Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. The best thing you can do to make your home beautiful is to start filling it with things that you find beautiful. Sounds simple and it is. Beauty of course is not just about what you see but about what you feel when looking at something. This list will look at 5 things you can take away and 5 things you can add to make sure that that feeling is a good one.

1. Items that spark joy: whether you are a Marie Kondo fan or not, the idea is a good one. We should be around things that make us feel happy. For many people seeing photo’s of some of their favourite moments is a good place to start. I like to incorporate something I call a “recent fun wall” in a home. It can be photos on a fridge, a pin board in a home office with pics or a framed gallery wall with removable backs so that the photos can be swapped out. The idea is to go through your collective camera reels in the family and choose a few pics from the last 6 months that capture special moments in your life and to put them on display. This is not only a reminder about what is wonderful in your life but also a reminder to make space for more moments like these. Pulling out sentimental items like gifts, special glassware or just items that you like to see is also a great way to add a layer of feeling and emotion to your home.

2. Organic elements: To me a beautiful home feels alive and there is no better way to achieve this than to add organic elements. Real wood, genuine leather, 100% wool, grass, stone- they all feel alive and somehow add a layer of wholesomeness to a space. Something as simple as a candle burning on a coffee table tray adds life because it has movement and warmth. I’m a big fan of plants and fruit on display as well as preserved flowers.

3. Books: I don’t know if it’s because books were once trees or because books feel like they come from an older world but they are good for the soul and make us slow down. They also add wonderful pops of colour to an interior and having real books lying around (vs digital ones) encourages reading and relaxation. There are few items in a home that can offer the cosy factor that books do.

4. Lighting/Fire: Almost as powerful as paint in their ability to transform a room, lights are my favourite thing. Lucy actually means light and it’s no surprise I’m a big fan. Your lights should add beauty both when they are on through the warm glow they exude and during the day when they are off through their shape, colour and form. An average home with a fire place is more beautiful to me than a gorgeous one without one. If you want to make 1 upgrade to your home add fire. From candles next to the bath to a fire pit outside and an indoor fire (if budget allows), you will not regret adding the cosy glow of fire. Fairy lights or string lights also punch way above their weight in terms of the design impact per rand spent. Adding them to outdoor spaces and children’s rooms adds a little bit of wonder to your home.

5. Something playful: We all need to take more risks. Buy one thing that is a little more playful and unconventional than you would usually buy. You could dip your toe with a colourful kettle and toaster or buy a side table set on birds legs as a base. Adding fun to an interior helps you to remember to not take things so seriously and it also helps your guests relax in your space.

1. Clutter: Most people in the modern world could all benefit from a small contained house fire. We all have so much stuff that just sits around for years because so few of us have the time to deal with it. This means you really have to take the opportunities to declutter when they present themselves. When you move house declutter as items go into boxes and then again when the items come out. If you’re not moving any time soon, find a good podcast and tackle a drawer a weekend. Just having space to breathe and not having every cupboard choc-a-block brings a sense of serenity into a home. A beautiful interior has negative space (I have no idea why it’s called that because having space is actually really positive but I don’t make the rules).

2. Things you don’t like: Again this seems simple but we often live with decor and design mistakes for years without just calling it quits and starting over. Sometimes you just need to give that rug that you bought because it was on sale to a friend to force you to buy the one you actually like. It always feels good to help others and you’ll feel so much better getting the right item.

3. Excessive mismatched planters: Planters tend to be accumulated over time and are expensive, which leads us to keep them regardless of whether they are adding to the beauty of our home or making our patios and indoor spaces look bitty and cluttered. I like to design planters around a plan and to re-home plants in an ordered and designed way to make sure that the plant is the feature and not the mix of pots.

4. Items you are keeping only out of guilt: This is a big topic. If your living husband hates the stuff your deceased family left you, and you kind of do too, my vote is letting the living win. I’ve definitely made some mistakes in this area getting rid of too much though. The trouble is when you really love someone you want to keep everything as a way of keeping them and one can
feel guilty giving it away. A good rule I find is to keep it for 5 years and if you haven’t used the item or loved having it in that time, it could be time to move on. Children’s rooms are actually a good place to use more sentimental furniture in fresh ways and guest rooms are also another good spot to try place inherited pieces before they leave the house.

5. Assumptions about what other people will think: What we think people think or might think and how we imagine people will be impressed is one of the most influential things in many peoples decor choices and is probably why so many of us opt for safe choices or choices we don’t really love but which will “probably be best”. All of us only get to live once though and it would be a shame to not live even once because of worrying about the approval of others. In a world where so much creativity is determined by algorithms that can guarantee a sale and a safe middle ground, this is a challenge to you and to me to be a little more brave. Who knows, you might end up with a house that you find beautiful and that’s really all that matters when decorating a home.