Our homes are our solace, a shelter from the storms of life, an escape from the demons and conflicts that haunt us daily. Renewing our living space comforts and soothes us to be calmer and happier people. Just a few colorful and individual touches can perk up your home now as more peaceful, slower days let us relax a bit. I have collected six Decorating Resolutions to create a more personal, inviting space that is a home all your own. Even your laundry room can be calming amidst this daily task.

A Gallery of Love

I know the holidays have been captured on your phone, along with many other memories stuffed in your photos. Grab those special pictures, quirky and heartbreaking, add with any other old and precious photos and collage a memory Wall of special moments. The centerpiece of my main room is a wall plastered from top to bottom with a gallery of family, long gone, long grown up, long lost to memory and long loved. Every time I pass by, I am flooded with memories and the snapshots become a talking piece for all.

Artfully arranged photos bring presence and personality to a room, creating a decorative timeline. Here are a few tips when designing your photo gallery. Skip the heavy, ornate frames for modern, simple contemporary frames; vary the sizes and shapes of frames; hang the photos “en masse” for a dramatic look.

To help you visualize the collage, block out an area on the floor or on a big piece of butcher paper with the measurements of your space, and arrange the photos on the floor like a puzzle so that you can visualize the finished look. When you complete your photo wall, I can assure you that this is one resolution that only gets better with time.

Explore Earthy Textures

Now that our world is opening up a bit, we are more anxious to layer on more textures to announce an exuberance to our living spaces, in hopes of shedding the isolation and monotony of our 24/7 homes. Expect to see more attention to tactile materials such as reclaimed wood, soft plaster accents and burnished or weathered leather finishes, as a nod to the comfort of nature/ nurture. As always, I look towards outfitting your windows in our ever popular Woven Wood Window Treatments that easily evoke our increased need for warmth and calmness. Handcrafted from natural materials, these truly organic window coverings are an easy antidote to refresh any windows with sophistication and simplicity.

Live And Work Together

Continuing to live and work in our homes is only going to become more paramount and permanent as the hybrid model of home office and work office becomes a standard for many of us. A flexible work space for us and a quiet place where our children can learn and possibly a spot that can also accommodate grandparents, is the new reality. Our dream of the big, open plan home is now giving way to multifunctional spaces to accommodate for privacy for different activities. With so much at home time, don’t forget that large windows and high ceilings are special by enhancing views to the outside and providing luxuriant light. Motorize now and open your window treatments easily. Resolve now, to prepare your home for life (if ever, beyond COVID) for more solitary and stress free spaces.

Very Valances

If you are still in a funk and need some décor cheer, one of the easiest ways to renew a room is to change up the window treatments. Adding a valance to any window creates an immediate polish and panache. After all, a valance is just a short decorative heading which can hide many imperfections at the top of your window covering or can purely be another layer of window décor. Today’s valances are not fussy or flowery but are simple, sharp, with clean lines. Remember to hang valances above the window frame to create a sense of height to draw the eye upward. Decorating is so much the art of illusion and really is not a mystery if you know a few tricks. Valances should be part of your décor magic!

Crafts Galore

Since many of us have been hibernating in our homes, this “slowing down” has given us a rare opportunity to explore more “hands on” activities such as baking, painting and crafting. With this increased interest in hand made things of our own, our appreciation of vintage and craft pieces is enhanced since we are now able to understand the challenges and satisfaction in using our own hands. We can also find beauty in the vintage pieces and found décor items that we might have overlooked. Simpler tastes translates to simpler lives. Resolve to keep the clutter in our minds and in our living spaces to a minimum.

Spunky Walls

After staring at your plain painted walls for so long, are they getting monotonous? Why not perk up your entryway or a small patch of wall space with a decorative wall treat, either stenciled, wallpapered, upholstered or layered with art work. You don’t have to do a large area. Just pick an easy spot to renew, even your laundry room. Pick a large dramatic pattern and stencil an unforgettable area. Stencils are mindless and just like painting by numbers, are easy to use. Choose an oversized design to trace for emphasis. One little part of a wall can make a big splash. Think happy for this New Year!

One of my favorite ways to enliven a wall is to pilfer your children’s art work and collage a whole wall with the whimsy and colorful imagination from our young ones’ unfiltered minds.

Any one of these decorating resolutions will lift your spirits and light up your home as you surrender to the icy blasts of the chilly weather, warmed and soothed in your favorite place.

Featured Image Source: Aaron Gallery

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