so I added the brass candlesticks, the gold birds, the urn, and the other brass items on the table. The burlap and the bamboo serve as a neutral to ground the whole display.
The one thing I haven’t mentioned is how I used color to move the eye. Take the wall. The framed needlepoint has all the colors used in the display. So the pink starts on the wall, moves to the tray on the bamboo stand, down to the silk roses and glass, and next to the gravy boat, tea towel, and second glass tray on the table itself.
Then the shine of the brass. The mirror on the wall isn’t brass, but it does shine. Then the candlesticks on the stool, the large floral arrangement, the birds, and the brass items on the table. As for the tan, you guessed it! It’s in the memo board and the needlepoint, the floral arrangement and in the stone. You don’t have to have each color everywhere you look. just enough to pull it all together.
If you would like help pulling accessories together in your own home, my Frazzled to Dazzled service is just the thing. You don’t even have to live nearby to work together! Just click on “frazzled” to check it out!
The Diva's Home 