A couple of years ago, someone in a decluttering Facebook group posted this question:

I am an aspiring minimalist. I love to declutter, purge, get things out of the house. It totally calms me down and destresses me. I always have “more” though that I could do so I am in no way perfect, just aspiring, as I said. My question is, (large print) how do you personally bring warmth into your home after ridding it of so much? What little touches do you make to make it feel welcoming and cozy without it being cluttered?

Let’s call her Joyce. I don’t remember what I told Joyce. I remember thinking I needed a blog post to answer her question properly.

And so here we are.

First, whether you’ve decluttered or not, everything out and about in a room contributes to its overall look and feel. Everything is part of your décor— not just your furniture and the wall colour, but your drapes, rugs, pillows, books, blankets, photos, artwork, plants, and even whatever you use to store the remote and the mail and your keys, all that stuff. Everything. So you want to be as intentional about all that as you possibly can be.

These are the “little” touches she’s talking about—and the specifics for those come at the end of a conversation—not the beginning. It can be a pretty quick conversation in real life, especially with a knowledgeable decorator or designer. It’s all part of the design process.

In a nutshell, it is:

• Know what you want.
• Identify what you like
• Know why you like it
• Translate that information into a room with a look and a feel that brings you joy every time you walk in.

1. Know what you want.

Joyce knows what she wants:  she wants her home to feel warm, welcoming, and cozy. It’s a great start. If you’re not sure what you want, don’t worry about it. We can always start the conversation, here, too. Contact me for a coaching call, if you’d like to talk.

2. Identify what you like

For this step I would ask Joyce to put together a collection of  images on Pinterest. If you’re not sure how to go about that, this is a great post all about how to use Pinterest and find images you love. Joyce would then search pinterest for photos of rooms which strike her as warm, make her feel cosy and which she would consider welcoming.  We need to know what these abstract words look like to her.

For some, this is warm:

For others, it may be pretty, but boring.

Some of our feelings come from the reactions we have to particular styles. And that’s OK. What I am about to teach you, though, transcends any particular style. What I mean by that is you can figure this stuff out no matter what “style” you think you like. In fact, armed with this information I’m about to give you, you can even create your own original style.  At the very least, you’ll be able to talk knowledgeably with your interior designer about what you like and why.

Chances are, though, there is a particular look or collection of looks that appeal to you. And that’s great! And if you could just copy everything you see, then, well, we’d be done, here. But, of course, you can’t. Not exactly.  The rooms are different. The furniture can’t be replaced right now, or the budget just isn’t what you’d like it to be. All of us need to pick and choose among the particulars of the looks we love—and each and every one of us needs a way to figure that out. Hopefully, by the end of this post, you’ll have some tools in your design toolbox that will help with that—and you’ll be on your way to creating your own home full of joy.

However, given that I copied down this question two years ago, I had to make up a pinterest board for Joyce. So that this would be as close to real life as possible, I made it by selecting images from pinboards that were created by real people who liked the same pins.   

Ta da! Joyce’s pinboard:

Now, we have something to work with.

There’s one thing I need to mention before we go on. At the moment, it’s a challenge to find modern interiors without stark white walls. Trends come and go. So your pinterest board may be full of what looks like one thing –a deep and abiding love for white walls— only it really isn’t because that’s just what’s out there. That’s definitely something you need to be aware of. During a consult, we’d talk about why you pinned your images and what drew you to them.

3. Know why you like it.

Here is where we dig into the meat. So, let’s back up a minute.

In the language of design, what has warmth?

Colour

Reds, oranges and yellows are warm colours. They’re the colours of fire and light and the sun. Warm colours demand your attention whether they’re soft and muted, like in Joyce’s pins, or saturated and bold.

Textures

Some textures, like polished marble are perceived as cold. Other, rougher textures like those found in baskets, wool, and raw wood are considered warm.

Analyzing these pins for colour and texture, I would say she likes colour: but not a lot of it. Most images are of rooms without a lot of applied colour—that is, most of the colour on the board comes from the materials in the room. With the exception of a great piece of art, most of the colour comes from the rugs and just one or two textiles. It’s a subdued colour palette: cognac, mustard, some blush, black, white, and grey.

So, that’s not all that difficult to figure out.

And as is not at all surprising, Joyce loves rough, touch-feely textures, from soft chunky throws, woven rugs, to rough stone and all kinds of wood.

Now you have some useful information about what to keep and what to let go of when you’re decluttering. You know what you’re looking for if you want to go on a styling shopping spree (and if you’re in Edmonton, we can go together.

But what about “cozy?” And “welcoming?”

That’s not quite as straightforward is it?

After all, one woman’s cozy is another woman’s toss cushions on the floor.

Let me ask you this:

What’s your threshold for visual noise?

As Joyce has just decluttered—and enjoys decluttering—I’m going to assume she doesn’t want a lot of stuff around her or in her home.

But the amount of visual noise in your rooms is not just a function of how many things you have—though that certainly contributes–but also their relationships to one another and everything else in the room—which is why it can get tricky. You can arrange and group things a lot of ways: some will result in more visual noise than others. What we need, first, is an overall idea of your tolerance and that has everything to do with your comfort with contrast.

Contrast

I’ll explain with some examples.

There’s a lot of stuff in this room: couches, chairs, tables, lamps, even a gallery wall over the fireplace. But the room is quiet. Everything is white, yes, and bright, but it’s all low contrast. There just aren’t a lot of darks in this photo.

You can have low contrast in dark rooms, too, it’s just really hard to photograph! Here’s one example:

See that? Everything is about the same degree of lightness or darkness.

But neither of these rooms seems particularly cozy nor welcoming does it?

So, some degree of contrast is necessary. But how much?

This much?

High contrast makes for a striking image: but it may be hard to live with–especially for our Joyce! On a scale of 1 to ten: this would be about a ten.

But just how much contrast can you tolerate?

The answer to that is highly personal and it is there in your pins. I’ll show you how to find it.

Let’s start with the bedroom because if cozy is important anywhere, it’s important here.

Note that juju hat against that dark headboard wall creates high contrast. Note there’s a lot of empty space around it, too. Put a pin in that.

The big block of white bedding plays off the dark walls as well resulting in high contrast—but it’s been considerably lowered with layering the grey blanket on top.

If black and white buffalo check is a ten on the contrast scale, this room would be about a 7 or 8.

Let’s look at this one:

The same sort of thing is going on, only in reverse. This time there’s a big piece of dark artwork in the middle of an expanse of white wall. The bedding is mostly grey—but with a bit of white. On a scale of 1 to 10? What do you figure? About a 5 or 6?

Let’s look at another:

Now here we’ve taken a turn. This is mostly light tones. There are some darks in the console, the table and the rug—but there aren’t as many and they are not as dark as the previous two images. There is one similarity. Can you see it?

It’s the large piece of artwork surrounded by a lot of white space.

Whitespace

What is whitespace?

White space is a term used to describe how much “emptiness” or “white” space there is around things. It’s an extremely valuable design tool.

When you look at your inspiration photos, get a sense of how much “empty” or nearly empty space there may be. It will help you make some of your decisions down the line.

For example, consider this photo:

Three pieces of art over a couch would not classically be considered “white space” –but the pictures in this photo practically match the walls. Even though this is mostly the effect of the overexposed blown out photo, you have to assume the artwork is fairly pale and low contrast with the walls.

The tryptich finishes off the space nicely—but with the contrast so low, it’s acting like a breath of air.

What would you rate this on the contrast scale? 

Here’s another quiet room—but this time with a touch of colour:

The windows wall acts like whitespace. As well, its low contrast. There are no harsh differences. The plants are the darkest things in the rooms and they stand out like sculptures.

If I were talking to Joyce—I would want to discuss these last two pictures especially. She mentioned in her question that she is an “aspiring” minimalist and that she wants to keep decluttering. I worry that she may simply be after a look and a feel to her home that she can have already—if she proceeds with the decluttering knowing what she likes –and more importantly why she likes it.

And, frankly, sometimes after you declutter, you can find bare spaces unsettling. And why wouldn’t you? Even though what you want is less visual noise—it’s still a big change from what you’ve been used to living with. Putting a big piece of art on the walls—or better yet, a series of meaningful pieces– can be a way to “fill” your visual field. And, as hopefully you can see, it doesn’t have to create a lot of visual noise.

4. Translate

So, now you know. How you make your room warm, cosy and welcoming is not necessarily about having one sofa cushion or four—but about whether they should stand out—or blend in.

When you know your comfort level for contrast, you’ll know whether to use more texture or less colour and what kind of patterns you can live with. You’ll know whether you go with a gallery wall—or with a single piece of art.

Know why you like the way a room looks and feels and you will be closer to translating that information into a room with a look and a feel that brings you joy every time you walk in.

Recap:

Now, I can answer Joyce’s question.

1. Know what you want:

warmth, cosiness, a sense of welcoming, and not a lot of clutter.

2. Identify what you like:

The colour palette should come organically– from the materials used. A soft muted palette of cognac (leather, wood) mustard, blush, black (or navy) and white (or off-white or cream). 

Textures: anything tactile, rough: chunky knits, throws, woven rugs, etc.

Contrast: low to medium. Not a lot of darks, lots of white and off-white.

White space: some white space, but not a great deal.

3. Know why you like it:

Your tolerance for visual noise is fairly low. 

4. Translate:

Use soft, muted colours for drapes, throws, pillows, furniture and accessories. Invite touchable textures whenever you can. Don’t use anything too shiny or polished. All harsh or bold colours should be eliminated. Cut down on the number of dark things in your home, if you have too many. Keep anything that is natural wood. If you want pale, light walls, get rid of any dark furniture. Save dramatic contrasts of lights and dark to draw attention to something you want to feature—like a piece of art, or the fireplace wall, or what have you. If you do frame something to put it on the wall, make sure there’s a lot of white space around it.

Buy plants.

That’d be a start to a warm, welcoming and cosy home. Over to you!

What’s your tolerance for visual noise? What’s your contrast comfort level?

Would you like to get started with making your room feel—well, whatever you want it to feel? Let’s chat. Contact me.