I was watching YouTuber Rachel Nguyen’s loft tour; surprisingly, I’m taking an interest in home décor nowadays.
From furniture and bedsheets to photographs or paintings on the wall, I love how a mood is established based on the items selected and paired together within a room.
Rachel’s philosophy is along the lines of – taking care of your home is as important as taking care of your physical appearance because, ultimately, your home is a reflection of your inner self. Touché.
I thought I needed to move somewhere more spacious but frankly, I’ve gotten comfortable. It’s a matter of creating my space, enriched with who I am, and it’s still progressing.
To ring in the new year, I decided to redecorate my space. I wanted to have a cosier ambience and open up the small area I call my bedroom-living room-mini pantry rental space. Furniture was rearranged and taken out. I even added an unused couch and coffee table from my parents’ home! I tried bringing more life, so I purchased dried flowers and small wall art, for under Rp10,000 on Tokopedia. I plan on purchasing neon lights, but that’s for later. Little tweaks like these simply add another notch to having a cosy nuance, no matter how tiny or spacious my home is.
How can you get your home cosier, enough to call it a sanctuary?
First and foremost – select a style and plan for your home interior. It could be casual, contemporary, modern, traditional, etc. Establish a plan to determine the kind of ambience which makes you feel comfortable. One easy way to add warmth and character is by using wooden accessories and furniture.
Then, choose a focal point within each room by setting it apart with its scale, colour, or texture. Using contrast and variety adds visual interest to a room. Do keep in mind to repeat elements such as colour, texture, and pattern.
Speaking of colour, pay attention to colour combinations. Monochrome shades help to set a less chaotic ambience because a lack of contrasting colours means less tension. Naturally, it feels less busy. If you need some colour, choose a different style and colour scheme in each room while always falling back on complementing and coordinating with one another.
Dakota Johnson’s kitchen is perhaps one of my favourite kitchens that I’ve stumbled upon. It’s green, but this beautiful vibrant shade of deep green. The actress talked about her desire to have the perfect green shade in her kitchen, which she failed to achieve whilst living in New York. This green is absolutely perfect! To me, the kitchen looks like a retro-inspired curative space, which, in a way, it is. Whoever loves to cook needs functionality as well as engaging appeal in their kitchen.
Home décor can go over your budget, but you should still invest in furniture. A couch and a bed are important to have first – and now I know why.
It gives a separate set of tones to the room. In my case, the couch enables me to have a sense of living room where I can do work, have socially distanced gatherings, or simply relax. Luckily, I could take these pieces of furniture from my parents.
When it comes to artwork, a rule of thumb is to set wall décor at eye level. Disco balls and neon lights are items to hang on the wall to further elevate your space. You can get customised neon light words hung on the wall as model Kendall Jenner did. A 3D wall elevates a room without a focal point.
Ever wondered how home inspiration photographs look visually appealing? The art of display differentiates practical storage and a beautiful feature. The key is to not overcrowd the space, choose accessories in the same colour, and group items together in odd numbers. Use books, accessories and plants, foliage or flowers too.
Make sure to plan thoroughfares. Fight the urge to fill every wall and shelf, otherwise, you’re in danger of cluttering the scheme. Cramming too much furniture into an area without leaving enough room for people to walk around comfortably is a big no-no. Leave a few areas free to create a better sense of space.
Something often overlooked in home décor is having good lighting. Include a good mix of overhead lighting, task lighting, mood lighting, and accent lighting. Using the right colour and brightness of light bulbs for the right tasks will make your room look and perform at its best.
In case you have an open-plan room, use rugs to break up the same flooring throughout the space and divide accordingly to give an impression of distinct sitting and dining areas. You could do this to set apart a special area for work. The concept of working from home will run smoothly if we have the right bedroom atmosphere. I don’t think anyone imagined stay at home orders would last this long.
Staying inside for the majority of the past year had interestingly become a source of transforming homes with creativity and personalisation to some. What about creating video-conferencing nooks? Zoom calls are not disappearing anytime soon. Show how your space represents who you are. A slice of your personality is represented within your surroundings – like what Rachel said in her loft tour.
Taking into account that not all of us living in Indonesia own properties, these simple home décor ideas allow your room, apartment, or house to feel like your sanctuary. Just because it’s not permanent doesn’t mean you can’t create memories and seek comfort.
Well, I’m planning to get neon lights above my bed soon. How about you?