Choosing The Perfect Home Accessories

Once you move into a beautiful home at a Trilogy® community or elsewhere, the real fun begins! But for many of us, decorating and accessorizing a home is a little bit daunting. With so many fabulous rooms to outfit, the pressure is on to make your home feel inviting but not over the top, homey but not cluttered. If you’ve toured through some of the gorgeous model homes at Trilogy, you have seen firsthand how the right rug can bring warmth to a room and how the perfect piece of artwork makes you feel inspired and right at home.

So, how do you choose the right pieces to accent and beautify your home? Here are several tips:

Lead with color. Consider each room an empty canvas! Pick a color or two and begin thinking about places to add pops of that color. You might choose neutral-colored furniture and spice things up with a rug, pillows, throw blankets, and grouped vases. A color “theme” helps prevent a room from feeling haphazard and gives you a starting point when choosing new things to swap out.

Less is more. A vast built-in bookshelf or a kitchen with nothing on the countertops offer lots of space to fill, but it’s easy to overdo it if you’re not careful. Remember the beauty of blank, simple spaces and that you do not have to fill a mantle entirely with every knick-knack in your collection for it to catch the eye.

Begin with the most-lived-in spaces. Often, it’s easiest to start with a room where you spend a lot of time like the kitchen or great room. This can set the stage for the rest of the house and give you inspiration in terms of textures and colors to carry throughout the rest of the home, particularly if you have an open-concept layout.

When in doubt, stick with the basics. If you’re not sure where to start in terms of decorating your space, there are plenty of accessories that make a statement and don’t require you to go foraging for unique objects. Think rugs, pillows, cushions, throws, vases, floor and table lamps, mirrors, and framed photos. As you get more confident in your abilities to vision a space, get creative with pieces like baskets, candleholders, botanicals like twigs and florals, and interesting wall art.

Choose the right-sized wall art. Blank walls can make a house feel cold and empty, but if you’re going to choose wall art, be sure you pick the right sizes.

• Wall art above a mantel looks best when it is around the same size width as the fireplace opening and leaves enough room underneath it for you to place items on the mantel itself, like candleholders or vases.
• Got a long hallway or big, blank wall? A gallery wall is a great way to combine family photos and small mirrors and art.
• When it comes to other spots like a wall above your couch, choose art that doesn’t completely overwhelm (spanning no longer than two-thirds the length of the sofa).

Accessories are one of the least expensive ways to bring the rooms of your home to life, so the good news is you can easily experiment a little from season to season. The bottom line: it’s your living space and must feel homey and authentically you. Choose items that speak to you and make you feel happy. And don’t be afraid to try new things from time to time. Your art, accessories, and décor, after all, can define your home as much as its layout!