Imagine this scenario: you have renovated and updated the items in your home. You have replaced your flooring, repainted your walls, upgraded your electronics, replaced your upholstery and added new furniture. You might also have installed new radiators, put up new window treatments, and cleaned up the mess. You seem satisfied, admiring the great job you did for your house. But somewhere along the way, you still feel like it’s incomplete and still doesn’t feel like home.
The thing is, you may feel it because the house lacks personality and soul. And you can only achieve that by adding some finishing touches to your home. There are a lot of varieties of finishing touches you can add to give life to your house and make it more welcoming. Make your house reflect who you are, what your interests and likes are, and show where you’ve been. It may take you weeks, months or years to add finishing touches, but you will surely have fun and feel great.
Here are some items you can add a finishing touch:
1. Lighting
Most homeowners have one ceiling lighting fixture to light up the entire room. But lighting doesn’t have to stop there. It is important to have ceiling lights, but adding a floor and table lamps, as well as wall sconces and spotlights, are just as important. These are not just decorative and additional lighting pieces but they can also transform the way you look on the space. They also add drama and help create the mood you want a room to have.
Adding dimmer switches would also help you set the mood by adjusting the light level. Bright light is okay if you are reading, cleaning or doing other tasks, but it doesn’t feel right when you are watching TV, relaxing, or having a romantic dinner. Dimmer switches can be easily installed even without the help of a professional electrician.
Candles can also do that task of bringing an atmosphere to a room. They come in many different forms, colors, and designs, plus their candle holders (and the candles themselves) can be decorative when not lit.
2. Artwork
Art makes a space livelier and lovelier. Whether it’s a painting, a photograph or a sculpture, artworks surely bring personality and interest to a rather plain wall or space. Remember that the artwork should reflect the style of your space. Is it traditional or contemporary? Classic or modern? But, you can also mix them up if it looks great.
Don’t neglect the frames because they are also decorative. Frames can be plain, ornamental and can come in different shapes and designs. They typically come in a limited range of colors, but you can paint them with any color you like to better suit your interior. Meanwhile, contemporary artwork is usually displayed in chunky canvas with no frames.
Avoid bombarding all blank walls with artwork; just include a few pieces for every space or room you have. You can also arrange them together as a group to create a feature wall.
3. Textiles
One of the cheapest ways to add finishing touches to a room is to add cushions, blankets, curtains, and throws. Use them to introduce texture, patterns, and colors to a room. Textiles can also make your home feel warm and comfortable because they add a sense of coziness and softness. Choosing the right textiles could set the right tone for your room.
Rugs and carpets are also just as important. They protect both the floor and your feet. Plus, they can set a theme or a give a specific vibe into a room by just adding their patterns, colors, and material! An area rug can help define areas in open plan houses and help unify a large room that would otherwise look like a random placement of furniture.
4. Personal items
People like to model their homes from a nice hotel they’ve been at. However, that would make it very impersonal. Make your personal items a point of interest in your home. Perhaps you love to travel and you bought some memorabilia from foreign lands, so display them on top of tables, hang them on the walls or stick them into your refrigerator. You might be passionate about photography, so place your camera collection on a display shelf or hang your favorite shots on the wall. You might collect a lot of mini model cars, so build a shelf for them and place them in a hallway. You might be an achiever or a sports champ before (or maybe your kid is), then show off your medals and trophies. You can show some of your personality not just with your furniture and style choices, but also with items that are uniquely yours.
5. Plants and flowers
Of course, how can we forget greenery? Live plants and flowers add an element of life to your home as it brings the outdoors in. They add a splash of color, they help cleanse the air and they add fragrance to your home. Even a simple, leafy plant can do the trick. They are best planted in decorative pots or on vases.
Choose a collection of plants with different types, sizes, and shapes for variety and interest. It’s best to choose plants with architectural quality. Meanwhile, your choice of flowers can help suit the design style of your home. Just be sure to keep them fresh and dusted.
If you are certain that you can’t keep plants alive, use high-quality faux plants and flowers. Just make sure you can keep them dusted and cleaned regularly.
6. Other decorative pieces
Mirrors and clocks are those decorative pieces you can add that are really functional. Figurines, pots, and mugs can brighten up your bare tabletops. Wall words and other wall hangings add a focal point to the room.
Antique pieces are also effective in adding character to an otherwise boring room. Even if your design style isn’t traditional or classic, an old piece of furniture can make a room delightful.
If you own a lot of books, showcase them as a decorative element in your home. Choose a bookshelf that would suit your fancy (and could hold all the books you want to display) and place them tastefully. You may stack some vertically and some horizontally. You can place your greenery and other decorative pieces on the other compartments of the bookshelf to create balance and interest.
Don’t forget the ceiling. Adding a dramatic ceiling medallion can add interest above. If your ceiling is high, you can make use of ceiling beams to make your space feel more like home.
Tips for Adding Finishing Touches
Since you have a lot of choices for the finishing touches, here are some tips to guide you by:
1. Look for inspiration.
If you’re not that creative with styling your own interior, look for inspiration. Browse magazines and online sites featuring home décor and interior, and see if you can find something you can imitate or work with for your home. Be updated with the latest trends to help you to achieve a timely look.
2. Make a list and plan your budget.
Once you have placed all the big stuff (furniture, upholstery, new wall colors, flooring, etc.), list all the things you can buy or make or get a finishing touch. You don’t want to spend on something that looks awesome in the store but doesn’t fit anywhere in your home. Get organized, since just thinking and saying “I have to get those for the living room,” will not do you anything – you might forget it the next time you shop. Plan your purchases by planning a budget. Perhaps you can space out your things-to-buy over the next few months so as to not break the bank.
3. Ask for the opinion of people you trust.
When you have been working on redecorating your own space for a while, you may become familiar and you can no longer identify if something looks good on a place or not since you have looked at it for a lot of time now. It’s good to ask a family member, neighbor or friend to come over and ask for their opinion. They can really help you decide regarding the proper placement of your home accessories.
4. consider the style and theme of your rooms.
Choose your accessories to match your design styles and themes. Keep them in mind whenever you’re looking for accessories. Don’t start shopping with no particular ideas in mind. If your room has no theme yet, choose before you shop. Make your home a reflection of your personality. Your interests, hobbies, likes, and favorites can offer ideas for a theme for your finishing touches. Let your choice of home décor and accessories show who you are, like if you’re an avid reader, a beach lover or a dedicated collector.
5. Group decorations systematically.
When working with accessories, focus on a single theme or color scheme as much as possible. Group items with similar colored frames, same size, and common colors and place them alongside each other. Placing small objects alone in an area can make it look out of place. You may observe symmetry with your wall hangings, stagger the heights of your bookshelf accessories, and place a group of small, indoor greenery on one side.
6. Combine textures.
Combining textures can add interest and a feeling of comfort in a room. For instance, it would be good to decorate a room with smooth surfaces and sleek furnishings with some soft and snuggly accessories. Combine soft and hard, smooth and rough, matte and shiny in one room.
7. Remove clutter.
Make sure that everything has a designated place, especially everything that doesn’t look good when visible, like stacks of mail, shoes, loose change, electrical cords, used water bottles and a lot more. Keep your home neat and tidy. Also, avoid overdoing accessories since too much of everything can make it look like clutter, too.