DESIGN ACCENTS
How To Style Three Areas of Your Home with Park Place Interiors
Whether it’s your grandmother’s hand-me-down or a brand new built-in with a fresh coat of crisp, white paint, the struggle remains the same: “How do I make my space look picture perfect?” At Park Place Interiors, we combine our knowledge of interior design and current trends with our client’s vision to help perfect their home and personal space.
It is important to understand that each home has its own style depending on the age, floorplan, and architectural details. While adding touches of your personal flair, you can design your home in a way that complements its features. The good news is, there are no “rules.” However, there are several tips and tricks to decorating that speak to almost all spaces. With a few quick tips you can turn your space from drab to fab and feel confident while entertaining. We have decided to share some of our favorite trends, products, and tips to freshen up these three spaces in your home: the bookcase, the coffee table, and the tablescape.
How to Style a Bookcase
1. Actually use books and bookends: Start with your heaviest object, which is likely going to be books. Stack horizontally, vertically and use bookends like these pictured as an added touch.
2. Play with texture and different heights: Using different textures throughout the bookshelves will add dimension and interest to your shelves. After placing the heaviest objects, add a rattan basket or clay sculpture (or both!).
3. Provide both traditional and modern elements: If you have a love for classic style, but want to throw in some metallic balls or acrylic frames, don’t be afraid. Just make sure that one style dominates, with only one or two accents of the other.
4. Go with greenery: Whether it’s real or fake, we support it all! Some of our best selling items are the real touch flowers that in fact, are not real.
5. Repurpose plates, silver, and other vintage pieces: This is a great opportunity to use those gorgeous plates you registered for at your wedding but still haven’t used. Adding heirloom pieces and even photographs adds the personal touch that makes your home you!
6. Finish with Framed Art: Invest in some art pieces to add color and height. Art can be leaned up against the back of the shelves to add a separate layer or even hung on the partition of the shelf itself.
HOW TO STYLE A TABLESCAPE
LAYERS, LAYERS, AND MORE LAYERS: It’s the key to creating a beautiful tablescape. For an elegant dinner party, we suggest the first layer be a tablecloth with an interesting print. For the outdoor porch picnics, we love our Hester & Cook paper runners for a pop of color!
USE GREENERY IN THE CENTER: Cut stems are gorgeous, but picking greenery from your neighbor’s yard is free. You can throw your greenery in a tall vase or use it as a long running piece along the length of the table. Add some pops of color using flowers found in the yard or from the local grocery store.
ADD HEIGHT WITH TAPER CANDLES: Taper candles add an elegant and inviting touch to your table. It gets even more interesting with a fun colored taper that complements the table cloth and the dining area.
RAISE A COLORED GLASS!: Colored glassware is flying off of our shelves and for good reason. Not only does it elevate your tablescape and create another fun way to add color, but it is a beautiful marriage of current trend with vintage style. Colored glassware has been around for decades and we think it is here to stay. Some of our favorite colored glassware include our Estelle Colored Glass wine, martini, and rock glasses, as well as, our Zafferano Pearl glassware line.
MORE THAN JUST A PLACE SETTING: Sitting down to a formal place setting is a must, but that added element of a place card or conversation card is what truly sets your tablescape apart. Entertaining at home is more popular than ever these days, so why not make it a little more special by sitting someone next to an acquaintance over the comfort of their best friend. Conversation cards are also a cute way to get the party started!
HOW TO STYLE A TABLE VIGNETTE
FILL UP THE SPACE: Trays are great way to fill up a large coffee table, console, or chest without adding too many small objects, which tend to look sloppy and overcrowded.
INVEST IN GOOD COFFEE TABLE BOOKS: Coffee table books are a great gift because one can never have too many, and they likely won’t buy them for themselves. Depending on the size of the table, you can have multiple stacks of books. At Park Place, we have an array of coffee table books for the lover of interior design, gardening, cooking, and even travel.
ADD A HEAVY OBJECT ON TOP: After stacking your coffee table books, add a heavy object on top to keep the books in place and add height! A go-to heavy object of ours as seen in both photos above is a Libbie Rothschild sculpture. Her handmade, free form pieces are a visual delight.
STORE STYLISH, BUT NECESSARY TOOLS: If you have a fireplace, add a match cloche to the coffee table for accessibility. Not to mention, they are super stylish! A candle and snuffer are also great props that get used daily in the home.