Want to know how to create a cozy, collected home? These are the best tips for creating a collected home that is timeless!
What is a collected home? The term refers to a carefully curated collection of items. A collected home is personal, cozy, and timeless. It is a direct reflection of the person that lives there.
Creating a collected home style requires the blending of different styles and elements together. It is a home that is always evolving with collected home decor.
All the different elements of old and new mix together harmoniously to create a beautiful, inviting timeless home design.
The term “collected home” has recently gained popularity. The best thing about a collected home is that it is an achievable look for anyone and can be adapted to any style.
As a lover and collected home creator myself, I’m here to share 7 tips for moving towards a collected home.
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Best Tips For A Collected Home
1. Personal Touches
As stated above, a collected home is curated, personal, cozy, and inviting! A key component in achieving a collected home style is adding personal touches throughout the room. A collected room has an overall distinct aesthetic to it that is cozy and welcoming. One way to achieve this look is by adding those personal or sentimental decor items throughout the space. Personal items make a room interesting! It’s the perfect time to highlight that family heirloom, artifacts, or those cute treasures you found on your family vacation. Anything that has meaning or value to you is a perfect decor piece to display in your collected home.
One of my favorite ways to apply this tip is by displaying my “treasures” found on family vacations throughout the room. Family vacations are so special to me and I love bringing home a unique, souvenir from the trip. It’s always a lovely display in the house and a sweet reminder of that special time or memory.
You can see an example of this pictured above. My sweet mother has done this for years and I too have adopted this fun tradition. Take note of the small shell box displayed in the brass, round tray. Anytime we are on a beach vacation, we search for a shell box. We absolutely love the beach and the ocean so this “treasure” find represents a part of who we are. When we find one, we take it home, and write on a small piece of paper the year, the location we got it, and a short memory from the trip. For example, this shell box pictured above contains a note in it that reads, “2021, St. Simons Island, Mother Daughter Trip!” It is so fun to have these meaningful, beautiful decor pieces displayed throughout the entire home that hold a special memory to look back on.
Always be looking for those unique items that tell your story, show your personality, and your interests!
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2. Avoid Trends
Hoping on a popular home decor trend will not do you any favors in the collected home area. Trends tend to leave as quickly as they come. They are popular for a short time and then they’ve disappeared. Remember, there is nothing curated about a trendy home decor sign from your local Hobby Lobby. If you jump the gun and hop on a home decor trend, you typically end up with a decorated home you do not even like and one that looks exactly like every body else’s.
A collected home decor style is personal, trends are not. The key is to create a timeless home, not a trendy one.
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3. Layering
The next tip for creating a collected home is layering the room. Traditional home decor is blending different styles and elements together. Layering includes patterns, textures, colors, furniture styles, shapes, and finishes. Layering like this makes the room look evolved over time. An evolved home is once again, a timeless home. A timeless home and a collected home go hand in hand.
Layering creates a room with dimension and variation. One of the best ways to get this look is through layering of textures, finishes, and fabrics. This mix helps create the cozy feel. As seen above, this room is filled with layers. I love using a wide mixture of patterns and textures. Combining wicker baskets, antique brass, classic blue and white china, and plaid fabrics make for an eye catching, interesting space. Another great way to incorporate layered fabric into a room is through a rug. The right rug can be great decor piece for creating that desired layered look.
Layering textures, patterns, and finishes are crucial in creating a collected home.
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4. Collect, Don’t Decorate
I once saw this quote “collect, don’t decorate” and I’ve applied it to my design process ever since. “Decorating” can once again, tend to get trendy. But collecting treasures and personal items throughout your life is not only more fun and enjoyable, but it also helps create the collected home look. “Decorating” and buying items from a single department store will force you to over spend and end up buying items you feel like you “need” rather than buying items that actually fit the space. The best way to fulfill a collected home is to actually collect items over a period of time.
There is absolutely nothing wrong with typical home decor stores and I really do love incorporating a few items from those stores into my home. But, I love buying from antique stores, flea markets, thrift stores, or from trips and vacations I’ve been on. There you tend to find the more unique decor items that accomplish that distinct collected home look. Plus, the process and the “hunt” for the treasures are much more fun!
Remember, a collected home is never “finished.”
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5. Mix and Match New and Old
A collected home always has a well rounded balance of new and old items. The beauty of a collected home is that it’s adaptable to any taste. A mixture of new and old items fit well into any design style. We’re not trying to make the home look like a history museum, but we are looking to tell a story. Your collected home should always tell a story and be a representation of who you are and what you like. Being able to point to a piece of furniture, or decor item in your home and remember where you were and what you were doing when you got it, is enduring. It’s fun to be able to tell your guests a story or share a glimpse of who you are through your home decor. Incorporating a mixture of old and new items is the perfect way to do this!
The best way to mix new and old items throughout a room is combining an old pine hutch with new patterned chairs and ottoman. Or pairing a new textured couch with an old wooden coffee table. Another example would be combining old beautiful antique art or paintings with a new brass lamp.
A combination of new and old items is essential for creating a collected home.
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6. Too Matchy, Matchy
A major mistake many people make when decorating a space is trying to “match” all their decor. Anyone can decorate with matching bed suites and matching furniture sets, but that won’t achieve the collected home look. A collected home doesn’t look like a department store or a showroom. It’s carefully curated with a wide variety of design elements including textures, patterns, colors, and finishes.
A collected home isn’t decorated with decor from one single department store. It’s created from a collection of unique finds over a period of time from all different types of places including, thrift stores, antique stores, Goodwills, flea markets, traveling occasions, etc.
You won’t find many pieces in a collected home from a local Home Goods or TJ Maxx. But, that’s the fun in creating a collected home. It’s the hunt for the perfect pieces and finds that make decorating a room enjoyable! My mom and I love going out on Saturdays to go “junkin.” We hit up all the thrift stores, Goodwills, and antique malls and make a fun girls day out of it! We have very similar styles and have gotten to the point where we are literally racing against one another to spot the best treasures for our own homes!
A collected home will be furnished from a wide variety of places over a period of time.
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7. Buy Over Time
Another way to carry out the collected home look, is to buy over a period of time. If you want that distinct look and aesthetic, you have to be okay with embracing the slow decorating process. A collected home doesn’t happen over night, or in a single day, or a single shopping trip. It’s a journey and will change and evolve over time, just like you will. Always remember your home should be an extension of who you are. A collected home is a life long process of incorporating all kinds of finds that tell your unique story.
It’s also important to be okay with the wait and the slow design process of a room being “unfinished.” It’s better to wait on the perfect piece of furniture or the perfect decor piece for the space, rather than make an impulse buy because you’re trying to complete the room quickly. The slow design process is part of the fun and it will make it even more special and exciting when you do find the perfect item or deal!
A collected home is always evolving and never “finished.”
It’s important that your home looks unique and tells your story. Your home should show your interests, styles, and be a good representation of who you are. A collected home is personal.
I hope these 7 tips help you in your decorating journey and point you in the right direction of creating a collected home.
This post was all about creating a collected home.
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What is the beautiful color of your wall?
So glad you like the color! Thank you so much! Unfortunately, I don’t have a specific color name. It was a custom color made from Sherwin Williams.