Have you noticed that some homes look very beautiful and some look chaotic even with great or expensive decor? Do you wonder why? Do you want to create a visually pleasing home? If yes, stick around as I have some simple ideas for you to do just that.
Before we dive into the tips and ideas, let’s look at a few reasons why some homes look chaotic. If we can understand and eliminate those factors, we will be left with a beautiful space that can spark joy!
Now that we identified some factors that contribute to the chaos, let’s look at some simple tips and ideas you can use to eliminate these and create a visually pleasing home.
CLEAR FLAT SURFACES
What does this mean? Flat surfaces are essentially your countertops, dresser tops, tabletops, and any other surface that you can put (dump!) stuff on without having to bend or reach high.
Well in my daughter’s case, the floor counts too! She calls it the “floordrobe” 🙂 These are the prime real estate for clutter. Here is where we display decor or casually throw or place stuff (to be put away eventually…). When the put away never happens or there is too much decor on a flat surface, it can cause clutter.
So, to avoid this, try to keep your flat surfaces as clean and clear as possible. If you have decor items to display, keep it simple. Choose just a few well-coordinated pieces and you are good to go.
For example, in the kitchen, don’t crowd all your appliances on the counter. Try to keep only the ones you use the most and put way the others. In bathrooms, try to limit the items that you put on the counter. Maybe your toothbrush, other essentials, and small decor items. Things like your hairdryer and makeup can be tucked away in drawers, under the sink or elsewhere.
GET RID OF FLAT SURFACES
If you have a lot of flat surfaces to deal with, then maybe, it’s a good idea to do away with a few of them, especially, if they are mostly used as decor and not an essential item. In our home, we have some small walls where a small storage chest or console table would have been a good idea. I consciously avoided filling those spaces with a flat surface and for good reason. Now it’s less clutter, less decor to shop for and less cleaning. Win, win!
Once you clear the flat surfaces, if the space looks empty, you can always use other ways to make it beautiful. Some great ideas are a large mirror, a large clock, and other large wall art pieces. Ladders make a good choice too. You can plop throws, hang photos or planters on a ladder to make it look beautiful.
ORGANIZE USING THE SAME TYPE OF STORAGE
Now that we have talked a bit about flat surfaces and their perils, let’s move on to storage. Especially, small storage. In places like your pantry, spice racks, linen closets and other areas where you use small storage such as boxes or bins, choose the same type of storage items. This immediately leads to uniformity, cuts down chaos and gives your eyes a chance to rest. To go a step further, choose jars or boxes that are either clear, white or some other eye-pleasing color.
If you don’t have enough storage space, look for boxes or bins that can stack. This not only provides better use of your space but gives a very clean and organized look. Use lazy-susans in L shaped corners and place clear jars on them for easy reach and to utilize the space well.
LABEL YOUR STORAGE ITEMS
Nothing gives me more pleasure than neatly labeled storage pieces all over my house. Labels instantly create cohesiveness, clarity and shout out that there is a place for everything in your home. It just makes it easy for my entire family to find things without screaming for me, zillion times.
Labeling does not have to be complicated. Here are some creative ideas I have used in my home and you can too:
- Cut small pieces of paper, write on them and stick them on with clear tape
- Dollar store labels – Your local dollar store usually has a great selection of labels for just $1
- Chalkboard labels – These are great because you can usually change the writing on them very easily (A neat tip: chalkboard labels can get expensive. Instead, buy chalkboard contact paper and cut your own labels)
You get the idea right. There is no limit to getting creative and personalizing labels. Choose what works for you best.
ARRANGE ITEMS BY HEIGHT
When you are displaying books or other decor items that are grouped together, arrange them by height. This gives a more calming feel as opposed to randomly arranging them.
Let’s say you have three decor items to arrange in a group, put the smallest one front and center and the biggest one at the back. The same goes for books. Biggest book at the bottom and smallest one on top if arranging horizontally. If standing them up, biggest to smallest from one side to the other. This works well with stacked boxes and bins too!
COLOR THEORY
Color plays a very important role in creating the most pleasing spaces. If you choose your colors wisely, you can make any space look beautiful. Colors also invoke a variety of emotions. Using colors, you can make a space pop, give a calm, Zen-like feeling or shout out radiance. Sky is the limit for you to play with colors.
I like light neutral colors for bigger things like walls or furniture and then I add pops of color using accent or decor pieces. You do you!
But, how do you know what colors to choose? There are books written on this topic and this alone can probably become a blog niche. To simplify things, the best way is to use a color wheel. You can simply Google color wheel to see what it looks like
On the color wheel, there are 3 ways in which you can choose color combinations.
- Analogous – These are colors that are usually next to each other on the wheel. For example, orange and yellow or blue and green
- Complimentary – These are colors that are opposite to one another on the wheel. For example, red and green or orange and blue
- Monochromatic – The same color is used in different shades
Another way is to look for paint ideas from magazines or websites like HGTV.com. They usually publish colors that go well together.
Choose colors and color schemes that speak to you. There is probably more to write on this topic, but I will save it for another post. This should get you started though.
USE GREENERY
Last but not least, use greenery around the home. Plants denote life and can make you feel more alive in an otherwise empty or drab space. There are plenty of ways to add greenery. Small potted plants, succulents, decorative trees, all work well. Real plants are the best, but if you are like me and struggle to maintain indoor plants, just go with faux plants.
There are a lot of indoor plants that are good for you such as aloe vera and snake plant. These plants clean the air inside the house. That’s double duty right there, decor and health benefits! Not bad, eh?
These are some simple ideas to transform your home and make it visually pleasing. Look around your home and see if you can use any of these ideas. If you have more ideas, I’d love to hear them.
Divya has given great and essential tips through colour theory labelling items use of flat surfaces to create beautiful and wonderful home