1) Floors: This may seem like an unexpected place to start, but I find that one of the things is an attention to what happens under your feet. Rugs and carpet aren’t the only thing you can do to floors, but they’re a common first step because they help with the sound insulation in any room. That softness and warm feeling that comes from having textiles in a room is something that instantly makes a room feel more lived-in. So one of the first things is find a way to introduce textiles that mean something to you. Whether that means laying down your grandmother’s rag-rug from the 50s or stitching together salvaged remnants from a thrift shop or making your own DIY floor cloth, adding something to the room that both absorbs sound and has special meaning to it is a great way to make a room feel special.
2) Lighting: it allows you to add a personal touch (like a favorite family lamp from home or something you made from found materials and a lamp kit) and it allows you to determine where and how light works in your room. So often homes and apartments are constructed with the simplest lighting available – a single overhead bulb or extra-bright fluorescent lighting. The cost-effectiveness of these choices is understandable, but having soft lighting at a lower height in the room does a lot to make a room feel cozy. So for that reason it's important create separate areas for reading, eating, relaxing, etc.
3) Storage: One of the biggest lessons we learned about a house feeling like a home has to do with functionality. So many design decisions are based on aesthetics, but it’s hard to get around to decisions that are based on style before you deal with all the basic necessities of storage. Eameses introduced us to the beauty of a well organized bookshelf and boxes storage also have an aesthetic and meaningful side, too. For some, storage can be simple and straight forward (L-bracket shelves and neat rows of items), but in other homes it can be a chance to showcase a love of handmade baskets, storage containers that have a family history (like boxes from a family farm or company) or items that connect to a trip or moment in your life that is meaningful. So whether your home storage is about leaving room to display things that matter most to you, or displaying the storage devices that mean something on their own, this simple step of giving everything a place of its own goes a long way in creating a room that feels beautiful.
4) Artwork: Artwork is too often written off as being elitist, expensive and frivolous. But from the earliest days, people have decorated their homes with all sorts of things that mean something to them. From found objects in nature (like collections of shells and pinecones) and family weavings to photographs, sculptures and paintings, art can be anything and everything you want it to be. And, most of all, it adds an element to your home that makes it feel unique to you, your interests and what you find beautiful. I personally find fairly empty walls to be soothing, but I find that artwork of any type (so long as it’s special) adds additional meaning to the architecture around you and highlights objects in a special way. If you’re looking to make your rooms come to life, make a short list of the things that you love and want to see every day. Your list could include a collection of books you’d like to display in a creative way, a family portrait, a branch you found in your yard or a doorstop you grew up with that becomes a tabletop sculpture – or anything else that makes you smile when you look at it. Give these items a special spot in your home (on a table, on a bookshelf, attached to the wall or housed in a display case or shadowbox) and they will take on a whole new meaning that gives people an instant sense of what you find beautiful when they walk in the door.
