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6 Elements Every Home Needs

by | Jun 23, 2015 | Decorating Inspiration, Gather, Mood Boards

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6 Elements Every Home Needs

What makes a truly beautiful home will be defined a bit differently for everyone. Style is such a personal choice, isn’t it? Today I thought it would be fun to look at six design elements that I think contribute to a beautiful room. Certainly they aren’t the only elements to consider, but they would be a great place to start. Without these elements, a room might be lacking a little something that could have made it stand out or feel more put together.

How you mix and incorporate these elements will be unique to you and your style, bringing about your own special look. That’s the beauty of having your own place, you can put things together in your own way!

Here are six elements I look for in any room:

6 Elements Every Home Needs

1 // 2 // 3 // 4 // 5 // 6

A mix of textures

You all know I love TEXTURE in a room! But I think you need a good blend of textures to make the room feel right. You can add texture through throw blankets, baskets, and natural wood, but texture doesn’t only mean rough or chunky stuff. You can add softness and shine, too! Try glass and soft textiles to round out the mix.

6 Elements Every Home Needs1 // 2 // 3 // 4 //  5

Strong doses of white

So many rooms end up looking very … brown. Just look through the real estate ads and you’ll find most rooms incorporate an abundance of brown. Why is that? I think people feel like brown is a safe choice, but the result is that it tends to make a room feel a bit dull and lacking in personality. Brown rug? Brown floor? Brown cabinets? Brown sofa? Brown isn’t risky enough to make a strong statement on its own. A simple way to balance out the brown or tie a palette together is with liberal doses of white. While white alone might not save you from an overdose on brown, it’s a good starting point (see the remaining tips below for more ideas). Add more white to a room by painting the trim work or cabinetry, or through accessories like a throw blanket, furniture, pillows, white books, white dishes, paint, curtains, or white frames.

Different shades of colors

Color can add vibrant personality to a room. But even if you like a completely neutral palette, a blend of several tones of neutrals will bring more interest to the room. Mix white, cream, tan, gray, or black to add a visual punch to a neutral room. (See my post about decorating with shades of white here). Add an element of surprise by incorporating even one pop of color to your neutral palette. If you love color, use various shades and tones of your favorite colors to create a more complex and interesting palette.

6 Elements Every Home Needs

1 // 2 // 3 // 4

Personality

Whether it’s through original artwork, furniture with unique details, family photos, fun shaped mirrors, switching up your hardware or lighting, interesting shapes, patterns that you enjoy, your home should have its own special personality. Even if you prefer a more subtle look, don’t play it safe with every choice, go out on a limb and try something unexpected or one-of-a-kind.

Warmth

Every home will benefit greatly from warmth! Even if you prefer a more of a minimal style or cool colors, you can add warmth in your own unique way. You can incorporate warmth through textures like warmer metals (copper and gold), natural wood pieces, wood flooring, or bamboo blinds. Perhaps throw in a few warm tones through pops of color (even if warm colors aren’t your favorite). Warmth can also be brought in through proper lighting, cozy rugs, and throw blankets!

6 Elements Every Home Needs
Terrain

Natural Elements

I think every home (and every room) will benefit from a green plant or small pop of color with a bouquet. Natural elements help a room feel more alive, so even if you love painted furniture or creative and artistic elements, find ways to incorporate some wood pieces or natural accessories.

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Other Related Posts:

5 Things Every Small Bedroom Needs

10 Little Ways to Refresh Your Home

10 Tips for Styling Large Living Rooms {and other awkward spaces}

11 Comments

  1. Margaret Ryall

    What a coinsidence. I am in the process of preparing a post about my summer home using a list structure to discuss the elements that define the space. I open my mail this morning and find your post. I had all your elements included and a few others specific relating to a house beside the ocean. I enjoy your blog because I am all about growing a room with personality and creativity rather than a big budget.

    Reply
  2. Stephanie Davis

    I am all for bringing in natural elements. A room always feels better to me with a natural material from the outside view or a plant.

    Reply
  3. Mary Jane

    Help ! Heeellllp ! I want to paint the exterior of our home and there are so many wonderful colors out there. But I’m mobilized by indecision….aaaak! It’s said if you don’t like the color you can always paint over, but who wants all that expense and work, UGH. Is there a website where you can see the paint colors on a house and they tell you the brand/color? We have gray stucco with a wood front porch and rail and wood framed windows all around. We won’t be painting the stucco. I love ‘craftsman’ colors and was thinking of putting shutters around the front windows. Any ideas???

    Reply
    • Markus Cross

      I think the color you paint should; 1. (Don’t want to sound trite or condescending) use a color you really like and can live with long term, 2. A color that works well with the style of house and 3. I wouldn’t get too trendy or ‘loud’ with the color….can create a lot of ‘color excitement’ with the trim, door, windows and shutters.

      Reply
  4. Kris Billings

    I will be adding white elements in my family room, I think it’s just what it needs. Thank you for the idea!

    Reply
  5. SimpLeigh Organized

    I love using textures to decorate rooms. It helps to keep the room from feeling flat. I also love the idea about adding white…I do notice a lot of my clients rooms are full of brown!

    Reply
  6. Jen

    Great tips! I have an old farmhouse and have embraced the “wood” look after trying to paint some rooms white and it just looking horribly out of place. We have a lot of raw barn wood trim that can’t be painted and would cost a fortune to replace, so we went the opposite with dark paint and a cozy look. It actually came out great and looks more cohesive in our home. Someday, I will build a small cottage and everything will be white!
    http://circleandstone.blogspot.com/2015/04/our-sitting-room-is-finally-done-and.html

    Reply
    • Melissa @ The Inspired Room

      I know what you mean, white walls aren’t right for every room or home. Your trim sounds amazing! I wouldn’t paint that either. I only have a few rooms that work ok with white, but most look better with a little color. I still add white in other ways to keep it feeling fresh, even white dishes, sinks, and accessories or lampshades can help!

      Reply
  7. Brenda

    I think people use brown because it’s warm and doesn’t show the dirt/marks so much. Too much white and you start getting a cold clinical look, which I’m not a fan of. I want my home to be warm and cosy and inviting. I have a light cream coloured lounge suite and have chosen reds and golds as warm accents rather than brown. Although I do have wood grain furniture in there too.
    I’d possibly choose cool colours like white, blue and grey for a beach house though. mmmm now I’m thinking of summer by the sea and it’s mid winter here! *sigh

    Reply
  8. Debra Jerry

    When we first had this house built, I was so over the almond color in our last house, I chose white everything except cabinets. The lady who sold us the house told us the white cabinets they offered at the time were yellowing quickly. Ugh! We chose golden oak instead. It was probably a good thing because I have been gradually replacing most of the white. The trim is off-white throughout the house and I do have little touches of off-white throughout to freshen it up like you suggest.
    I love looking at beautiful intentionally white rooms and interiors, but I love the warm colors. Guess I am just a colorful person. Like Brenda says, the beach house in my dreams is filled with blue and white.

    Reply
  9. Georgia @ Silver Spiral Studio

    Great post. We definitely emphasized elements of white in our rooms – love the clean, classy feel it lends. Thanks for sharing :)

    Reply

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