Supported by Canberra Outlet
Styling your home is easy when you’ve got the right products to work with. But so many people who seek my styling help don’t know what to buy for their home and are nervous about wasting money on items they won’t use or that won’t look good. This is my ‘go to’ list of products to style your home.
Related article: 50 top items in home decor
Related article: Turn your house into a home: Tips and tricks to add warmth and personality
1. Trays or trivets
Practical and stylish, trays work as a base to create order and make items on top look good. Simply placing items on a surface, such as a coffee table, can look ad hoc or disjointed but when you put a tray underneath, all of a sudden you have a styled arrangement.
I use trays of all shapes, sizes and materials throughout my home. They’re a more stylish way of displaying the everyday — keys on a console table, products in a bathroom etc.
Tip: to style a tray, start with your largest items first and work your way down to the smallest. Use a mix of items to introduce height, scale and shape, for example a tall slim element (perhaps an orchid or a candlestick) and a lower round item (such as a bowl or small box) create visual interest. You might like to check out my coffee table styling tips and tricks here.
2. Cushions
There’s not a more affordable way to create bang for buck in your home than with cushions! When the seasons change or I simply feel like embracing a new colour palette in the home, one of the first things I’ll change are my cushions. Chunky knits, velvet, quilted, raw linen, tassel detail and faux fur, there are plenty of stylish and affordable cushions readily available. As well as adding interest, cushions also soften and add warmth to spaces so don’t hold back!
3. Indoor plants
Plants bring a sense of life to any room. Buy real plants if you can keep them alive, otherwise there’s a fab and ever-growing range (pun intended!) of faux plants on the market that can fool most people. If you want to attempt styling with real plants, here is our list of plants that are hard to kill, otherwise our go-to stores for believable artificial plants are Freedom and Adairs.
4. Candles
There are so many reasons to love candles — their scent sets the mood of a space and these days they come in such stylish vessels that they’re a decorative item in their own right making them one of my favourite products to style your home. You can find candles in traditional glass vessels, ceramic, concrete and even timber. Shop around to find the right candle fragrance for your home, some of my favourite places to shop for candles are Provincial, Adairs and Freedom.
5. Books
A stack of magazines or books look great in so many areas of the home — on your coffee table, in a bookshelf, on a side table, on floating shelves in your kitchen or in a study. Books are a reflection of you and your interests, and instantly add character and warmth to spaces.
6. Throw blankets
Another way of adding softness to your home is with throw blankets. Draped over your sofa or the foot of your bed, they add an extra layer and visual warmth to any space.
7. Baskets
If you haven’t already discovered the wonders of baskets, jump on the bandwagon! I use baskets in just about every room of my home. In the kitchen or pantry, they’re ideal for keeping food packets organised, in the living room you can use them for storage, in the play room you won’t find a more stylish way of keeping kids toys organised, and you’ll even see them used as pot plants.
The trick to great styling is all about contrast so whatever you buy from this list, don’t feel the need to go matchy matchy — mix up materials, colours and textures to create a layered home with warmth and interest.
I hope this list of top products to style your home has given you ideas on how you can add an extra layer of style to your home. You can find all of the items I used in these images at Canberra Outlet. Happy styling!
Check out more interior styling ideas
Photography by Thorson Photography
