It’s not uncommon for city dwellers to feel overwhelmed and isolated as they lead busy lives and rush a mile a minute every single day. This is why it’s essential to make your home a place of refuge, safety and comfort where you can relax, feel warm and cozy, and most of all, protected.
What is also important is to make your home an expression of who you are. It should tell your story but it should also lift your spirits, make you feel energized and happy. The way to do that is to make it personal and decorate it in a way that allows your personality to shine through.
Here are several tips that can give you an idea about how to add more personality to your home.
Make the rooms work for you
This is important for any type of home, but particularly so if you live in a rented home or apartment. Just because the previous owners or renters used a room for a certain purpose, it doesn’t mean you have to. Make the space work for you so what was once a second bedroom can now become your kids’ playroom or sanctuary.
You might also opt to create a guest room, home gym, or a home office if that is more convenient at the moment. Or it could even be that walk-in wardrobe you’ve always dreamed of!
Create a picture gallery
If you have a bare wall that’s crying for some embellishment, consider creating a gallery. A great thing is that now you don’t have to spend a fortune to have your favorite pictures made at a studio. With a good-quality photo printer, you can easily print your own photos just like a professional!
You can hang them on nails traditionally, or you can opt for a trendier method – use floating shelves and simply display the photo frames. Try using frames of different sizes and textures to add more diversity and interest.
Add artwork and antiques
Artistic flair is very personal and displaying artwork, your collections or antiques can bring up emotional experiences and happy memories. It could be a painting of a local artist, or maybe a childhood friend who gifted it to you for some special occasion.
You also shouldn’t shy away from expressing your own artistic tendencies. If you have a wardrobe full of old hats and ties, you could find a creative way of putting them up on the wall. For instance, you could mount the hats on wooden hooks in clusters or take a long bamboo cane and drape it with a colorful row of ties. Either of these will create a unique piece of wall art.
Jazz up the back of your shelves
If you feel your living room has gone a little pale and lost the liveliness it should exude, bring some color in it by adding a sassy background to dull alcoves and the back of your shelving. Bright colors will contrast the calm whites of your walls so go for bottle green, inky blue or teal. These are striking but also very classy shades that will accentuate the stylish items you have displayed on your shelves. Just be mindful, not to introduce colors behind rows of books as it will get lost in the background.
Display your accomplishments and memorabilia
Having your accomplishments proudly showcased around your home has the power to lift your spirits when you’re feeling low. Since your home should represent you, what speaks more about you than the things you achieved in your life and career? Pride is an integral part of personalizing a home. This feeling matters and you should feel proud of everything you’ve done but you should also take pride in decorating your home and transforming it into a place of safety, comfort, beauty, and serenity.
So, go ahead and proudly display your artwork, your kids’ artwork, any medals anyone in the family had won, diplomas, pottery items, trophies, or anything else that makes you smile. Sentimental pieces can also help you feel more connected to your heritage and roots, or trips you’ve been on. It could be some family heirloom, a painting done by your parents or grandparents, or a concert ticket you can frame, an Igor Poster if you’re a fan, an album cover you used to listen to over and over in college, or some pieces you picked up during your travels. All these items will tell the story of who you are and will bring you comfort.
Whether your home is rented or otherwise, tiny or spacious, it’s still yours to make it cozy and personal, a place where you can relax and have fun. It should be a place where you can rest after work, build memories with your family and entertain your friends so they, too, feel at home. By adding important little details such as pops of color, artwork, memorabilia, and family photos, your unique personality will shine through!