Personalizing Your Space with Accessories
By Lisa Higgason
LH Interiors
Dallas, Texas
www.lisahiggason.com

Whether you're designing your home or office, adding your personality with accessories is very important. Anyone can add a sofa and chairs but the space becomes your own when you add pieces that represent your life and your desires! Adding a cluster of hand picked shells to a bookcase for the person who loves the ocean or a geode to the office of a CEO who has a love of geology, helps to personalize and add interest to the space. The accessories not only complete the room but also tell a story and bring character to the space.

Photographs, books (no paperbacks please!), collections and mementos that tell about your family are great additions to your home or office.

Remember to group like objects together instead of scattering them around the room to create the most dramatic impact. It is also important to vary the heights of the pieces grouped together to add visual interest, which can be done by placing some of the items on a book or decorative box. Anything meaningful from your past can also be used as an accessory. A silver baby cup could be used as a vase, an old iron gate can be turned into a fireplace screen, and military medals or keepsakes from a vacation can be framed and hung on the wall.

Original art is an extremely important addition to any space. Whether it is a child's drawing uniquely framed, a flea market oil painting or a bronze sculpture, the art will add meaning and importance to the setting. Contemporary art mixes beautifully with a traditional setting so don't be afraid to mix styles when it comes to original pieces. Handle art with reverence by leaving bare space around it so the eye can focus on it and def initely use proper lighting.

The amount of accessories used in a space is strictly a personal preference and a good designer should know his/her client well enough by this time in the project to determine their comfort level in accessorizing. What to one person may seem a warm and inviting space, to another may seem cluttered and claustrophobic. The space should be designed with the client's likes, dislikes and personality in mind.

Back to Design Tips