10 Ways To Make Your Home Feel 'Unique'
Getting personal with interiors...
I’m not even sure what unique really means in our age of over-sharing and virtual open-door policy. More than ever before, we have access to seeing, literally, behind the curtain and how other people live and decorate. While this is amazing for nosey parkers (guilty) and interior lovers alike, it makes it harder than ever before to choose how we want our own space to look and feel like our home is truly our own. This isn’t about being different for different’s sake, more about making sure your home is right for you rather than simply ‘safe’ from other people’s scrutiny. Don’t get me wrong, we all have those moments of wondering ‘am I weird for liking this? Is this cool or gross?’, well I do at least. But often it’s those very items that make a home genuienly unique and have the point of difference that people can’t quite put their finger on but can’t help but be drawn to.
I’m not sure why (I think I blame Laurence Llewellyn-Bowen circa Changing Rooms) but ‘unique’ has definitely become code for crazy when it comes to interiors. But in it’s truest sense, unique doesn’t have to mean bold colour, zany prints and secret doors to libraries and bars, although those do sound quite fun. It just means it has to represent you. This is why I’m convinced a percentage of being an interior designer is essentially being a therapist as there is so much rooted in getting to know clients and really understanding why and how people live the way they do. So hats off to you interior designers!! I feel like I went through so many iterations for particular spaces in our home as I worked out what felt like a fit and what just felt ‘off’. Yes that’s part of the creative process, but I really think so much of it was a bit of an exploration into myself and my own sense of home and taste rather than just what’s deemed ‘good taste’ or instagram approved. Unlike jeans or bikinis, we can’t ‘try-on’ endless different interiors styles and aesthetics aside from moving through them via hotels, friend’s homes and the pages of magazines and Pinterest, which makes the whole process of deciphering what we like even more cerebral and dare I say it, soulful.
Anyway, I thinnnnnk I got there and while I withhold the right to forever change my mind (the joy of being human), I definitely feel like our home represents us (ok fine me, because honestly my easy-going, left-brained husband would be happy anywhere). So here are a few things I think help when taking your house to that next level.
Older really is better
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again... and again… Vintage and antiques! I totally understand the appeal of the ‘where did you get that’ both online and in the real world, especially when it comes to things like paint colours and fabrics when any kind of narrowing down is helpful quite honestly. And there are certain things I would buy new like beds and sofas. But in all honesty, you could have all the money in the world to buy every brand new item you liked and I would put money on your home still feeling a little, well, lacking. Some vintage art, ceramics and knick knacks can do wonders for taking a shelf or mantle from boring to thoughtful in an instant. Whenever you travel or visit someone for a weekend, pop into a junk shop or seek out a carboot sale and just see what catches your eye and try not to overthink it. It’s the teeny little bits collected that take a house to the next level for me. Start by giving Vinterior or Decorative Collective a browse and see what catches your eye - I like to filter to my country only to avoid any additional shipping and import taxes stresses.
If not vintage, shop small
Seek out the small and independent brands for everything from hardware to linens, blankets and light fittings… Not only is it so important to support smaller businesses, particularly in today’s economy, but it’s a great way to ensure you’re not going to see your pendant lights a dozen times over. Small, independent galleries and graduate exhibitions are also a great way to find emerging artists and pieces that might cost you no more than a big framed poster. Just a few spots to shop small I love below…
The Chuffed Store
Tinsmiths
Iota Edit
Pophams Home
Home and Found (Ok this is antiques but always lovely curation)
Tat (ok fine, this is vintage too)
Wondering People
Mix your woods
On the note of vintage and antiques, mixing different woods is key for a room to look lived in rather than staged for me. Looking around our blue snug where I’m writing this right now, I can see pine, teak, burl and rattan while just next door we have teak, pine and blackened oak. You definitely don’t need to fall into the trap of trying to match your woods; if anything I think that can be more jarring. Mixing woods helps a space feel curated and collected over time (even if it isn’t), rather than shop bought, which instantly feels unique. I avoid buying new wood if at all possible too, mostly because I think the older stuff is, on the whole, just so much nicer. As my dad would say, ‘they just don’t make it like that anymore’. I mean, I would beg to differ because I adore the work of the likes of Alfred Newell, Wilkinson Riviera and Galvin Brothers who are all masters at their craft. Plus studios like Howe, Beata Heuman and Studio Atkinson all create amazing furniture. But honestly, antique wood (sans wood worm of course!) can’t be beat.
In fact, don’t match much
So I’m going to contradict myself here because right now, I’m veryyy into the whole matching wallpaper to headboards and curtains but I think matching, like so much in design, is go big or go home. So go all in, or don’t do much of it at all if you want your house to feel less same same, more different. When the goal is to make everything go together, it can sometimes feel a bit bland or unfinished weirdly. The whole ‘unexpected red’ theory has been a real ‘trend’ of late but it’s really not a trend at all. A pop of red is often the mismatched point of difference a room needs to sing. It doens’t have to be red, it just has to be unexpected and stand out. The less you want it to stand out, the more you mismatch in the room… It sounds counterintuitive but it works, promise.
Lean into the nostalgic
I’m very nostalgic when it comes to interiors. I love rewatching old movies and TV shows for the interiors as much as the plots. Baby Boom (the most underrated Nancy Meyers movie) still gets me with it’s 1980s NYC penthouse and upstate ramshackle farmhouse. Likewise, the Stepmom house and the crumbling Italian villa in Call Me By Your Name have stuck with me forever more too. Some of my favourite inspiration books are 1990s interiors books - it’s always worth looking in secondhand bookshops for old decorating anthologies. It’s worth looking back to the past and figuring out where you found comforting and what spaces you feel most at ease at. This might not even be the home you grew up in, it might have been a classroom, a next door neighbour’s kitchen or the imagined common rooms of Harry Potter. Whatever and wherever it is, it’s worth some thought. Not only is this about feelings and the kind of spaces that makes us feel most at peace, it also gets us out of the now and back in touch with stuff that feels more timelessly pleasing.
Think about Contrast
I had a realisation the other day that my style, be it interiors or how I get dressed, is rooted in contrast. Pretty dress? Throw on a leather jacket. Traditional decor? Add some contempoary art. I realise I did this a lot in my home and it’s something my eye always gets drawn to in other places too. Maybe it’s about balance, maybe it’s because I’m a big believer in opposites attract, I’m not sure. All I know is, it makes me feel balanced too so win win. So, if you’re someone who loves neutrals and very clean, white spaces, I would add some chunky dark-wood furniture. If you’re someone who is normally drawn to bold colour and playful shapes (chunky stripes and wiggly things are your jam), I would balance that with some antique rugs, folky art and plain fabrics to ground it all. Sometimes I have to force myself not to go for the blue option in everything home-related but sometimes when I force my hand and go for the brown, terracotta or white version, it really pays off.
Pick apart the inspiration
Ok so you’ve seen a room you love on Instagram. We all do it. ‘That! That’s what I want!’ we cry. But give it a sec and just think about what it is you really like. Is it actually the green kitchen or is it the cupboard style? Is it the red paint or is it the massive windows? Try and dig into what it is you actually like and then think about how you might might tweak it to be your own rather than simply endeavouring to replicate it like for like.
Leave room for freestanding furniture
Built-in joinery (cabinetry to my American and Canadian pals) is great and I for one would be hopeless with a freestanding kitchen or wardrobes, but I definitely made a conscious decision to leave space for freestanding furniture as well. Probably because, as you can tell, I love vintage wood! But also because it’s another opportunity for character, another layer of interest and a point of difference.
Imagine you’re on an episode of ‘Through the Keyhole’
I love this game. For any non-90s kids, Through the Keyhole was a TV game show when king of pasta sauces Lloyd Grossman would snoop around ‘celebs’ houses, and contestants would try and figure out who’s home it was from clues in the house. So imagine a stranger is snooping around your house.. Who are they going to think you are? Now don’t get me wrong; I’m all for veto-ing my husband’s ‘art’ collection and being picky about what comes in my house. But equally, you don’t want someone only being able to know which high street store you like to shop at. Books you’ve read, random souvenirs from holidays, vintage silver vases, framed mementoes… Little bits and bobs that tell guests something about who you are and where you’ve been are always the most interesting thing in people’s homes.
A little ‘bad’ taste goes a long way
Lastly, the kitsch, the weird, the ugly… Entirely ‘good’ taste can be a bit boring. I love the odd bit of divisive art, quirky ceramic or just ‘do I love it or hate it’ item. And the best bit? All of this is entirely subjective. One person’s height of chic is another’s worst nightmare and vice versa. Essentially, try not to worry what other’s think and let yourself be playful and a little daring at times, whatever that looks like for you.
Have a great week everyone,
Lxxx
Couldn’t agree more!