I am nearly half way through my month-long focus on Interior Styling, and I feel compelled to share an internal struggle I am having. In second half of the series I promised to show how to style several surfaces in my home, including a sofa table, ottoman, dressers, night stands, and end tables. I am excited to tackle these surfaces, because many of them are now bare.
But here is my struggle…finding balance between pretty and practical. The job of an Interior Stylist is to make spaces photo-worthy. As Interior Stylist Adam Fortner explains,
“The photographer and stylist’s job is to take that three-dimensional, fluid space and present it in a two-dimensional static photograph within a limited frame.
Everything we do serves the photo, which can mean eliminating or moving things so they look best on camera, not necessarily so they function in the space. I tell people you can’t live in a styled room…”
– A Master Interior Stylist Explains Interior Style vs. Interior Design, Aspiremetro.com
Did you know most of those styled spaces gracing the glossies aren’t functional? So, how do you get the magazine-look at home? It’s not real. It’s not livable.
It makes me wonder what is the right level of styling for a real, livable home? I want to show you the “right” way to style these surfaces, but I also want to keep it real. The. “right” way, which looks amazing, may not be the way we live everyday. Kind of like all the magazine shots you see with fresh flowers in every room. Most people don’t spend a couple hundred dollars a week to spread fresh blooms throughout their house.
Here is what I think I want to do, and I would love your opinion on the matter. For the surfaces that need styling, I want to show you the “right” way and the “real” way. I may show a couple of variations on how to style the surface. Then, I want to get real and show you how it will stay styled for our everyday living.
To keep it really real, I am going to show you each surface in its current everyday state, mostly lacking any styling. With two young and rowdy boys, I have used them as an excuse to leave these surfaces bare. But, no more. I am determined to find practical and pretty ways to style these surfaces.
Sofa Table – Other than a tray I love that holds magazines, this surface has remained bare. We have two floor lamps on either side of it. I am nervous to put a lot of decor here for fear the boys, or others sitting on the sofa, might knock it over. Yet, when I look through magazines and walk through furniture stores, I love a well-styled console. Also, as I mentioned in the 10 Interior Styling Mistakes to Avoid, the empty space under the sofa table is a big no-no. I am working on something to fix that ASAP.
Ottoman – This one is totally naked. And, it is not all because of the boys. Since this ottoman is on wheels, it gets moved around a lot to make more playroom. The boys also love to build and play on top of it. It is also an amazing footrest. So, putting anything on top of the ottoman seems inconvenient. I already have the perfect round tray and showed it styled with my new pet store decor. But, the tray is now sitting on the dining room table. I want to put it back on the ottoman, but struggle with practicality.
On the other hand, the DIY rug ottoman in our basement family room is stationary. The big square tray on top of it holds vases, books, and a smaller tray for remotes. It is a keeper. Although, every once in a while the boys knock over the vases. They are quick to stand them back up.
End table – We do not have a lot of end tables. This faux bamboo one, the best yard sale find ever, in our basement family room is still in the middle of a makeover. I look forward to styling this table with a great lamp and some other fun touches.
Night stands – Our night stands are pathetically bare. Our current lamps are too small. Our boys used to come into our room in the morning when they woke and play with whatever they found on the night stands. That led us to keep everything off the nightstand. Now, they are older and have grown out of that phase. I am ready to get these night stands looking pretty and grown up.
Dressers – The two high-boy dressers we have, one in the master bedroom and the one in my studio, are probably the best styled surfaces. That is because they are out of the boys reach. But they still look pretty bare.
Do you struggle with finding balance between practical and pretty in your home? Found any ways to overcome it?
yes, I like your plan of showing options. When I start “putting things” onto my surfaces, I worry that I’m adding clutter.
Pam, I am the same way. It can be hard to add stuff without feeling like it is clutter. My approach will be less is more, because I still like a lot of clean surfaces.
For me, function wins every time. Otherwise I just end up with piles of stuff shoved to the side. I have a few styled surfaces (the mantle, some ledge shelves and a couple of others) but they are places that do not naturally get used. End tables, sofa tables, consoles, dresser tops – those places are used often. These days, the most I do on any of them is a lamp and a bowl or basket for pens, jewelry, keys and the like. The “styling” under my entry way table (which I agree is an important place to put something) is a basket for library books. It’s sometimes empty, sometimes overflowins, always changing, but used most every day. I enjoy reading this series and think showing the options is the way to go. I have many interesting things on my walls but on surfaces? Those things are mostly packed away for “one day” that I suspect will never come.
I never paid attention to thes surfaces until I enrolled in an online course by Justina Blakeney and she shared a lot of ideas and tipps on how to style 5 key areas in your home. Our “homework” was to style the areas and take photos which we shared in class. It was a lot of fun and since then I’ve been paying more attention. I am lucky because my daughter is now big enough to not mess around with the decor. ;) Even when she was little she understood what she could play with and what not. She had her play areas and a lot of space for herself even in the living room. But with two boys that’s probably different.
I would never put things on my table just for the good looks if it wasn’t practical I guess… I am looking forward to seeing what ideas you will share.
Jule
Jule, Sounds like that was a great class. I am going to try to find decor to style with that is pretty and functional…and hopefully indestructible.
In our home, we have two young, energetic boys and a wheelchair to contend with. While I like all of the pretty pictures on blogs & Pinterest, I’m over the idea of having a home that looks like those rooms. I want my home above all to be functional and comfortable for my family. When things are overstyled, I worry more about maintaining that order and protecting my objects than I do about my children being happy.
That being said, I am definitely looking forward to seeing how you can balance pretty with practical. I have tubs of objects/vases/baskets/etc in storage while I figure out what will work for us in the long term and am looking forward to some inspiration to dress up our home a bit.
I totally agree with Catherine. Beautiful is wonderful to look at, but I have to deal with reality. Now that my kids are a bit older, (13, 11, 8, and 6), I’ve been successful with decorating a bit more around the house. But it’s still a weak area for me and the accessories are the hardest part. Plus, balls still fly around my house on a daily basis, so I have to be careful with what I choose! Love your recent post on the object, too. Youve identified my issue and now that it’s identified, I can work on it!
Tiffany, Yeah…we have to watch out for the unexpected ball or toy flying around over here. We try to keep most of those temptations outside, but on occasion the boys forget. I am not even worried about the actual decor getting broken…it is the possible injuries that make me nervous.
I am so excited that you are going to do this.
I struggle with wanting my home to look “show-worthy” and the reality of it being the space we live in and use daily. My biggest pet peeve is kitchen messes and clutter, but… that’s reality! Dishes need to be washed, and mail gets left on the counter to be sorted! Thanks for sharing some of your “bare” spaces!
Im looking to forward to what you have coming on this subject. I too struggle with arrangements due to practicality, and wholehartedly agree re: your ottoman. Whilst it looks pretty, its never going to remain permanent due to its original function. I like ‘stuff’ but sometimes its not always practical especially whilst there is a toddler in the house!
Melissa, I totally agree. I figure this season in my life with young kids, means my decor will be less. When they are older I am sure I will be able to do more.
I would love examples of both. My son is pretty good about not touching my stuff, but it’s his house too. I struggle with styling with what I already have. I don’t want to go out and more more things just to style. I also love being surrounded by objects that I’ve had for years that have a lot of meaning to me and make me smile when I look at them. I have been thinking about your “three” rule and am finding other ways to style my objects. BTW, I signed up for your Project Management course. Can’t wait.
Lisa, with the exception of a few things I have been planning to purchase for a while, I am trying to do this series with things I already have. It can be so tempting to just go buy everything, but I like the challenge of using what I have. Although, you may see me reuse the same things in my examples. Yay! I am excited you will be in class!
I love your idea…because on the rare occasion that there’s a grown up event going on then things can be nicely styled. Then when the kiddos are up, out, and about then have reality styling. :)
Terri, Very true. That is where I think trays will come in handy…like the ottoman tray that is now on my dining room table. It is all ready to go when I want to put it back on the ottoman.
I really loved this post..can’t wait to see what all you come up with! I too, struggle with the same thing..I do think function usually wins lol
Thanks for the great posts!! I really love your decor & learn alot!!
Thanks Joey!
My pleasure Jackie!:)
I had sisters. We had wonderful local shops with an eye for display and what to buy at market. Several stores helped us put together vignettes. My sisters and I plus my Mom would buy us the latest styling things. I was poor. We’d gotten new furniture and all out wooden country stuff went to Goodwill. What to do? My sister quickly rattled off from three hours away: get out your pretty candlesticks and showcase them in the center of the table. Use that stripe of accent reddish color in the candles to bring it in the room. Although matching pillows came with this expensive couch, I bought inexpensive pillows in that color. For the coffee table, I searched for books from around the house with the lighter, darker, and the tiny reddish burgundy color stacked. I set an object on top. I used a set of inexpensive brass candle holders on the other side of the books. On top of the piano, I used Andes Candy wrapped in the shade of blue of my couch in a pretty candy dish. The candy was a dollar. I found a brass bucket with a blue handle to put magazines in next to the reading chair. I used a few family photos on end tables and small books in the right colors. For less than $25 I had purchased candy, pillows and candles. I even bought inexpensive China salad plates in my accent colors to hang on my bay walls of window as I had a window with those walls. They too were part of the $25 budget. If I even spent that. But when a style goes out so completely and there’s no money to start over, candles, wrapped candy, pretty bowls even empty, stacks of books, the tray, an orb, and a little sentimental object add just the right touch. I pour over magazines now and update often my sofa table buying PB things on clearance, and since its clearance, I don’t get nervous when my grandson tosses a ball or my friends’ boys want to run and have fun. They are just things. I keep my special great grandmas’ plates and cups for my hutch in another room. I love to watch the children play. But as a teacher I was able to let kids have fun play time yet not destroy stuff too.
Such a timely post. Just Sunday morning about 4:30am, I was cleaning off the end table next to the living room sofa (I was too stuffed up to sleep). I switched out the lamp there to a slightly taller one so I could see my book better and thought to myself “I can’t wait until Jackie shows me how to style this table and the coffee table. I want to know how to have it look nice and still keep everything I need handy.”
I am looking forward to seeing the way to practically style these surfaces.
Love this post! And I love your idea about showing your readers a styled and ever day styled surface. With a toddler, this is something I struggle with, too. Sometimes I just have to remind myself that he has outgrown a stage and I have to try styling a surface and just seeing what happens. Sometimes he doesn’t take notice or is wholly uninterested, other times it’s like he’s hit the jackpot of stuff to tinker with!
Just recently I saw a photo–I don’t remember where–and thought, “Seriously? You put a pumpkin on your couch????” The hardest spot for me would be the living room coffee table/ottoman, because as you said in your family, it gets moved around a lot, plus people want to put their feet on it, plus reading materials and remotes need to live there if more than one person wants to actually sit on the couch! On the other hand, a great benefit of trays is that you can easily move the tray with all the styling intact. =)
Your style is so fresh! I am very into turquoise right now. Is that little fan vintage or new?
Gail, Thank you. The fan is new. I found it at HomeGoods.
I love the idea of showing “styled” versus “real”. With 7 and 5 year old boys, my coffee table styling usually consists of lego creations, army men and coloring books. I want a pretty looking space, but I struggle with it looking cluttered or overly-styled, and I still want them to be able to use the space too. I can’t wait to see what you come up with, and I am loving this series, thanks for putting it all together!
I struggle with this too. I also have two boys (10 and 8). They have outgrown the age where I worried they would put things in their mouth and try to break them, but there are still many magazine or blog or pinterest ideas that I don’t even try. A big reason is that I want them to feel comfortable; this is their house too, and I don’t want them to ever, ever feel like they can’t live here to the fullest. They won’t be here forever. When they are in college, I can style to my heart’s content — and probably think wistfully of the days when I couldn’t.
I do what it looks like you are doing: I do what I can and try not to worry about what I can’t. I focus on styling higher surfaces. Pillows, books, and metal objects are safe; so is a painted wall. We anchor art and mirrors so securely they could withstand a hurricane. We pay attention to colors. Stuff like that.
Loving this styling series!
For years now I’ve tried to convince my better half to let me get rid of the alarm clock solely because it doesn’t look pretty on the night stand, but I sleep like a rock and it’s just not realistic for us. Just recently we found one a little more aesthetically pleasing. I also have a love hate relationship with ceiling fans. My living room would look way cooler with a pendant light but I like that breeze when needed.
Dominique, Glad you found a cuter alarm clock. I am on the hunt for one for my nightstand. I agree with you on ceiling fans, they aren’t pretty but they are so functional. In smaller spaces you may be able to get away with a tabletop fan. I love this retro looking fan in my bathroom and the cute one in my studio.
Great idea!
Hi Jackie- I totally get where you are coming from. I had to chuckle about the sofa table…my best friend had one and I still remember seeing her cat flying over it quickly (albeit less gracefully) followed by her 40 lb harrier hound in hot pursuit! Kids, animals…what are you going to do? But either way I also think it’s smart to have non-kid-friendly spaces to help teach kids what to do and not do.
My children are 6 and 2 so function takes the cake. However, I like to corral things in pretty containers. It’s the best balance I can achieve right now.
Thank you so much for this series! My boys are 6 and 2 and I’m just now trying to start bringing back some styling in our home, mainly on shelves and walls where the occasional flying ball won’t be a problem. I think the real answer is we have to decorate our homes according to the season of life we are in. For me, that means function over form right now but it doesn’t have to mean you live in a totally blank slate. I’m determined to learn from this series how to decorate my home better with things other than family photos! Really looking forward to seeing how you style end tables. My living room tables need some pizazz!
Shannon, So glad you are following along. I whole-heartedly agree there is a season in life for kid-friendly styling!