I can’t believe that this month is our six year anniversary in our home and the one year anniversary of my first book Free Decorating!
I owe today’s video topic idea to an early reader of Free Decorating who explained my philosophy as “a capsule wardrobe for home decor.” She nailed it.
I believe your home decor should be hardworking, mix and match options that you’ll enjoy redecorating with for years. That’s the philosophy I’ve used to decorate our home over the last six years.
Watch the video for five ways to start building your home decor capsule wardrobe.
1. Start with the Staple Pieces
A great capsule wardrobe is built around the staple pieces. For clothing, that’s a great pair of jeans, a good white t-shirt, an awesome blazer. For your home décor, there are staples that you must have as well. It’s the minimum to start decorating. The five that I recommend starting with are lamps, vases, trays, baskets, and books, preferably hardcover. Now, those five items are decorating staples, and they also all happen to be functional items as well.
2. Stick to a Consistent Color Palette
The second key to a great capsule wardrobe, whether it’s for clothing or home décor, is a consistent color palette. You need to limit your color choices to a few key colors and neutrals, so that you can easily mix and match. The same goes for your home décor. If you keep a consistent, limited color palette throughout your house, then you can easily move décor around from room to room when you want to freshen things up without worrying about if it will match.
3. Think Like a Collector
Next, you need to think like a collector. When you’re creating a capsule wardrobe, you’re creating a clothing collection that can mix and match together and always look great. You want to do the same thing with your home décor. If you had to display all of your home décor in the same room, would it all look good together? Would it coordinate? Would it mix and match effortlessly? That’s your goal.
4. Follow the “Three Places” Rule
The fourth thing you need to think about is the longevity of your items. The rule I like to apply here is called the Three Places Rule. Whenever you’re about to bring a new item into your home, I want you to think, “Are there 3 places I could display this?” Say you were going to buy a new vase. Could you use it on your dining room table? Would it also look great on your coffee table, or maybe in the guest bathroom? If you can’t think of three places where the item would look great in your home, then it’s probably not a good fit for your collection, and won’t last you very long.
5. Shop Your Own Home to Redecorate
One of the great things about a capsule wardrobe is it doesn’t have to just last for a season. With a few simple tweaks, it can carry on for season after season. I want you to think of your home décor collection the same way. You do not have to constantly be bringing in new home décor. You can build this collection like we’re talking about following the other four rules, your decorating staples, using a limited color palette, thinking like a collector, and using the Three Places Rule to build a collection that you can use again and again.
That’s where my fifth tip comes in, which is to shop your own home. When you crave a change in your home, don’t go out shopping. Shop around your own home. Because you’ve been following these rules, you will find it easy to remix and create new looks using the stuff that you already have.
Learn more in Free Decorating
If you love this idea of creating a capsule wardrobe for your home décor, then you must read my first book called Free Decorating. Click here to get your copy, and learn how to create an intentional home décor collection that will serve you for many years to come.
