What does “home decor” even mean? If you’re asking this question, you may have recently moved into an apartment, condo, house, or other space of your own. A friend or relative may have tossed out the phrase with a comment like, “You need help with home decor.” Or maybe this is the first time you’ve ever thought seriously about decorating your home. In any event, you want to start at the beginning. Kudos to you for seeking out the answer! As a working definition, let’s start here:
Home decor is the way your space is attractive and useful for you.
We’ll expand on what all that entails below. But first, it might be worth asking: do you need to care about home decor? I see a few options here:
(A) You like how you live in your space, but someone you know said you should have better home decor.
(B) You like how you live in your space. However, you feel it could be more attractive or useful for you.
(C) You don’t like how you live in your space, and you absolutely want it to be more attractive and useful.
If you agree most with answer (A), I give you permission to ignore this article and go on with your life. There’s no law that says your home has to look a certain way. Are you happy with your space the way it is? Then don’t worry about appeasing anyone else, unless a TV crew from Hoarders shows up.
If you agree most with (B) or (C), let’s break down what an attractive and useful home for you would be.
A Useful Space for You
Useful spaces are most often designed around a specific function or activity. A kitchen is built for cooking and storing food. A bedroom is set up for sleeping. But you may not do all the activities that homebuilders assume. Maybe you don’t enjoy inviting people over, but you like to work out. Can you set up the living room as a home gym? Sure!
If you enjoy creating and listening to music and will never cook a formal meal, you can absolutely set up a music room in the formal dining room.
If you enjoy sewing and have lots of fabric to store, then home decor that works for you will include a place for your sewing machine and accessible fabric storage. Shoving the sewing machine under your bed and throwing all your fabric haphazardly in a closet may keep everything out of sight, but this won’t give you a dedicated workspace to organize supplies or complete projects effectively.
The relative comfort of your space can define its usefulness as well. If you can’t sit comfortably in your entertainment room, you won’t get much enjoyment out of watching TV.
An Attractive Space for You
An attractive space is one that appeals to your taste and sense of beauty. This may or may not align with the conventional wisdom of what an attractive home should be. You may be more of a minimalist and find bare surfaces attractive. Or maybe you love the color purple, so your house is a study in different shades of purple.
An attractive space for you may mean that it holds memories of your life. Photos, souvenirs, and other momentos from friends, family, vacations, or school events imbue your home with your identity. Since your home reflects you, it’s a place you want to be.
A space that’s attractive to you will likely also reflect your worldview. It will express how you feel about materialism vs. spirituality and frugality vs. extravagance. Your home may also reflect your views on quality, history, sustainability, or nature.
How Does Home Decor Happen?
If your ideas about usefulness and attractiveness are unconventional, you may not get much help from conventional sources (even Roominess!). The best advice I can give is to follow your instincts and don’t worry about what anyone else says.
However, if you like what you see in popular home decor media and retailers but struggle to put these ideas together attractively for yourself, then you’re in the right place! Roominess is here to help you navigate the often mysterious art of modern home decor. My advice usually isn’t avant garde or trendy. I simply want to give you accessible tips that help you create a comfortable and inviting home for you and your family, friends, and guests. Want some more home decor 101? Start with this article, How to become a better decorator, or have a look at this video!
Got Questions?
Do you still feel confused about what home decor is? Leave me a comment below and let’s talk about it!