The Eclectic Edge: Curating a Home That Tells Your Story

Your home should be more than just a place to lay your head at night; it should be a space that reflects your interests and shows off your personality. When you have guests visit your home, you should want them to get a flavour of what you’re all about. Personalisation is a big part of this, as you can add decor elements to your home to make it unique from everyone else’s. From family photos to cultural artwork, and everything in between, there are many ways to curate your home to tell a story.

Many homeowners tend to go with a theme for their interior design to get the same feel throughout, but curating a home that tells a story is slightly different. While you will have somewhat of a theme, you will mainly tell a story within your home decor by picking something you are passionate about and choosing decorative elements based on this. Treating your home as a canvas for your creativity and channeling your imagination to make it represent who you are is what it’s all about rather than following any design trends.

This guide will explore how you can curate a home that tells a story about yourself that aims less at impressing other people and making your interior one that allows complete expression of who you are.

Adding a Personal Touch

Having personal touches around your home, both big and small, will create a space that captures what makes you unique and is the first step to telling your story through your interior design. These personal touches can be whatever you want. While most people will choose framed photographs from events throughout their lives, there’s far more that you can incorporate to make your home tell a story. It could be random things that you have purchased when travelling to different countries, a range of your favourite books, or even decorative pieces that represent achievements in your life. You really are spoilt for choice, as you can get extremely creative with it.

Choosing which items you want to display around your home gives you the chance to let people into your world, as you share the aspects of your story that mean the most to you. Every item has its importance, so don’t shy away from including whatever your heart desires no matter how silly they might be.

Using Colours and Texture

Colour schemes within the home can be a great way to tell your story, and you don’t just need to stick to one type of colour to achieve this. If you’re a fan of gothic history and it’s a big part of your personality, you can use colours like black, deep red, purple, dark green and silver throughout your interior design so that it matches your vibe and aesthetic. You can paint walls, place ornaments, lay rugs and build storage units all in these gothic colours to help tell your story and show your interests.

The texture is also amazing for telling a story about yourself within your home and reflects your personality. If you’re someone who lives a home-based lifestyle, you can have a house that shows this by creating an interior that looks lived in. This can be achieved by adding high-comfort options around your home, such as cushions or pillows. You can also go that extra mile by adding bean bags or pouffes in your lounge areas.

Incorporating Heirlooms

Bridging the gap between past and present is important when it comes to telling a story with your interior design. It doesn’t just have to be about telling the story of your personal experiences, but also curating a home that celebrates your family history, as this plays a huge role in the person you are today. Placing family heirlooms around your home can help to fill a space productively, as you can have these sitting on empty shelves as historic keepsakes.

If you’ve had items passed down from previous generations, such as clocks, vases, or rugs, having these around your home adds an element of intrigue and authenticity that can’t be achieved in other ways. To make these pieces stand out even more, you can pair them with modern decor, which will add a level of juxtaposition to your home. We recommend placing an heirloom or two close to the front door of your home, so that any guests can instantly get a feel of your home’s story as soon as they enter.

Setting the Mood with Lighting

Similar to the colour scheme of your home, lighting can also help curate your story inside with your interior design. It’s primarily used as a way to brighten a room during the nighttime or to showcase the items inside your home, but it can also be used to set the mood and create a certain atmosphere within a space. You can use lighting that best describes your personality. For example, if you’re a more chilled and relaxed individual, you can use warm or soft lighting to help show this fact.

It’s important to also remember the power of shadows within your home’s interior. Shadows can add depth and intrigue to a space, which can help to give it more character. You can experiment with this by testing out different angles and strengths of light that will best showcase your decor that is telling your story. This can completely change how something looks, so it’s about finding what works best for you.

Conclusion

Imagine your house as a book or movie, with each room representing a chapter or scene, and every piece of decor representing a sentence in your story that tells people who you are. Sometimes the smallest touches create the biggest impression; you don’t always need large, pricey objects to convey your point. Begin with your favourite aspects, such as colours, textures, or an assortment of old heirlooms, and allow them to push your interior design in the direction that showcases your qualities. There is no right or wrong in this situation, as it all comes down to matching your place to your true self and experimenting with whatever feels right.

This article is part of the HOGDigest editorial series.
Originally written by [Darcy Fowler] and republished with permission.

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