Design Dilemmas
Episode 45: Styling Special. My five favourite styling tricks that are guaranteed to work every time and that are really very, very easy.
I have always been obsessed with styling my home. I get the greatest of satisfaction from stripping a room of accessories and often even furniture and then regrouping and rearranging what is there. Yes, I know. I have spent many years of my life with my friends thinking that I have, quite frankly, a screw loose. I approach redecorating and redesigning my rooms with the greatest of excitement, when others would approach the same tasks with what can only be described as the utmost of dread. We sold our house and moved into a rental last month and I have lost count of the amount of people who have commented on how quickly I have unpacked the boxes and styled the spaces (they obviously don’t know me as well as they think they do, ha).
Adding things to my home or reusing what I’ve got in a different way is another thing that has brought me much joy over the years - this week, I spoke about this very subject in an article for The Telegraph and how it’s possible to incorporate ALL the stuff you love, pretty much, and still have it look cohesive. Fact. Trawling second hand stores or auction sites is how I get my fun; for many years, my friend Karen and I have spent my birthday doing a charity shop run, stopping only for coffee and cake and never returning without at least one bag of second hand treasure. When I started posting my home on Instagram way back in 2016, I had never really met anyone (bar my sister and Karen) who felt the same way about decorating their homes as I did but from the moment I posted my first extremely shit room shot on to my feed, things changed.
It was, indeed, a revelation. Yes, there were others who cut out pictures from Livingetc and had folders full of plans and ideas for their homes; there were others who also would faint with delight when they discovered a midcentury sideboard that was going cheap. I’ve said before that I can walk around the supermarket or go to a party and not meet a single person who feels the same way as I do but on social media (and here in my Substack community), EVERYONE is as passionate about the subject as I am. When I started posting my home, it was a whole new world of interior love and over the last ten years, I’ve met friends with whom I have almost everything in common. Friends with whom I can discuss my (very regular) interior ideas with and talk about cushions and gasp at new trend developments and share thoughts and plans with. I admit it sounds rather dramatic, but it’s been really quite life changing. Since I have started Joie De Vivre, I’ve expanded my community even more and there is NOTHING I love more than chatting interiors with you all.
I started writing initially because I was asked so many questions about how and where and what I styled my home with that it I wanted to write it down in more detail, to expand and share ideas. So today, I thought it would be worth listing off my five styling tricks that I use in my own home that rank highest when I’m reassessing and restyling my spaces. I stopped myself at five as obviously I can talk about this FOR HOURS but it’s Sunday and I know you’ve all got things to do, so I’ll leave it here. Let me know if you find them useful!
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