Inspiration for creating a beautiful home

It’s summertime in Southwest Florida and if you are running a little low on inspiration for your home, a vision board with some of your favorite things is a good place to start. Photos, paint color, textures, samples of wall coverings and fabric samples and anything else that you love, help when deciding how you want your home to feel when you walk in the door. Photo and inspiration board are from one of my favorite places to go to go for inspiration, Kravet. Check out this to- the-trade source at Karvet.com. Photo: Kravet.

Wrenda Goodwyn • special to the Fort Myers News-Press/USA Today Network • July 3, 2021

A couple of months ago a client asked me to walk through her home and give her tips on how she could “make it look like something out of a magazine.”

Before I booked a designer for a day consultation, I talked with her at length on the phone about her home and what I could do to help her. She told me that she no idea what she wanted. Had no strong likes or dislikes. Her home was not really any particular style. Did not have any color preferences. Was clear that she had no design style. She just knew that she wanted it to look great. And she thought she would know what she wanted when she saw it.

As a Fort Myers interior decorator, I can tell you this is not all that rare. I’ve found that many homeowners, especially post COVID, want to change their homes but are lacking clear ideas about what they want. Not a problem!

This is where inspiration comes in. And maybe we are all feeling a little uninspired and disconnected after the past year.

Making changes

One solution is to call a decorator or designer. We are full of ideas. But before you make that phone call, it’s really important to gather some thoughts about what makes you happy and how you would like for your home to feel when you walk in the door. After all, it’s your home.

Maybe you’re making a fresh start in a new home. Downsizing to a smaller space. Looking for a new look after a life-changing event. Feeling the need to restore balance to your home and life. Or maybe you are just plain bored and want something different.

Set the stage

Decide how you want your home to feel when you walk in the door. Everything you do will relate to this feeling. I always tell my clients I don’t need to know details about how they want it to look. That comes later. But tell me the feeling that you want your home to reflect and I will help get you there.

I have some thoughts that I share with my clients on finding your inspiration and you may find them helpful.

Home inspiration and where to find it

Design books

Magazines

Pinterest

Instagram

Design blogs

Hotels

Restaurants

Nature

Travel

Fabric

Fashion

Antique markets

Art

Furniture showrooms

Model homes

If you love to travel or just enjoy dreaming about faraway places, be inspired with this World Traveler wallpaper from Ballard Designs. With whimsical maps of favorite cities, it’s perfect for a powder room or office. www.ballarddesigns.com. Photo: Ballard Designs.

Transform your home like a professional

• Make it your own. Ideas from magazines and Instagram are great inspiration starters but it’s your home and should reflect you.

• Order samples of paint, wallpaper, fabric, tile.

• Make your own vision board. There are free programs online or you can create one on Pinterest.

• When working on a room, I like to lay everything out on a white tray: fabric sample, paint swatches, tiles, bits of inspiration like shells and other objects found in nature, photos, etc.

• Keep it simple and remember: trends are fun but they come and go. Look for classic style that is never outdated.

• Remember to have fun and don’t overthink things.

This month:

• Review your hurricane plan and stock up non-perishable supplies. www.leegov.com/publicsafety/emergencymanagement/plan

• With 175 days until Christmas, it’s time to think about holiday decorations. Put a plan together and order what you need. This is also a good month to review what you have and eliminate old decorations that you no longer use. Donate them to a charity. Now you can forget about the holidays until November!

Wrenda Goodwyn is a Southwest Florida interior decorator, A.S.I.D. associate and gold member of the Interior Redecorators Network. She helps homeowners throughout Southwest Florida with timeless, affordable ways to create beautiful spaces and solves decorating problems. Her articles appear the first Saturday of each month. For more information visit her website at spectacularspaces.com. Call her at 239-850-5800 or e-mail wrenda@spectacularspaces.com. For more decorating tips, articles and photos, visit spectacularspaces.com/blog

How to add sparkle to your home with accessories

Wrenda Goodwyn • special to the Fort Myers News-Press/USA Today Network • June 5, 2021

Accessories.

Without them, a room is just a box of furniture. They add the sizzle to our homes. Give the room its personality. Tell us about the person who lives there. Accessories are the frosting on the cake. The jewelry in a room. The sparkle. They make the home complete. They bring us joy.

Done well, they make us happy. Done badly, they can look like a hodgepodge of clutter. And there are some ways to make them work for you without a lot of expense and stress. There is a bit of an art to the process which you may find helpful.

Whether you’re a minimalist or a maximalist, have contemporary, coastal, eclectic or traditional décor, there are elements that accessorizing any home all have in common.

As a Fort Myers interior decorator, I go into a lot of homes. Within a few minutes, I usually know a lot about the people who live there. And it’s because of the accessories. Those rare times that I have been into a home and just haven’t been able to get a feel for the people who live there, it’s because they have just moved in and are sorting out their things or they have not yet accessorized.

The use of accessories give this room a light and easy look with tone and textures: plants, baskets, artwork, rug and light fixture. Shown: Summit slipcovered sectional and Anguilla rattan coffee table from Serena and Lily. Photo: Serena and Lilly. www.serenaandlily.com

If you came into my home you will immediately know a lot about me. I love nature, the water, contemporary mixed with vintage, the beach, driftwood, plants, traveling, antique market finds, animals and that I have a lovingly restored, old boat that is the focal point of my lanai. These all bring me joy.

What would your home tell me about you?

What are accessories?

Plants and flowers. Window treatments. Lamps and other lighting. Artwork. Rugs. Baskets, pottery. Mirrors. Collections. Books. Candles. Shells. Pillows. Flea market finds. Antiques. Statement pieces. Objects from your travels. Backsplash. Bath towels. Fixtures. Anything that brings to mind a happy memory.

Where do you accessorize?

Coffee table. Dining table. Walls. Shelves. Bookcases. Fireplace mantle. Desk. On a tray. Outdoor spaces. Even the welcome mat at your front door is an accessory because it says something about you.

Do this first.

Take a walk through your home. Say goodbye to anything that you don’t love. If it’s old and without charm, ugly or something that you don’t like, get rid of it.

Accessories shouldn’t be complicated. The Captiva console in light dune from Serena and Lily makes you want to stay a while with accessories that include a pretty plant, bowl of citrus fruit, pretty barware and a shell. Photo: Serena and Lily. www.serenaandlily.com

Plan to update outdated fixtures such as knobs, handles, drawer pulls. Replace old switch plates.

If budget allows, plan to add crown molding. It makes any room pretty.

Accessorizing tips.

Think quality rather than quantity. Have too many things that you love? Rotate them. Seasonally is a good plan.

Chances are that your best accessories are pieces that you already own.

Use three items. Designers love odd numbers. You can use more than three: five, seven. But you only need three. Example: On a coffee table: a tray, a small plant, and a book or two or three. Add a few shells or glass beads.

Set a pretty table. Put a runner down the middle of your dining table. Add a plant or two, some glass vases. Pretty dishes. Candles. Twigs. Glass beads. Pick three. Or five.

Tablescapes are a great way to accessorize with items that you already have on hand. Shown: Pottery Barn’s Mendocino dinnerware collection, faux Hydrangea, Carolina paisley table runner and rattan placemats. Photo: www.Potterybarn.com

Group like objects together rather than scattering them around the house. They will have more visual impact.

Use large pieces of artwork, especially in Southwest Florida’s open spaces.

Consider colors in the room and add pops of it to your accessories.

Decorating with books? Perfect. Add a few accessories to the shelves.

My favorite accessory tip:

Accessories are the final step in refreshing a room. Be mindful about what you use. Invest the time to curate your own personal collection of accessories. It’s usually not the item that is most important but how you display it. Most important: have fun!

Wrenda Goodwyn is a Southwest Florida interior decorator, A.S.I.D. associate and gold member of the Interior Redecorators Network. She helps homeowners throughout Southwest Florida with timeless, affordable ways to create beautiful spaces and solves decorating problems. Her articles appear the first Saturday of each month. For more information visit her website at spectacularspaces.com. Call her at 239-850-5800 or e-mail wrenda@spectacularspaces.com. For more decorating tips, articles and photos, visit spectacularspaces.com/blog