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| DESIGN TIP - Cherry Yount |
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Accessorizing Quick Tips
I’ve just started a decorating project in my own home, and as I sit here looking at my mantel I realize what a real dilemma it can be for most people to accessorize their homes. Accessories are a powerful tool for making your home look and feel warm and inviting. They are also how you inject the final element of personality into your space. There are three basic principles in accessorizing your space. First, start with the walls. Walls define a room’s space. Dressing the wall with accessories brings the room to life and defines its character. There is so much to choose from – framed art, plates, wall vases, baskets, sconces, iron grills, and even decorative shelves can bring dimension to your walls. One point to keep in mind is to make sure the wall art is in proportion to the space in both actual size and visual weight. A good rule of thumb is to fill 3/5 of the space. For example if you are accessorizing your mantel, start with measuring the width of the mantel and the distance from the top of the mantel to the ceiling. A single piece of art should take up 3/5 of the space. Artwork should not be centered in the vertical space, but rather mounted about 4” above the mantel. Visual weight is the strength of color and variety of elements in the wall composition that create balance and give the space a sense of completeness. In addition to the single piece of art, add groupings of objects on either side to give the space visual balance. Next, bring your personality into the room with signature accessories. These are objects that help to tell a story. Photographs are a favorite because they clearly show people what you’re about and the important times of your life. Anything that delights your eye can become a signature accessory from collectibles, figurines, art objects to your personal treasures. I’ve talked about creating rhythm in your room. Your eye takes in a room at a pace dictated by the objects on display; this pace is called visual rhythm. Just like the notes on a sheet of music, rhythm gets your eyes to move up and down as you look around the room. Rhythmic displays require repetition, which sets the eye in motion, and contrast, which is like the starts and stops of a catchy beat. But just like the flow of a beautiful concerto, there needs to be a pause or a place to rest your eye. To avoid the “lost in space” effect, create a path that the eye can follow from the height of the wall to a resting point near the floor. For example, ground a vertical arrangement of platters above a table and add plants on the floor so your eye starts at the floor and follows the furniture up to the wall display and back down again. The third step in accessorizing is to bring the room to life and soften the hard lines by adding flowers and plants. You don’t need a lot of these to benefit from their effect. Silk arrangements are a practical solution for those who don’t have a garden or don’t have the time to care for indoor plants. But if you do have fresh flowers, by all means display and enjoy them not only for their beauty but also for their fragrance. I hope you will be inspired to put these elements to work in your home and create an environment that appeals to the senses on all levels.
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