Freshening Things Up: The Decorative Oomph

The decorative oomph, the parallels between writing about interior design and decorating, and working with interior design and decorating isn’t as different as you may think.

At least four times a year I go back into the blog dashboard and select blocks of posts to reread for the sake of relevancy. Images and sources aka the accent pieces of the post are what’s up for creative and decorating reconsideration.

Freshening things up applies to all areas of design and decor.

When you get down to it, do we, as decoristas, ever really place the period at the end of the design and decorating sentence? A comma perhaps, but never a period.

New seasons and phases of decorating life bring about new ideas and arrangements.

If interior design, decorating, and fashion magazines churned outdated and tired information it would be time to cancel the subscription.

My mother-in-law taught by example the importance of rearranging, re-positioning, and refreshing the look of a space in order to achieve a very important element of design and decorating, the decorative oomph.

“It is always the simple
that produces the marvelous.”

—Amelia Barr

Now, I’m not suggesting a costly and/or timely undertaking.  What I’m talking about is applying the principle of musical chairs.

There are several definitions for the term, and the confusing, rapid and all over the place definition does not apply here.

What I’m referring to is this:

musical chairs

noun

• a series of changes or exchanges of position

An affordable solution to the decorative doldrums is to rearrange and redistribute items.

Some of my best moves, decoratively speaking, have come about from actually sitting still long enough in the space and studying the entire contents of the room.

Sit down.

Look at the accents, art, accessories, etc…

Identify decorative accents ripe for the let’s move this to another spot picking.

Do you notice the decorative oomph?

Pinterest

There’s not a single one of us who hasn’t moved this over here and that over there at one time or another, often with a “that looks so much better there” result- better known as design and decorating V8 moments.

Antiques auctions provided Hopefully Classic and Places In The Home with a rotating inventory. There was a whole lot of updating going on at the shop and at the house.

Good and stylish times.

Like a moth to a flame, my eyes and bid card would lock on decorative lamps in need of TLC- total lighting care.

Rewired and ready for double decorative duty as part accent, part task lighting, these double socket treasures would be fitted with one soft white light bulb and one soft pink light bulb.

The result is visually pleasing and creates a surprisingly balanced look- the decorative oomph.

 

Is this piece new?

No.  It was in the __________.

As a frequent player of the musical home decor game, I have been asked that question or a variation of it a couple of hundred times.

It seems the biggest decorative impact is made when I move art around.

FARRAGOZ

A quick rearrange of a gallery grouping or swap around is as near an instant response of is that new that I can guarantee.

Art Print Blue Interior – Blue Chairs by David Lloyd

Behind almost every piece of art in this house is a positive testimony to the wonder of nail hole filler.

Works like a charm!

Incorporate the decorative oomph into a space by executing a series of changes or exchanges of position.

It’s a great way to rejuvenate the look, feel and personality of the space, and an easy way to balance the scales of space and design on a dime.