If you're anything like us, you've probably spent a good amount of your time scrolling through Pinterest or Instagram looking at beautiful homes and gathering interior design inspiration. You might even have tried to use one of these photos to decorate your own space, only to find it never quite turns out right. There is a certain trick to putting a space together in a way that looks cohesive and intentional, and it can take some practice to refine that sense. But it is absolutely something that can be learned. To help you along the way, here are some of our tips for how you can make your home look more put together.
Area Rug
Getting the right sized area rug can make a huge difference in your space. A large rug can really pull a space together and give it the finished look that you see in interior design magazines. This becomes especially important with an open concept floorplan, where the lack of clear borders between areas makes it quite common for people to struggle with furniture layout in these spaces. Large area rugs can help define living areas within an open concept space, and make your home look much more put together and intentional in its layout and design.
If you want a great guide for how to size your rugs for the different areas in your home, check out this guide by Ruggable. We love using Ruggable for area rugs - they offer each of their rugs in multiple different sizes (even as runners) and their rugs area all machine washable.
Here are a few of our current favourites from Ruggable:
Style Your Coffee Table
There are a few places in your home where you can naturally add a personal and creative touch to really build that custom designed look to your space. The coffee table is one of those places. Leaving your coffee table blank will look unfinished and bland, but as effortless as the interior design magazines make it look, many people find themselves stumped when it comes to styling their own coffee tables. If you don't know how to choose the right items or display them to their best potential, it can often end up looking cluttered or mismatched. We could write a whole separate post about styling coffee tables, but for now - if you're struggling with making it all come together, consider getting a large tray. Don't skimp on the size, consider a tray that covers a third or half of the table's length, and place it at the centre. You can then place your decor on top of this tray, to really create a display that will look thought out and put together. And remember to not overdo it! Using too many small items can look messy, so choose a few pieces of varying size and height and don't be afraid to take something out if it doesn't look right. One of our favourite tricks is grouping items in odd numbers, which will look more visually appealing!
Curtains
Curtains are by no means a necessity, especially if you have architecturally interesting windows that you want to show off as a design feature in you room. However, if that isn't the case, you should consider using curtains as they can really add warmth and character to a room. Mixing textures in your space is one of the many tricks interior designers use to pull it all together and create visual interest. Curtains, just like rugs, can add another level of texture to your room and help create a more cohesive look. We advise hanging curtains high up on the wall, higher and wider than your windows to create the illusion of added height and width to your windows and your walls. Go for long curtains that just touch or slightly pool on the floor.
Declutter
Could we write an entire post about decluttering? Absolutely, we could probably write several! But the most important thing to remember when trying to eradicate clutter from your home, is to make sure that everything has a place. Find storage solutions to tuck away all the items you don't want lying around (less is more) and make sure that you know where each item's place is. That way when it comes time for cleaning, you know exactly where everything goes. Trust us, this will save you so much time in the long run! It also has the added benefit of making the job of tidying up seem slightly less daunting.
Upgrade Your Containers
There's no need for your household essentials to be unsightly! One of the smallest changes you can make, which can make a huge impact on how put together your space looks, is upgrading your containers. We all use dish soap, hand soap, body wash, and shampoo, but having these containers out on our counters can ruin the look of your space. On the other hand, hiding them away and only taking them out when needed is impractical and likely not something most of us would stick to long term. The alternative is to get more aesthetically pleasing containers for your essentials, and decanting the liquids into the containers. An added benefit of this is that you can save money by buying large bulk refill containers of some of your household items. If you want to step it up another notch, you can also get trays to organise the containers on your counters.
This doesn't just go for your liquid containers! You can also get glass containers for other bathroom essentials, such as toothbrushes, q-tips, and cotton buds. And don't forget the toilet brush. If you truly want to refine the look of your bathroom, get rid of the simple white plastic toilet brush we've all owned at one time or another, and invest in one with a more polished look. The details really do make all the difference.
Hide Your Cables
You can have the most beautifully designed space worthy of being featured in an interior design blog, but if your cable management is messy it can bring the whole look down. There are various tricks you can use to hide cables. If you have a wall mounted television you can consider routing the wires through the wall, but if you're renting or looking for a simpler solution there are plenty of other options. Self-adhesive hooks can be used to route your wires along the backs of your furniture where they can stay hidden. You can use cord covers that you attach to the wall and even paint them in the same colour as your wall to camouflage them. You can also hide cords in drawers. There are plenty of clever tricks for managing and hiding cables in your home in a way that doesn't distract from your design and looks intentional and put together.
There are many tips and tricks that interior designers use to pull together a space and give it that finished, custom designed look, and these were only a few of them. If any of these helped you, please let us know, or check out some of our other blog posts for more interior design tips.