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Your home design is so important, as it’s the space that you’re going to spend most of your time in. The free reign you have with your decor gives you unlimited options when it comes to designing your home, so you can create an environment that improves your comfortability. The best way to do this is by creating a space that has a lot of character, with personalisation helping to give you an interior that appeals to you so that you enjoy it more.
This guide will explore how you can successfully add character to your home without doing an entire remodel of the property. You can do this with little effort and without having to spend a whole weekend completing DIY tasks. Continue reading to find out how you can do this.
Adding Character to Your Home
Layered Textures
Adding character to a home with layered textures involves combining materials like wool, linen, velvet and wood to create visual interest. One thing you can do is layer rugs rather than just having one planted in the middle of the room, as this will make your space look more interesting. You can also mix cushion fabrics, use textured wall treatments like panelling and introduce natural elements to make spaces feel lived-in and bespoke.
Choose materials that age over time, too, such as antique brass, reclaimed wood and worn leather, as this will add a sense of history to your home.
Lighting Upgrades
Lighting upgrades are also great for enhancing your space with more character. It involves layering light sources, replacing standard fixtures with statement pieces and introducing atmospheric bulbs to create cosy spaces in certain areas. Incorporate dimmable pendants, sculptural floor lamps to enhance texture, add height and define zones. This can help to make your rooms more inviting.
Using LED lighting is highly recommended too, as not only do these look the part but they will also save you a lot of money on energy bills.
Add Contrast
There’s multiple ways to add contrast to your home with ease. You can use dark tones on walls to create a contrast against light-colored decor, which will add more intrigue to your space as you balance between dark and light colours. To prevent a chaotic look, make roughly 80% of the room a neutral base and introduce 20% high-contrast accents, like a black console table in a white room, to get the best effect.
You can also have accent walls by painting a single wall in a moody colour against a light room for an immediate focal point. It will instantly draw the eyes of any guests and make your space feel cosier.
Personal Photographs
The best way to add character to your home is by personalising your space. Making it feel like your own by including personal photographs on walls or side tables makes a house feel truly lived-in and individual to those who are inside of it. You don’t just have to have standard photo frames placed everywhere, as there are unique ways to get photo prints around your home. Collage prints allow you to get multiple personal photographs into one.
You can also use old window frames, coat hangers or clipboards to mount photos in a creative way that gives your space a vintage feel. This is perfect for a more rustic interior.
Meaningful Art
Replacing generic decor with meaningful artwork can have a big impact on the feel of your interior. You should choose pieces that reflect personal stories, memories or values, so you can get a deeper connection to their environment and spark conversation with any guests that come over. Sometimes art can feel empty when there’s no feelings behind it, so you should only have art in your home that truly resonates with you.
Investing in original or custom art is often a more sustainable choice than replacing low-quality, mass-produced decor. This also adds long-term value to a home, with sustainability now being one of the biggest trends in the interior design world.
Scent Zoning
Scent zoning is the practice of using specific smells in different rooms to define the space. It can be an effective way to boost moods and create a welcoming home atmosphere that makes everyone happy as soon as they walk through the front door. Scents like calming lavender in bedrooms can be great for giving you a space that actively makes you want to relax and sleep, while giving it a unique characteristic compared to the rest of the house.
Zesty or herbal scents work well to cut through cooking odours in the kitchen, so you won’t ever have to deal with bad smells that can ruin the character of your home.
Final Thoughts
When adding character to your home, you should create a space that truly feels like yours. Personalisation is the key to this with there being so many ways to get an interior that you enjoy being inside. While completing big renovations like home extensions can be time-consuming, these simple additions to your home can make the biggest difference.
