- Tips for Decorating with Rugs
- Tips for Decorating with Wall Art
- Tips for Decorating with Lamps
- Tips for Decorating with Mirrors
- Decorating with Bookcases
- Decorating with Accent Furniture
Want to take your home décor to the next level? You don’t need to be a professional designer to create a stylish new look for your home. In fact, with these interior decorating tips from the design experts at Star Furniture & Mattress, you can create the home of your dreams using popular home décor items like rugs, mirrors, wall art, and accent furniture.
Tips for Decorating with Rugs
The right rug can anchor a room, add decorative interest, serve as a focal point, provide warmth, and break up a room into designated zones. Not only can rugs provide texture, contrast, color, and pattern to your floor, but they also create a frame to guide your furniture arrangement. These area rug tips can help you use stylish area rugs to create a unique look that is sure to wow your guests.
Use Area Rugs to Create Distinct Zones
This area rug tip is especially helpful if you’re decorating a large living room or have an open floor plan. Think about how each area of the room will be used, and then use a rug to help distinguish the different areas from each other. If, for example, your living room and dining room are not separated by walls, you can utilize a rug in each area to help visually separate the areas. Not sure how to separate your room? Think about function! If a certain area has a different function than another area, then it could make sense to separate the areas using rugs, different furniture arrangements, or even wall dividers.
Choose the Right Size Rug
One question we get asked all the time is how to choose the right rug size for your room. While rug size isn’t fixed, you should consider the furniture and the walls when choosing a rug. In terms of the room’s walls, we recommend an 8- to 12-inch border between the rug and the walls so the room doesn’t feel overcrowded. In terms of the furniture, it depends on the room. Here’s how to choose the right rug size, based on the room you’re shopping for.
Dining Room Rug Size
A dining room rug should accommodate all of the dining chairs, not just when they’re pushed in, but when they’re being used as well. Otherwise, you could run into a situation where a guests’ chair is half on and half off the rug.
Bedroom Rug Size
A bedroom rug should frame your bed symmetrically, with the same amount of rug sticking out on both sides. If you’re looking for a larger bedroom rug, try choosing a rug large enough to accommodate all four of the legs of the bed and side tables. If you prefer a smaller bedroom rug, you can place it under the bottom two-thirds of the bed.
Living Room Rug Size
For a living room rug, choose a rug that either fits all of the surrounding furniture legs or fits only the front legs of the surrounding furniture. If you prefer a smaller rug, you can use a smaller area rug that only holds a coffee table in the center.
Add Rugs to Kitchens and Bathrooms
Adding rugs to utilitarian rooms like kitchens and bathrooms can create warmth in areas that can otherwise seem cold or harsh. Kitchen runners and bathroom rugs are also a great way to add visual interest to a room with fun patterns, bright colors, and varied textures.
Place a Rug Between Wood Floors and Wood Furniture
Natural hard wood floors are beautiful, and while it can seem counterintuitive to cover their beauty with area rugs, placing a rug between wood floors and wood furniture can prevent a room from feeling too repetitive by adding contrast, texture, and intrigue. It can also make a room feel warm and cozy, which is especially advantageous during cold, winter months.
Tips for Decorating with Wall Art
Too many bare walls can make your home look drab. Hanging wall art throughout your home can be a great way to create visual interest, showcase your unique style, and add a splash of color to every room in the house. These wall art ideas and tips can take your walls from drab to fab.
Hang Wall Art at Eye Level
Wall art should be hung at eye level. To pull this off, try hanging your wall art so that the center of your art piece is 57 inches from the floor, as 57 inches represents the average human eye-height. The exception to this rule is if you have very low ceilings (8’-9’) or if you’re hanging wall art behind a couch.
For very low ceilings, you’ll want to divide the vertical length of your wall into quarters, with your art hanging in the third quadrant up from the floor.
If you’re hanging art on the wall behind the sofa, hang any art 8-10 inches from the above the sofa back, regardless of whether or not that location follows the 57” rule.
Try Art Groupings
Wondering how to arrange wall art in stylish groups? It doesn’t have to be overcomplicated. First, you’ll want to make sure your art groupings are proportional to your furniture. Generally speaking, the art grouping should be 2/3 the width of the sofa, sideboard, or bed they’re hanging over. When dealing with different sizes of artwork, we recommend the heaviest pieces be in the bottom left and the lightest pieces be int the top right, with 2-5 inches between each frame. If you have one large piece with several other smaller pieces, it may work best to have the largest piece as a focal point in the middle, with the smaller pieces all around it.
Try Leaning Wall Art
Hanging art isn’t the only way to display it in your home. Leaning artwork against the wall on wall shelves, bookcases, or an easel can be a fresh way to save your walls from holes and display your art in a chic way.
Tips for Decorating with Lamps
Nothing makes a room shine quite like lamps, which in addition to adding light to a room, can also be a stylish addition to your home décor. Check out these living room lighting ideas and tips to help brighten up your home.
Pay Attention to Function
When it comes to lighting, functionality is key. Keeping table lamps on side tables, desks, and nightstands lets you add that extra bit of light for activities that need them, like reading, writing, eating, and working on a computer. If your room serves multiple purposes, having an adjustable floor lamp allows you to adjust the light as needed, based on whatever task you’re currently engaged in.
Balance & Symmetry Reign Supreme
If the room you’re decorating doesn’t have overhead lighting, you’ll want to have a combination of floor lamps and table lamps roughly every ten feet. Regardless of whether or not the room has overhead lighting, you’ll want to consider symmetry when decorating with lamps. Try choosing complementary table lamps and placing them on side tables on either side of the couch or on nightstands on either side of the bed.
Think Geometric
Geometric furniture is a popular interior design trend, and many designers anticipate geometric lighting being one of the hottest home décor trends of 2020. Look for lamps that showcase geometric shapes in design or pattern.
Tips for Decorating with Mirrors
Decorating with mirrors can brighten a room, create the illusion of space, and even serve as a focal point in a room. These tips for decorating with mirrors will help you hang them the right way.
Consider the Reflection
Before you hang a mirror, you’ll want to consider what’s across from it, as that’s what will be reflected on the surface. We recommend hanging mirrors directly across from windows, as this creates the illusion of a second window and increases the amount of natural light in the room.
Create a Focal Point
Focal points catch the eye and add visual interest to a room. Using a mirror as a focal point is a great way to highlight the style of the room. That’s why you often see large mirrors over mantels and dining room buffets.
Grow Your Room
If you’re furnishing a small living room or hallway, mirrors can be a great way to make the room appear larger by adding depth. Plus, reflecting natural and artificial lighting can brighten up the room, which also gives the illusion of space. Try leaning a full length mirror across from your windows or place mirrors in your hallway and watch your room grow.
Decorating with Bookcases
Bookcases aren’t just for storing books. In fact, bookcases offer plenty of decorating opportunities, whether you’re furnishing a living room, dining room, home office, or bedroom. These tips for decorating with bookcases can help you make the most of this home décor classic look.
Color Block your Bookshelves
Even if you’re using your bookshelves exclusively for storing books, you can still arrange the books in an aesthetically pleasing way. Try arranging your books by color by colorblocking your bookshelves to create a fun, playful aesthetic. It may not be the most efficient way to find a book, but it does add style and flair to your home.
Make it Pop with Paper
Using your bookshelves as a way to showcase trinkets, photos, vases, and artwork? Try adding patterned wallpaper behind the shelves. That way, the fun patterns will peek out behind your decorations, adding texture, color, and whimsy to your room.
Vary Scale & Height
Rather than just lining up items on your bookshelves, try creating fun groupings on each shelf. While the groupings should contain decorations that are thematically similar, try choosing items with different scales, shapes, widths, and heights to create contrast and visual interest. You might, for example, have a tall vase, a wide-framed painting of the outdoors, and a small stack of nature photo books on the same shelf.
Tips for Decorating with Accent Furniture
Consider Corners
Empty corners can make your room feel awkward and sparse but adding accent furniture can soften the space and keep things looking stylish and fresh.
Build Your Own Book Nook
Have some extra space in your living room, bedroom, or home office? Try adding an accent chair, table, and lamp to create your own reading nook. Not only will this area add visual interest to your room, but it can help you create a cozy space for flipping through magazines, reading novels, and even finishing up some work at home.
Check Out Bar Carts & Wine Cabinets
Looking for a fun and functional accessory for your living room? If you love to entertain guests, a bar cart or wine cabinet can serve as a functional space to mix drinks while also adding to the overall décor of your dining room or living room. Plus, it elevates all of your liquor and wine bottles to classy decorations.
Showcase Your Personality
Accent furniture is the fun flair that displays your personal style. Use a quirky accent piece to offset the neutrals in your home. If you’re really into interior design, you might even consider different accent pieces for different seasons. You might, for example, want to swap out spring-inspired floral patterns for more holiday-friendly shades.
Whether you’re looking to freshen up your home décor or completely redesign your home, Star Furniture & Mattress has everything you need! In addition to our huge selection of living room, dining room, bedroom, and home office furniture, we also have plenty of home décor items like accent chairs, bar carts, bookcases, rugs, lamps, mirrors, and bedding.