HOW TO LAYER ACCENT DECOR IN YOUR HOME

Accent decor is to a home what jewelry is to an outfit. No wonder I love it! I think my obsession with accessories is why I became a decorator. Accent decor makes things pretty and is one of the easiest ways to add personality to your home.

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Last week I wrote a post about HOW TO LAYER DECOR LIKE A PRO. This was a H-U-G-E post that addressed how to add decor to our homes layer upon layer. Flooring, wall paint, foundational furniture, accent furnishings, accent decor and little touches.

Please read this post. I know it will help create a home you love!

When I was writing about accent decor I wrote so much that I thought it should be a post of its own. So I wrote an overview for the above post and here is… “the rest of the story”. At least the accent decor story.

I can’t remember a time that I was not joyfully trying to make pretty things. My coloring books were filled with lots of embellishing colors and flowers and hearts. I added eyelashes and lipstick to the images of girls in the coloring book pictures along with nail polish on the nails of any animal. If there were not puffy clouds or a sun in the landscape picture I colored them in!

I spent hour upon hours making my trolls (remember them) outfits. I even make a wedding dress, tux and bridesmaid dresses for them!

My sister was the relunctant model for many of the over-the-top hairstyles I created. Sorry, Lisa!

And Barbie was my first client as I remodeled her Dream House over and over.

In high school I crocheted my vests and hair ties. And made purses and other accessories.

Collage, although busy with studies, was where I tried my hand at making gowns for formals and balls. And it was also the first time I lived in my own house, with 3 roommates, and began to hone my decorating skills.

Decorating is part of me and my favorite part of decorating has always been creating beauty! I say my decorating superpower is embellishing thing.

I think of accent decor as the major way to add life to a room and making it prettier.

WHAT IS ACCENT DECOR

It’s probably easier to define accent decor by telling you what it is not! It is not furniture or lighting or rugs or curtains or the big things in a home. It is all the other things that make a room pretty and show off your personality.

Think of a mantel for example. What you would put on a mantel is accent decor. This beautiful decor call attention to the mantel because it calls attention to itself.

The white buffet in my living room is another good example of accent decor.

Some things on top of the buffet are accent decor. The lamp is not but the basket, and the moss balls and the wooden balls and the faux tulips and the wooden vase the the burlap covered books are all accent decor.

So is the tray and white containers and faux ferns and candles on the coffee table in the foreground of the image above.

Having a stash of these pretty items make it so much easier to decorate a room.

Here are 5 types of accent decor you can use create more beauty in any room in your home…

TRAYS

A tray is the perfect thing to corral items to create a vignette or to use to carry things. They can add tons of texture or interest and they are so pretty!

Here are some great trays to use in your home…

VASES OR PRETTY CONTAINERS

I use vases and other containers for flowers both real and faux. Also add stick and twigs and budding branches in them. I even use them empty in vignettes. And I love a group three vases filled with different flowers to create a pretty floral vignette.

Here are some of my favorite vases…

BOXES AND BOWLS

A little box or bowl is the perfect filler when you just need that little “something” to perch on top of a book or fill in an empty space in a vignette. Our eyes are drawn to small interesting objects.

And make sure you have a few decorative bowls that can be beautiful filled with beads or placed on a stack of books

FUN PIECES OF ART

Small objects that have lots of personality are decor gold! We just can’t have too many of these imaginative fillers! Use them in vignettes or tucked in a bookcase or shelf.

CANDLES AND CANDLEHOLDERS

If you visit me in my basement you will be surprised how many candles and candleholders I have! I love them and use them to add light and ambiance and beauty to our home.

Use them on a table or mantel but don’t stop there! I like to tuck candles in my bookcase (using a batter operated candle) and in the kitchen and bathrooms.

Here are some of my favorites!

OTHER ACCENT DECOR

• pillows
• books
• plants- faux or real
• flowers- faux or real
• baskets
• garden stools
• books
• beads
• clocks

Let you personality shine through the decorative accents in your home!

OTHER DECORATING POST YOU MIGHT ENJOY…

HOW TO LAYER HOME DECOR FROM THE FLOORS UP

THE BEST DECORATING TIP YOU WILL EVER GET

17 EASY AND DOABLE DECORATING IDEAS

7 TIPS FOR MIXING DECORATING STYLES