souvenirs – The Interiors Addict

Bring holiday magic home: interior design tips

With Australian borders closed for the time being, a European summer escape has never seemed further away. But this doesn’t mean we have to completely miss out on the holiday magic! Sydney interior designer Justine Wilson, shares four simple steps to bring some holiday magic into the comfort of your own home.

Travel books
Having lovely open pages on your coffee table or some beautiful travel photography on your kitchen bench, can bring that touch of European summer you’ve been missing. It might tease your tastebuds into creating a European dish or take you back in time to dreams of past getaways.

European scents
Create a holiday ambience through some beautifully lit candles. A delicate arrangement of mismatched candleholders can uplift your mood and remind you of a lovely holiday from the past. You could try some floral scents for a French vibe, a musky spice for a Moroccan feel or waves of ocean scents that take you back to the Greek Islands!

Gallery walls
Many European homes like to feature large gallery walls, with a variety of old and new decor. Due to their smaller spaces, Europeans have developed a charming cluttered art style along their walls.

This could be a great time to decorate your own walls with travel memories and mementos, breathing some new life into your home. It’s as simple as framing travel photos, posters, tickets from previous holidays, or even inspiring quotes from European musicians or poets. Your new collection could become a beautiful talking point within your home that grows with your travelling dreams.

Eclectic interiors
European homes are often an interweaving of styles; trinkets from antique markets and inherited treasures mixed in with modern styles of furniture. Parisian interiors and English country houses are both well known for this assorted aesthetic. Think of it as mixing a Persian rug with a rustic coffee table, plus a modern slip covered sofa. Another European home feature is the display of mismatched cushions and textures. For example, you could display a tartan throw with a rich, velvet cushion whilst adding a floral and patterned feature cushion as well.

Although the days are getting shorter and the nights are getting colder, we can adopt the European style of layering to bring a cosy ambience into our homes whilst creating some vacation vibes and inspo for the future!

– Justine Wilson is the founder of Vault Interiors.

West Elm’s guide to nailing the eclectic look

By Bianca Tzatzagos

Real homes don’t look like furniture catalogues – and nor should they! Along with great design and a few carefully chosen furniture pieces, all the best homes are full of the stuff of life: holiday souvenirs, inherited furniture, gifts from grandparents, family photos and quirky collections.

Instead of shying away from all that good stuff, west elm’s new modernism embraces the everyday. This is style with soul. And here are a few ideas on how to make the look work in your home:

1. The new modernism is multi-layered. Imperfect, handcrafted objects humanise the clean, liveable lines of mid-century style. This means you’ve got licence to layer your streamlined sofa with a brightly hand-embroidered cushion, or bring character to your console with a hand-hewn glazed terracotta vase. Don’t be afraid to mix different styles, eras and global influences – your home is one-of-a-kind, after all.

2. Discard the unessential. Build your home on a foundation of simplicity, small pleasures and pieces made to matter. If it doesn’t hold essential use, sentimental charm or inherent beauty, then reconsider owning it at all.

3. Have a place for everything. New multi-purpose storage furniture packs style and function into small (or sprawling) spaces. Keep it from looking cluttered by choosing furniture with a mix of open shelving and display surfaces, plus cupboards and drawers for stashing the unsightly. If everything you own has a dedicated place, then displays feel deliberate rather than disordered. And when even the most ordinary objects get their own pedestal, it instantly elevates them to something special.

4. Learn the art of display. There are no hard and fast rules, so be sure to experiment until it feels right to you. But here are a few secrets from the west elm home stylists:

Group objects by colour tone, such as arranging cool blue glass and white marble against clean white furniture, or pairing all warm and earthy tones with rustic wood shelving.
Let things breathe. A little negative space in a display goes a long way! Consider grouping some small objects close together and then offsetting the display with complementary larger objects positioned slightly further away.
Use shelving and display furniture in conjunction with the adjacent wall space. Walls are a great way to display collections, especially when you’re short on surface space. Consider hanging favourite dishes or trays using plate hangers from the hardware store, or even adding some picture ledges or wall brackets to house a few favourite things.

–Bianca Tzatzagos works for west elm. They make it simple to express your personal style at home. Shop online or book a free session with a certified home stylist in your home or in a store for one-on-one advice.