How to create a cohesive home

Hey there,

Let’s talk home decor, shall we?? My most favourite topic, and yet I haven’t posted much on home decor lately..

I often get asked what my home decor style is. Now there are so many styles out there - classic, modern, boho, farmhouse, country, contemporary, glam, coastal, mid-century, etc, etc. The truth is, I’ve never completely related or adhered to any single style - I’m a bit all over the place that way! If you ever visit my home, you’ll find bits and pieces from all these different styles. You could say I’m a bit ‘eclectic’ or ‘boho’ or ‘a-bit-of-everything’.

I know what I love - Lots of textures, colour, pattern, functionality, and that well travelled vibe. Is there a name for this style? Let’s just call it ‘eclectic’.

If you’re an eclectic person like me, you’ve probably thought to yourself, ‘so how do I somehow tie everything together and still keep the eclectic vibe going??’ Now there’s no rule as such, but I do like a sense of cohesiveness in the house, otherwise it can feel a bit random and cluttered quite quickly. There are obviously many different ways to create a cohesive home, but it gets a bit tricky if you don’t have a single style running through your house.

So the way I do it is that I pick a colour, and use it throughout the house in different ways. You don’t really have to stick to a single colour, but you can totally have fun with it and change it depending on the season, or your mood! My current colour is BLUE! Blue is such a versatile colour, it doesn’t matter what your decorating style is - it adds a sense of calmness, peacefulness and also a bit of drama. Drama is always welcome! :D

So here are some ways in which I’ve incorporated my favourite colour blue throughout the house - it’s sometimes subtle and sometimes quite ‘out there’ but I feel like it really brings a sense of cohesiveness to an otherwise super-eclectic space!

Artwork: This is one of the easiest ways to bring a colour or a group of colours into your space. I actually tend to base the colour scheme of the room on the artwork as it’s quite nice to pull colours from the painting/art and use them as accent colours. I have used canvas paintings and prints in some of the rooms to really bring out the blues. You can obviously go crazy with artwork, but you don’t want to be all matchy-matchy, so pick and choose wisely if you’re going for an eclectic space.

Furniture: I recently replaced my off-white sofa with a deep blue velvet sofa and it’s been one of my best decisions in recent times. It is such a striking colour for a sofa and it ticks all the boxes for me. I love styling it in different ways and of course it’s blue, so that’s even better!

Even if you don’t want to commit to big furniture pieces in a particular colour, there are ways to incorporate your colour of choice in terms of door/ drawer knobs, decorative hooks, and other accessories. I changed the drawer knobs of this white chest of drawers and it immediately adds a lot of interest to a plain white chest. A quick and inexpensive way to add a bit of colour and style to a plain piece of furniture. You could also paint over existing furniture in your choice of colour - this is going to be my next project! :D

Accessories: I’ve added blue accents to all my rooms by using accessories like lamp shades, trinket dishes, baskets, plant pots, vases, coasters etc. These are nice ways of subtly introducing some colour to your home. I also sometimes use books to add a bit of blue to the room. Decorating with books is so easy and relatively inexpensive. On some occasions, I’ve bought books for the colour and not the content! Yes, true story. On rare occasions, you end up finding great books in your accent colour! Grab them immediately!

Again, the point is not to buy everything blue in colour, but a few bits here and there can do the trick and make it seem like there’s some order in the chaos.

Soft furnishings: This is also one of my favourite ways to add colour to my home. I used to have navy curtains in the living room, but I moved them to the bedroom after I bought the blue sofa. I think they create a really nice dark moody vibe (plus they block out all the light so I can sleep late :D win-win!)

Cushions are my most favourite home decor accessory and I change my cushions almost every month to create different looks. I’m known as the crazy cushion lady and have lost count of the number of cushion covers I’ve bought. I’ve made cushion covers out of clothes, fabric remnants, bedsheets and scarves. I always re-use or re-cycle them so they’re never wasted! A tip is to frame old cushion covers to make inexpensive art. Silk or brocade cushions make excellent art pieces!

Now that I have a blue sofa, I use contrasting colours for my cushions, but if you have beige/grey/off white sofas, you could easily add cushions to bring out your colour of choice. Remember, there are no rules so don’t be afraid to experiment! It’s your home after all, and if you don’t like it, just change it! Simples!

Hope you found this useful and gave you some ideas as to how to incorporate colour and also create a more cohesive space, especially if your style is eclectic. Comment below to let me know if you have any other ideas!

xx