Adding personal touches to your home

Our homes are our castles, and as the old saying goes, home is where the heart is.

So as a result, shouldn’t our homes reflect who we are, and not just look like a super pristine Insta-worthy home that all looks the same and has zero personality?

It can be quite simple to decorate a room and copy the decor from a Pinterest image, to make your home look like the double of Mrs Hinch. However, if you want to make your home your own, especially as a new house owner, then it can make a difference to have decor that is more personal and more meaningful.

With all of that in mind, here are some simple ways that you can add some personal touches to the design of your home, to make it a space that you want to be in and welcomes guests as it is warm and cosy, not pristine and sterile.

 

Family photo gallery

Something that is getting more and more popular in homes is creating a photo gallery with pictures of all of the family.

This could be choosing a few prints to have in a picture frame, that can vary from room to room, or you could consider creating a family photo wall. This means that you can choose a variety of images and photos, in all shapes and sizes.

It can not only look good, and be a real focal point in a room, but can help to make a stunning and cohesive space in the room. Just make sure that you map it all out first, before putting holes in the walls for the frames, to make sure that it all fits together well and looks good. 

 

Use family heirlooms

When older family members pass away, there can be the hard task of sorting through their homes, usually to get ready to sell it. However, there can be the chance to look through certain items of furniture and see if there are any pieces that can be used in your home.

It can help to add a real personal touch to the home, and vintage items of furniture can become real talking points when guests come around.

 

Even if you think that vintage furniture might not be your thing, you can still combine them with more modern pieces to create something personal and great. A vintage desk or dresser can look good with more modern chairs or accessories, and you can always upcycle the pieces to create something really personal and unique.

Chalk paints can be a good idea as they can be painted into something straight away, without the need to sand it down.

 

Consider meaningful art

Choosing artwork for the home is something that can be fun to do. However, if you just choose some generic pieces that you see at the store, it will have less impact and personal value compared to choosing pieces that can really make a difference and mean more to you.

If your mother has a favourite flower, for example, could you find a piece of artwork that showcases that flower? How about a particular artist that you loved to learn about at school or copy the work of?

When you think about the art in your home in this different way, then it can help to create much more meaningful pieces, and will be like creating an art gallery of your own with stories behind each piece of art on the walls. 

 

Display trinkets and souvenirs from your travels

Travel might feel like a world away right now, but if it is something that you have done a lot of before, then you’ll know that it can be a really great way to pick up new things like trinkets and souvenirs. You can get a range of decor for your home on your travels that you won’t be able to get anywhere else.

It could be something like displaying foreign currency in a box frame on the wall, adding to it each time you go somewhere new. You could also think about getting postcards from each destination and then displaying them framed too.

Not only that, but trinkets and other kinds of souvenirs can be displayed on shelving or in other ways around the home. Doing this will help you to remember all of your travels, as well as be talking points for guests, and help to have some really personal and unique decor that someone would find hard to replicate.

 

Add personalised items

There are a number of cute things that you can get for your home that are truly personal. For example, something that is often given as a wedding or a Valentine’s Day gift are framed maps. These could show where you met your partner, where you got married, and where you went for your honeymoon, for instance. This is something that is completely personal to you and can look great in the home. 

If you have been married, or are just in a couple and have a ‘song,’ then have you thought about having the music score from your wedding song or personal song printed out and framed? Again, this will be something that is completely personal to you, but it can look really great on the wall too.

From canvas prints to cushions, there are so many other things that you can have personalised for your home, which will help to add some very close and personal touches to your home. 

 

Make something of your own

You might feel like you are someone who isn’t very crafty or creative, but there are still things that you can make for your home. This will mean that you have something truly personal and something that you can be proud of too.

You could paint a picture to be displayed, or perhaps make some curtains that can be used in one of the rooms in the home. You could make candles, shelving, a cushion cover, and much more. When you take the time to create something it can give you a real sense of pride over it, and will mean that you have something in your home that no one else does.

If you have children, then often they will make and create a lot of things that could be displayed in the home. If you want to make some really personal touches in the home, then why not use these around the home too? They can always be changed up from time to time or just displayed in their bedrooms.

 

Bring in the outdoors

We can all have different tastes when it comes to plants and decor, but one thing that we can all agree on is that they can have such a positive impact in a room. They can brighten up the place, as well as having the added benefit of helping to freshen the air around us.

You might like to have vases and jars full of fresh and bright flowers, whereas others may prefer to have some small bunches of wildflowers or dried flowers on display. You might prefer to have houseplants to show, whether that be large and leafy green plants or some stylish and sharp cacti and other succulents.

Whatever you choose, plants and flowers in the home are a quick and simple way to personalise your room, put your stamp on it, and add some personality to the home.  

 

What about if you are renting your home?

If you are renting your home compared to being a homeowner, then you may have some restrictions on what you can and can’t do. For example, creating something like a photo wall could be out of the question, simply because you are not allowed to put holes in the walls in your rented property.

There are some that will allow some flexibility, such as allowing you to paint the walls, as long as you paint them back to magnolia when it comes to you leaving. If you ask permission to paint the walls, then it still gives you the chance to do something different and add some personal touches when you can’t do a lot else.

You could think about keeping three of the walls in a room one colour, and painting a feature wall in another colour, so that you’re not giving yourself too much work to do when it comes to your tenancy being over. 

If you are a renter, then you could also think about hanging some things on the walls, such as wall hangings, rather than using wall paper. If you are able to stick things to the walls, rather than nail them, then you could think about sticking prints and photos, or things like postcards to the walls to create a gallery, rather than having to make holes in the walls for frames.

 

What are some of the ways that you like to put your own personal stamp on your home and make it truly yours and unique? It would be great to hear what you think and what makes a difference in your life.