Monday, July 24, 2017

Home Style >> Adding The Personal Touch


Get Personal


When it comes to getting your own family home looking just right, there’s plenty of trends you can choose to follow to compliment your own tastes, from just a few pounds these high street bargains or boutique splurges can make a huge difference, adding a splash of colour or style to your home.

The recent wave of home style trends have focused largely on geometric patterns, industrial fixtures and illustrative shapes, these are popular favourites that don’t seem to be going anywhere fast, any time soon.




Aside from what's in store and in season, there is one other important factor in perfecting your home styling and that's having 'the personal touch'. These are items that are considered 'evergreen', they stand the test of time and become staples of the home decor, representing your family for years to come, complimenting most styles as the seasons and trends change.


Why Should Decor Be Personal?


There’s no need for every decorative piece you have in your home to have a personal side, there’s great joy to be had in just grabbing something because it’s pretty and you love the way it looks; even that in itself, is an expression of your personal tastes and may well become a must keep item.

Nevertheless, the treasures that we tend to live with for years and years are those that have more of a personal edge to them. The trend pieces we can remove and set aside, those golden pineapples will come and go, but the personal ones last forever.




How Can Decor Be Personal?


There are plenty of options for making your home decor have a touch of you and your family to it.

Top of the list of course are photographs. The days of endless photos up a staircase are largely past, but there’s plenty of ways you can add photos to your decor. Collages are the easiest way to use multiple photos that you love, while you could also take advantage of the trend for lines strung along a wall with photographs clipped to them, this is particularly good in kids rooms and family areas. This can look surprisingly wonderful, despite sounding a little bit like an indoor washing line. I am a complete paparazzi mama and love displaying our photos in our home, they make me smile when I see them and bring back instant memories.




Of course, photos don’t have to be of people. You could choose a holiday snap of a pretty special spot and have it printed on to canvas. To anyone else, it just looks like your standard canvas, but it has a hidden meaning behind it for you and your family.

Trinkets


I do love a few trinkets on display, as long as it's not cluttered these can be the perfect mini reminders of special times. First, it’s worth considering whether your children might like to make their own trinkets. Fun with clay can give your decorative touches for years to come, and they’re about as personal as they get too.

You could also consider adding something like a representation of family trees. These cute designs are highly personal for obvious reasons, but also beautiful and ornate. You could have different versions too, one for your own family with your kids and your husband’s name, and another for your family - brothers, sisters, parents.

Holiday gift shops also make a great hunting ground for decorative touches. Once again, it might look like a standard trinket to anyone else, but it has that hidden meaning for you. You can't beat a bit of holiday chint!

Typography


Finally and one of my absolute favourites is typography, which is perfect if you’re on a budget and can be easily home made if you're feeling a little creative.  Simply featuring a quote, a list of relevant names or places you have visited in a big, bold print can be a surprisingly effective statement piece of art.





Finding ways to tell your own story in your home, be it with photographs, home made trinkets or stylish typography can make all the difference. You needn't spend much money either. What are your favourites?



*Collaborative post