Many times we look around us and know that our home needs a change in décor but the problem always seems to be, where to begin? You are tired of looking at the same furniture, the same pictures on the wall and the same worn curtains and carpets that have outlasted their appeal by a generation or two. So then, it’s time to start planning a totally new look, a totally new décor but first you need to understand what home décor is and how to make the most of it.
All you really need is a few pointers and you’ll figure the rest out for sure. You know what you like, so that is not a problem. The problem is showing your ‘new look’ to its advantage so it doesn’t look like the same old woman wearing a new dress. Where should you begin? Get rid of the clutter now and forevermore. Here are a few good reasons to minimize clutter.
1. Every Room Has a Focal Point
The first thing you need to understand about interior decorating, and that’s what this is after all, is that every room has a focal point. Everything you do should draw the eyes exactly where you want them to go. It doesn’t matter if it’s a picture hanging on a wall, a Ming Dynasty vase or the new reclining sofas you bought from Lazy Boy, at a hefty price but well worth the cost – oh so comfy! Because you are designing the entire room around a central focal point, clutter must go.
If there are a million and one little things just lying about on tables, ensconced between books on shelves or hanging on walls because you ‘like’ them, your new décor will be ruined from the start. They all detract for your focal point, so get rid of them. If it isn’t part of your new décor, you don’t need it.
2. Everything Has a Purpose
Next, bear in mind that everything in décor has a purpose. Sometimes it is function and other times it is decorative, but everything has a purpose nonetheless. Perhaps you have just ordered an elegant brass and stag antler candelabra from Weston Table and you want that to be the focal point of your décor.
There are few candelabras of this quality and craftsmanship on the market and you want it to be the highlight of your dining room, not the table, not the buffet and not the lighted curio cabinet. Anything that doesn’t have a purpose will vie for attention so get rid of it. Keep clutter away from your focal point and you will have no trouble showing it to its advantage.
3. Placement Is a Key Element in Home Décor
Now that you’ve whittled down your furnishings and decorative items, it’s time to take one last sweep of the room. Is every item a ‘must have’ necessity? Do they all ‘fit’ what you are trying to accomplish? If not, lose them! To create a focal point, you need to take the most innocuous furnishings and decorative pieces and place them at the outer edges of your line of vision when looking directly at your focal point. Move in from there as each piece gains in attraction until you’ve placed some of the most eye catching elements in close proximity to the focal point, but not near enough to detract from it.
Also, the fewer the better. You are looking for a minimalist approach that literally drags the eye down a visual road to the one thing you want to highlight. If there is too much clutter, your delightful focal point will be lost in the transition. The object of creating a roadmap, as it were, to your focal point is to keep the viewer’s eyes moving through the room to that one point you want them to land. In this case, it would be the candelabra.
Key Points to Remember
So, what have you gathered from all this? If you found that clutter must disappear at all costs, you are right! Less is more in home décor because it is easier to draw attention to your treasure, that one piece you want everyone to see upon entering the room. If you learned that you can create a ‘roadmap’ to your focal point with strategic placement of furnishings and decorative items, you are also correct. Finally, and this is a big thing to remember, it doesn’t matter what style of décor you are after. From Victorian lace to the stark lines of contemporary décor, everything must have a purpose and a minimalist approach keeps your focal point intact.
And if those aren’t enough reasons to be done with clutter, remember how easy it will be to clean and dust with only a few pieces to be concerned with! The more you have, the harder it is to clean and that’s a plain and simple fact of life.
Delicia Warren is a freelance writer, passionate about the environment, organic farming and food production. An advocate for a holistic approach to the world’s problems, she has a particular interest in the small changes individuals can make to their lifestyle to minimize their environmental footprint.
