Favorite Accessory Finds for a Bright & Unique Home

Many of my favorite accessory finds are displayed and illuminated by adding strings of lights.

Lights…I am all about the lighting! When I walk into a room, I feel cozy or I feel cold. Soft lighting from lamps and other accessories, including candle light, creates a room where everyone looks great.

Fluorescent overhead lights, hate ’em! Too bright and they turn people yellow or green, not flattering.

I love to add brown wire lights in some of my rooms. They look like Christmas lights but the brown wire makes them year ’round. 😉

Mix lights in a basket of colorful glass balls as shown above. Wherever you place lights, the eye will travel.

The brown wire lights wrapped around my twine tree are for extra lighting in my great room. Someday when we get to building it, that tree will be moving to our screened-in porch.

Incorporating mini lights into mercury glass balls makes the globes stand out and provides a gorgeous glow. Great way to illuminate dark shelving as indicated in the Shelf Decorating Post here.

Favorites.

Accessories…use your absolute favorites and stop trying to force that wedding gift you received years ago from a cherished friend. For the main living space in your home, use items which are current and put that wedding gift somewhere else. You can wrap it in packing paper and store it in a clear bin. Label the clear bin and keep it accessible so you can go back to it.

Gifts.

A lot of my favorites have been gifts and those make me think of the person who gave them to me. My family & friends have given me fabulous items over the years. I can’t display everything at once so I rotate things in and out.

Keep a clear Sterilite box, or 2 or more, labeled and within reach so you can change out accessories for a refresh. A refresh usually happens when the seasons change. If that wedding present mentioned above doesn’t work today, it may work during another season or when styles change.

Personal.

Finding this Lake Lanier sign, below, worked perfectly in our newly remodeled guest bathroom, it was a huge score. Love this piece for the wood grain and its colors that vibe with the overall lake feel of our home. Adds personality to the otherwise boring guest bath. It semi-personalizes the space and most of all it serves as the piece that replaced the first mistake I made while remodeling the home. Read on.

About the bathroom, this was mistake number one. I paid a lot of money for some floating shelves to put above the toilet. I love the look of floating shelves and wanted them in the bathroom.

Custom ordered the wrong size shelves. The width was perfect but what I didn’t realize was the depth was not. Every time someone would go to the bathroom, they would hit their head on the floating shelf, ugh. My fault. The site I ordered them from advised to order short depth floating shelves for above the toilet, yet I was so eager to order the shelves, I did not pay attention to this minor detail, patience grasshopper…epic fail.

As a result, I needed to repurpose the floating shelves. And I did, YAY!

While I was disappointed about the shelves, as soon as I saw the wooden Lake Lanier sign, I was grateful for the error. My husband, not at all, especially now that my mistakes are adding up, oopsie.

Unique.

Everyone should have a unique find in their home they consider a staple like a glass jar, lamp, sign, or pillow etc. It can be anything, piece of furniture, painting, decorative balls, whatever tells a story.

Additional images below are some of my favorite accessory finds from the early days.

The above painting of the leaves was something I bought years ago at a day market in Dawsonville. I met the man who painted it and I liked him and his work. The painting of the colorful leaves reminds me of the lake during the fall.

This Maine Blueberries box found at Scott’s Antique Market always makes me smile. Our son played hockey at Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine. Every time I glance at that box, it brings me back to some of our greatest moments in our favorite northeastern town.

Image above sports a hydrangea flower in one of my favorite little wooden boxes. I thought this box was so cool when I found it at Lakewood Antique Market not far from home. Easy to decorate, easy to display.

Seasonal.

At my favorite home decor shop, Fox Hill Interiors, I totally scored the most awesome decorative trio of bowls for my kitchen corner. I fill it with fruit and veggies which is very useful. Use both fake and real for pleasing visual.

And, of course the dough bowl, l have 3 and they are always fun to fill with seasonal items.

I continue to search for and buy what I love and what speaks to me, funny story about that phrase, here. Over the years I have purchased items that make me smile and warm my heart. Some…expensive, some…not so much.

In a nutshell, these are some home decorating ideas for incorporating favorite accessory finds. Hoping to help you create a home that is cozy and warm.

LIGHTING…SPRINKLED

STAPLES…FOUNDATIONAL

ACCESSORIES…PERSONAL

ROTATE…SEASONAL

GIFTS…DISPLAY

At the end of the day, I always refer to the following when decorating the home…decorating is personal, love your stuff, be in the mood and be patient.

Get the full Decorating 101 Story Here.