Ah, Accessories!

I've spent the last few weeks discussing options for making the walls of your home or office more beautiful.   Regardless of whether you chose paint, wallpaper or faux finish, the job won't be complete until you warm up your space with accessories.

No matter how pretty your walls are, without art and accessories they are going to seem unfinished until you add those special touches.   Even if you have a magnificent fireplace, that all important  won't be achieved until you complete the look with accessories.

Art is always first on the list.  All other accessories should play off the art in both color and also enhance the art's theme when possible.  For example, a painting of a woman walking a dog along a beach might be flanked by candles with similar shades of blue and green, and perhaps a dog figurine could be sitting nearby.

Art doesn't necessarily have to be framed art from a store or gallery.  It can be your own creation on unframed canvas, construction paper collages created by your children and creatively framed, a tapestry or weaving, or perhaps a quilt hanging from a rod.  One of my clients even hung an antique Japanese Kimono on her wall she'd collected while traveling abroad.  She ran a beautiful bamboo pole through the sleeves and hung it over her  sofa on crimson painted walls in her living room.

Once you have a starting point with art, have fun collecting other accessories to compliment the art within the same room,  or perhaps create an art grouping. You might have an art piece that you love and you'd like to put over your bed, but it's too small and looks lonely up there. Hanging a pretty plate on either side that has similar colors and theme might be just the thing to balance it out.

As always, decorating magazines are a great source for ideas on what to do in your space.  I'll bet if you look around your house, you will find items you never even thought of to use as accessories.  Challenge yourself and have fun with it!  

Happy hanging!