7 Essential Decorating Techniques to Implement in Your Home

Hello! I hope you are enjoying your day! Today, I have compiled a list of 7 essential decorating techniques to implement in your home. Each of these techniques plays a part in the fundamentals of design. I will review these techniques with you so your home is as gorgeous as ever!

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Essential Decorating Techniques to Implement

The core fundamentals of design are emphasis, alignment/balance, contrast, repetition, movement, proportion, and white space. These fundamentals are the foundation of the 7 techniques I have shared below.

Escape the “Uniform” Look

You want your decorations to have a balanced feel without being uniform. The fundamentals of design apply to this technique.

For example, my built-in shelves have an array of different decorations. I’ve implemented the following techniques:

Alignment/Balance: Some decorations are towards the front, others towards the back.
Proportion: The decorations are all sorts of shapes and sizes
White Space: Especially near the larger items, there is space so the decorations are not overly crowded. Notice that some decorations have more white space than others to avoid the uniform look.

Whether it’s your kitchen shelves, built-ins, or even a flower arrangement, you want to space things out so they complement each other without looking uniform.

Stay with a Color Pallet

Sticking with a similar color pallet throughout the house is an important technique as well! Obviously, if you’re renting or aren’t in a position to renovate, then this technique might be a little tricker. But don’t worry because there are ways around it! For example, a throw rug is the perfect way to add a different color to the floor.

My coffee station is an example of where I stay with the same color pallet. The whites and neutrals all work together for the feel of perfection. The fundamentals that I implemented here in relation to staying within the same color pallet are:

Emphasis: the color orange on the tea tin and caramel container pops out against the whites and neutrals.
Alignment/balance: all the colors work together and balance each other out.
Contrast: the black farmhouse hardware against the white paint of the furniture.

Incorporate Textures

Textures are another technique when it comes to decorating. For example, I have added pillows and a rug to my screened-in porch to add texture.

In relation to this decorating technique, the top fundamentals of design I have implemented on my screened-in porch are:

Emphasis: the softness of the cushions emphasizes the desire to sit and enjoy the moment.
Contrast: the rug and flag texture breaks up the surface to attract the eye to the change.

Odd Numbers are the Way to Go

Not always, but often decorating with odd numbers is the best way to go. You have to evaluate the situation, but typically speaking, if you decorate with an even amount of decorations, you run the risk of it being too balanced.

For example, the whiskey barrel in the master bedroom has 3 items on it. The odd number of decorations helps balance the whiskey barrel.

In relation to the odd numbers technique, my whiskey barrel exemplifies these fundamentals of design:

Alignment/Balance: the barrel has 3 items to balance the overall appeal.
Proportion: the plants and candle balance the large whiskey barrel.

Storage is Your Friend

Don’t forget about storage! Yes, this can be a decorating hack! For example, I recently refurbished my bookshelf headboard and added barn doors to give it the farmhouse look. This technique is one of my favorites because its functional while appealing to the visual sense.

It doesn’t have to be a huge closet, but even a small area where certain items have a designated space. This way, you can stay organized and minimize the quantity of stuff because it will exceed the storage space you have set aside.

For my farmhouse headboard, I used:

Alignment/Balance: the doors balance each other because they are on both sides.
Proportion: the doors are the perfect size requirements for what we need.
Movement: the hardware allows the door to slide, making the storage easy to get to.
White Space: there are no barn doors in the center, allowing the middle storage section to cater to more decorations.

Everyday Items can be Utilized

Yes, you better believe it! Everyday items can be used to decorate! Here is a sneak peek of my built-in kitchen shelves that I recently decorated. This is the perfect example of this decorating technique.

The fundamentals of design I used for this technique are:

Emphasis: the kitchen items stand out as opposed to the living room shelves I mentioned earlier. This makes it known that these shelves are in the kitchen (well, technically, it’s in the dining room, but you get the picture).
Repetition: again the kitchen/dining room items (for example the placemats) make it clear where this shelf belongs in a house.

Don’t Go Overboard

This sounds so simple, but it can be so easy to do!! I recently decorated my entryway bench for summer and this is the perfect example. You don’t want to go overboard with the decorations.

I could have added a larger bin for shoes or more plants in my entryway, but this is plenty.

The last fundamentals I showcase for this technique are:

Emphasis: The primary item (the bench) is the main focal point. Everything else is extra.
Alignment/Balance: there is a large plant and a small table on either side of the bench.