Styling Tips and Why They Work
The holidays are coming in hot! And Im sure you’re either decorating and having a blast doing it, or you’re like me and it’s feeling like a chore you just don’t want to do at the moment. So as a reminder for both you and me, let’s talk about why we decorate. For some it might be to get more likes on an insta post, or a bunch of pins on pinterest, but when we get right down to it…….. It’s to bring joy to ourselves through the creative process, to create a space that we love, and to share that space with loved ones, to make memories forever in that space.
The decor in your house is creating an atmosphere and a canvas for memories. You’ve likely seen a lot of “tips and tricks'' for styling your house on a daily basis, and maybe you’ve seen some fun ideas for the holidays, but to bring back some joy into this process I thought I’d share (and remind myself) of WHY these tips and tricks work. Why these design basics help with the reason we are decorating in the first place and how they will help you create a purposeful atmosphere for you and your loved ones.
Place decor and objects in groups of 3:
Although you would think even numbers make most people happier, they are easy to divide and multiply, and when seeing objects in even numbers the symmetry feels comfortable. BUT our brains actually want to keep going, studies have found that when choosing preferred numbers, majority of people will actually lean toward odd numbers. When objects are in even numbers, our brains stop, the task is complete. When objects are in odd numbers we will keep looking, there’s movement in what we are seeing even though it’s a still image.
So let’s take the tip of place in threes even farther and move this idea to a shape instead. Let’s instead place things in triangles. NOW we are also including placing things of varying heights! By placing things in a triangle of sorts you are keeping the eye moving, your brain wants to see more, it creates movement.
Mix Textures and Patterns:
Patterns and textures evoke different emotions. Textures like velvet will likely make someone feel happy and give a sense of comfort. What do you want to do when you see velvet? Touch it! Like when a child goes to their teddy for comfort, it most likely gives us the same feelings and emotions. Same with patterns, patterns with curves and rounded edges more often give positive emotions, the feeling of comfort. Whereas angular more often has a serious or hard association.
Play with those emotions, mix textures and patterns and see how they make you feel, it’s likely they will also make your guests feel the same, without them knowing it.
Stick to Neutral Colours:
Surprise surprise! Neutral colours often give off a neutral feeling, which may be very useful during the holidays! They are a great way to create a baseline, give off a calming effect. But if you want to create a bit of excitement, throw a little colour in there! Using neutrals as your base and then having objects with some colour will make those colours stand out more and invite the eye to keeping moving around the display or room as well.
Leave Blank Spaces:
This is one I see a lot of people not utilizing, blank space is integral! It is ok to have a spot with nothing in it, its better to keep it simple than to create chaos. By having blank space you are creating balance in the overall display, we feel more comfortable when there is balance. By using the triangles, and grouping things together you are creating an automatic focal point and directing the eye to what you want it to notice, then we breeze past the white space to look at another focal point, creating a balanced flow to the atmosphere itself.
My Favourite Tips!
Use your everyday decor pieces! By taking something you use all year round and grouping it with your holiday decor you are giving it new life, taking a piece that gives you joy all year round and making it a part of your holiday memories as well.
Use sentimental and heritage pieces! Items that have sentimental and joyful association for you will also bring that feeling to your guests. Your feelings and emotions will be contagious to the people around you.
Take the time to play! This is supposed to be fun, and by giving yourself time to play around with different items, textures, etc you’ll be able to pay attention to how you feel about what you see, which in turn will likely be what your guests will feel too!