Serious question—do you want your home to look like a stock photo? If you do, then there’s no need to accessorize.
But if you want your home to look like a place where a real person with style and taste and interesting memories lives, you need to accessorize.
Before I started to put real effort into learning how to accessorize, most of the rooms I styled looked fine. The furniture arrangements were technically correct, and the pieces I choose complemented each other nicely, but it all just felt a little plain, like it was missing something essential.
Turns out, it was missing accessories.
Accessorizing took my design skills to the next level, and I want to teach you how you can use them to level up your styling game, too.
The first step is figuring out what you need so you can source the right pieces. There are all kinds of home decor out there, but most of it can be sorted into one of six main categories. To me, they are all essential to great styling, and using an intentional combination of the six is the best way to style just about any room.
So, let’s get into it—here are the six types of home decor you need for next-level styling:
1. Art
Art pieces like framed photos, prints, and even mirrors allow you to do one very important thing when you’re accessorizing a home and that is layering. You can use an art piece to create depth in a vignette which will make your styling look more interesting. As you build your collection, look for a range of sizes and orientations. You want big, small, vertical, horizontal—the more options you have to work with the better.
2. Vessels
Vessels are a key player in just about any interior design style. A vessel can be anything from a vase to a small dish to a canister. You could even consider candles to be in the vessel category.
When you’re looking for vessels, variety is the number one thing to keep in mind. Look for different shapes, sizes, heights, and textures to create interest.
3. Plants
Plants and vessels go hand in hand. You can stick a few stems or pieces of greenery into a vessel to create drama, and you can also use flowers and greenery to add height to a vase or vessel. But plants can stand on their own, too. Plants bring a fresh, natural element into your interiors and make them feel full bright, clean, and full of life. Plus, they look good with just about any design style.
4. Books
Books should really be at the top of this list because they are an essential piece of decor to have in any style home. Books can be beautiful and stand on their own as decor pieces yes, but they are also an invaluable tool because you can use them as risers. Stacking books together lets you create bases of varying heights to lift other pieces of decor.
New books, especially hardcover coffee table books, are expensive, but they can be a great investment if you buy neutral colors that will be able to grow with you as your taste and style evolve. But there are a lot of old books looking for new homes and you can find super affordable options at thrift stores, used book stores, library sales, garage sales, and flea markets.
5. Sculptures
Things start to get a little freaky as we enter the sculpture category. The sculpture category isn’t about intentional, sculptural art (although that does fit here). It really just means any sort of figurine or accessory that doesn’t fit in one of the other categories. This could be a figurine, a small clock, or an antique tennis racket that you use as decoration. If it could be used as decor but could also be used as something else, it probably belongs in the sculpture category.
6. Big Items
"Big items" is another open-ended decor category that can include a really wide range of items, like boxes, bowls, trays, and baskets. I’ve included big items here because I tend to go after smaller pieces like candles and little vases when I'm buying home decor. But when you have too many small pieces your surfaces start to look really cluttered. Plus, if you do have a larger space you want to fill, like a shelf on a built-in or an oversized coffee table, you need a bigger object or the proportions are going to be way off.
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