14 key decorating strategies

The secrets to creative home decorating
Prioritize your space & choose key furnishings first

Oakland, Calif., interior designer Sheri Sheridan says the most important areas in a house are the entryway and the living and dining rooms. “These are your entertaining spaces, and they should be celebrated every day.” Each needs something big and bold, so the room feels substantial. “You want to add something tall to support flow and draw the eye up, making the ceiling seem higher,” Sheridan says. . .

Invest in furniture that will withstand the test of time; its basic shapes and colors serve as decorating cornerstones. In Sheridan’s house, design icons like a Saarinen dining table, a modern sofa, bubble lamps, and an acrylic coffee table balance her colorful, eclectic accessories.
 
Celebrate tchotchkes

Make what you already have display-worthy.

For Sheridan, every surface is an opportunity to tell a story or create a mood. A still life on her dresser is made up of trinket boxes she’s had since childhood, a vintage-looking phone from Pottery Barn, and other ephemera, including a 1920s art deco figurine she found at a flea market.

On a lawyer’s bookcase in her kitchen, she’s combined a doll form found at a flea market with antlers her dad found at his Oregon ranch (nostalgic pieces she plans to accent with gold leaf), a wax diorama from a 1920s biology class, and a stuffed duck 
(“I don’t support taxidermy, 
but I do celebrate antique art forms,” Sheridan explains).
 
Indulge in art

Sheridan adamantly advises that any high-end purchases be original art. “Never be afraid to buy art 
if you love it,” she says. “Art 
is always a smart investment.” 
To counter such indulgence, Sheridan shows off her valuable 19th-century original Beaux-Arts illustrations in $20 frames from arts and crafts store Michaels....
 
Salvage something

Sheridan found [a] bench on a street corner ― and though it came with a broken leg and some pretty sorry fabric, she saw its potential. She repaired the leg, painted the frame white, and had the cushion reupholstered in a $75 fabric remnant.
 
Take a chance on color

Sheridan paid retail prices for the kitchen’s sunny yellow paint and for the rich, neutral trim . . . throughout the house. The rest of her colors came from the paint store’s $5 bin ― a collection of slightly mismixed paint and orders that were never picked up. “You can’t always find all your colors, but you can usually locate some for one or two rooms,” she says.
 
Consider creative alternatives

Although Sheridan originally wanted a pricey tufted headboard, she instead bought four-packs of miniature Sorli mirror tiles from Ikea ($4.99) to create a glamorous high-end look….
 
Shun labels

Combine eras, price points, and styles.

“I love mixing time periods and styles so they work together,” says Sheridan. The combination makes the vintage seem current and the contemporary pieces less stark. In her dining room, she’s mixed mass-market bargains with a few design 
treasures. “Adding one element can change a whole look,” she says….
 
Mix the old with the new

Accent a set of basic white dishware from a chain store with a few beautiful vintage pieces. “The white makes the other pieces pop ― like 
a white frame around a beautiful piece of art,” Sheridan says….
 
Try creative combinations

A simple modern white table gets a more sophisticated look when paired with a reupholstered Hollywood regency chair and a feminine tea set….
 
Accent with pricier items

Choose low-cost solid-color pillows . . . then accent them with designer pillows….
 
I brought a new couch that came with four pillows and I find the pillows to be a pain in the ass. You have to take them off the couch so you can sit on it. I tried to give two pillows to my daughter and she did not want them.
I know my dog Marty would love to sleep on the pillows.
 
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