Room Styling Tips & Tricks

Designed by Tamara Heather Interior Design

Styling secrets I’ve learned as an interior designer

You might think that as an interior designer, knowing how to style a space must have been an inborn talent. Or at the very least, a skill I learned in design school. But nope. No coursework in table-scapes or throw pillow chopping was offered by my design program. Everything I know about styling comes from observation and practice, practice, practice, practice. I style my client’s homes, I style my own home, and through the sheer act of doing it a ton I have gleaned some insights into the why’s and how’s of it all.

What exactly is styling and how is it different from interior design? While it’s existed forever, styling really became mainstream over the past decade or so. Probably in line with the ascendance of Instagram and the hyperattention put on curating beautiful photos and unattainably perfect looking lives. If I were to put it in food terms, interior design is the recipe and the ingredients and how those ingredients combine together into a delicious healthy meal. Styling is the serving dish and the sprinkle of edible flowers or the artful swirl of sauce across the plate. They’re both important to the overall enjoyment of the food, but it’s the styling that makes the meal feel distinctive, memorable and unique. By a similar token, interior design focuses on making spaces livable, comfortable, functional, healthy and cohesive. Styling is about telling a story and creating an emotional effect with the space.

If you’ve ever taken a photo of your own perfectly nice home and wondered why it doesn’t look like a magazine or Instagram photo, at least 90% of the reason is probably styling. And that’s ok. You don’t have to have a styled space. You can live a completely fulfilled and happy life without styling your home one little bit. This blog is for anyone who is interested in styling their home but finds the prospect overwhelming or is not sure where to start.

Once you’ve picked your area to style, gather up a variety of objects from your home that could be used to decorate that area. I encourage shopping from existing possessions first, rather than feeling the need to buy new things. You may decide ultimately you would like to add a new purchase or two which is fine, but let it be a decision made with intention. Here are some common household items that are great to use as styling elements:

• Mirrors
• Plants, real or artificial
• Boxes are great for filling spaces and can be a backdrop for smaller items. Plain boxes may also be covered in attractive paper
• Clocks
• Candles and candle holders
• Plates and dishes, stacked or upright in a stand
• Childrens’ artwork, paintings or sculptures
• Travel mementos
• Collections of any kind

Designed by Tamara Heather Interior Design

As you work to style your area, just feel free to play. Try different combinations and placements of objects. Put new things in, take something out. Often, less is more. It usually takes me several iterations and edits before I arrive at a grouping I like. Here are some rules of thumb I’ve developed over the years of styling my own and client’s spaces:

1. Every space needs some green. Whether it’s a potted plant, tree, or flower arrangement, every space and every sub-space (shelf, nook) will look brighter and livelier with greenery. As someone not born with a green thumb, I am a huge fan of fake plants. Unpopular opinion, I know. But the truth is that if it doesn’t woof or meow, I have no idea what to do with it. So I like my plants to be of the artificial variety, which only require an occasional dusting and also will not barf up a hairball at 3 am. This is the easiest styling tip I can offer: go buy a little fake plant (a real one if you must) and put it on the bookshelf or on top of the console table. Easy peasy!

 2. Stick to three to four colors. When arranging objects into a group, let’s say on a set of shelves, pick out 3-4 dominant colors and repeat those same colors throughout your arrangement. They don’t have to MATCH, just be sort of in the vicinity color-wise. This is the easiest way to make a styled group feel cohesive. Groupings with more than 4 colors can work, it’s just a bit trickier to pull off.

This photo shows some built-in shelving in my own home, which I recently re-styled for summer. I chose teal, green, black and yellow as the dominant colors. Note: no plants were harmed in the styling of this space.

3. Group little collections together. If you have a collection of smallish items such as antique buttons, trading cards or action figures, they will have the most impact as a group rather than scattered about. You can display such collections in a shadowbox frame, on a tray, in a bowl, or whatever format makes sense. There is a scene from the movie Misery that lives in my head rent free and that is the scene with all the tiny ceramic animal figurines on the tabletop. [The penguin always faces due south!] OK, it probably was a metaphor for some kind of psychosis, but that collection and the way it was arranged was so intriguing! I love the story it tells about the character. Whatever you collect tells a story about you, so it’s a great thing to include in your space as a featured styling element.

Designed by Tamara Heather Interior Design

 4. Combine warm + cold materials. When choosing objects to style together in a group, try to include ones that have a warm feeling with ones that have a cool feeling. This will help create balance and textural interest. Cool materials are glass, ceramic, marble, metals, and most shiny things. Warm materials are wood, paper, fabric, leather, plants, terracotta and most rough, dull or textured items. For example, glass + wood + gold metallic. Or paper + plants + ceramic. I also use the warm + cold rule when pairing a table lamp with a table. I like the balance and contrast of a wood lamp on a metal table, or a glass lamp on a wood table, for example.

The photo above shows a living room I designed for a client (styled at the holidays). There’s a good balance of earthy brown wood and more rustic items, with shiny silver and glass.

5. Large groups need duplicates. For large groups of styled items such as a bookshelf with more than a dozen objects, repetition is key to creating order. Pick one or two basic items to repeat, for example potted succulents, or linen covered boxes, or woven baskets, and sprinkle them throughout the whole arrangement. How many you need depends on the size of the overall group, but let’s say at least 3.

This photo shows my client’s living room built-ins, which I styled for her. I used several sets of decorative books as a repeated item. This helps the special art and collectibles stand out more and really shine.

6. Make a triangle. When styling a tabletop or shelf, select objects that have enough difference in height so that as a group they make a triangle shape. Any kind of triangle – isosceles, right triangle, equilateral, all good! No need for the Pythagorean Theorem. The point is that you have a dominant object that has focus, flanked by smaller objects that balance it out. You may have many smaller triangle groups on a bookshelf, or just one larger one on a nightstand.

7. Add lighting. If your styled area doesn’t already include a lamp or is not lit by a direct overhead light, adding lighting can make a world of difference. I love to use fairy lights, small plug-in or battery powered lamps, or tape/rope light to illuminate the area.

8. Leave some open space. Avoid cramming too much into the area you’re styling. It’s important to give the items room to breathe, and allow the eye to rest. This is not a hard and fast rule, but I generally aim for about 30-50% open. The one exception might be a bookcase filled with books, but even then I would still leave some open areas for visual rest.

Styling your home is a wonderful way to make it feel more personal, homey and more like “you”. I also think it’s a great opportunity to cycle different items in and out of display. I really enjoy swapping things out seasonally, which makes my home feel regularly refreshed. I hope these tips help if you decide to give styling your own home a try. Have fun, get creative and enjoy the process!