Special treasures turn a house into a home
After we finished the bulk of our top to bottom renovation a couple of years ago, the old house felt almost new again. As we moved in and unpacked we quickly adapted to our new space. But it wasn’t until I started hanging artwork and family photographs that it really started to feel like our home.
Whether I am working with a client or playing around with things in my own home, it is always my goal to imbue that space with authenticity and capture the personalities of its inhabitants. It’s storytelling on a physical level. Any house can look updated and pretty with new furniture and accessories, freshly painted walls or new cabinets and countertops. But a house becomes a home when you add in treasured mementos, photos of loved ones, inherited or vintage pieces and beloved works of art here and there.
Layering your home with your personality doesn’t have to be complicated or even premeditated. In fact, I think the simpler and more spontaneous the additions are, the better. It’s about creating little moments that evoke a feeling or a memory. A sweet vignette on your dresser that makes you pause and remember a special family trip or a gifted bud vase with a single seasonal bloom that causes you to smile. Here are my tips for incorporating treasured items into your home's decor.
1. Mix vintage with new pieces
I have had the good fortune to inherit several pieces of furniture, artwork and accessories from relatives, but I also love scoring a good vintage piece from the local thrift store or flea market. Mix a jumble of vintage chairs with your new modern dining table or top your thrifted coffee table with a collection of new votive holders.
2. Create vignettes to tell a story
My living room has three little niches carved into the plaster walls. These are great spots to create vignettes with special mementos, and I’ll frequently change things up to feature the natural beauty of the current season. Display summer’s dahlia blooms in a collection of vintage glass bottles on a tray with some beach rocks, or clear off an area on your dresser to display trinkets and photos from a memorable weekend trip.
3. Personalize a hand-me-down with paint
Many of the vintage pieces I have acquired over the years have benefitted from a fresh coat of paint. I updated an oversized 1980s faux pottery lamp with black chalk paint and love the boldness of it. Don’t feel guilty about changing up something you have inherited or thrifted, even if it has the perception of a higher value in its original condition. Make it your own!
4. Curate a family photo wall
For over a year, the small hallway on our main floor had blank walls. It always felt unfinished. I finally hung up a few family photos and it immediately felt more warm and happy. Take a blank wall at the end of a hallway and cover it with 4” square photo prints or hang an oversized family portrait on the wall of your stairwell. Incorporate family pictures with artwork into a gallery wall above your sofa. Try parabo.press for square and oversized prints and framebridge.com for affordable custom framing.
5. Display kids or DIY artwork
My kids recently participated in the Kids Art Show at the Weekender in Manette. It seemed a shame to not hang their work up after it came home. They ended up on the wall in our back entrance, and I added a framed charcoal sketch by my talented father-in-law. Now it's a family art gallery to which I can add future works to.
Betsy Kornelis is a local decorator. Find her at paisleyandpine.com.
This article originally appeared on Kitsap Sun: Special treasures turn a house into a home
