Richard Felt: How to Style Your Home Like a Pro

It’s that time of year again.

You’re out of time…

You have people coming over in a few days…

And you don’t think your home is ready…

You want it to be beautiful, but livable.
Decorated, but kid-friendly.
Polished, but inviting.
Finished, but not overdone.

Is that too much to ask?!

Although it might be tempting, now is NOT the time to get out paint rollers, to buy new furniture, or to start an elaborate DIY project.

Yes, you can have a beautiful, livable, decorated, kid-friendly, polished, inviting, finished, not overdone home in time for the holidays.

You just need a little interior styling magic—the secret finishing touch that can take any room from blah to beautiful and guest-ready in a hurry.

What is this styling magic you speak of?

You might have heard of interior styling in terms of getting a room ready for a photoshoot. Interior Styling is what makes a space beautiful, decorated, and finished. But professionally styled rooms aren’t usually livable or kid-friendly, because they’re catering to the camera not to real life. The rooms look gorgeous, but the average homeowner takes one look at them and rolls her eyes because she knows they aren’t practical.

Then why should you use interior styling? Because there is a balance you can find between styled and livable. A happy medium where your space looks put together, but still comfortable.

Many of the styling tricks the pros use to make a room magazine cover-worthy aren’t practical for everyday living. But interior styling helps teach us some classic principles about layout, composition, and arrangement. We can take those guidelines and use them to make any room look amazing and pulled together in no time.

Before + After: The Power of Interior Styling

Let me show you an example of what interior styling can do. With the styling secrets, I took my husband’s nightstand from blank slate to beautiful (and still manly).

Then, I repeated it on my side (with a more feminine touch).

Now, I don’t want you to think for a second that this is just about making things look pretty. Good interior styling strikes a balance between pretty and practical. You can use interior styling to decorate at both ends of the spectrum. Sometimes it’s easiest to start with the prettiest option and then scale it back or modify it to make it practical for everyday.

That’s exactly what I did with the ottoman in our living room. I tried pretty first. This look reminded me of something you might see in a furniture store catalog.

Knowing that wasn’t realistic for our everyday life, I paired it back to still pretty, but much more practical.

It still wasn’t quite us. We are a two-boy, two-dog home. But using the styling secrets I was able to create a totally practical ottoman tray and it still looks pretty.

Where can you use interior styling?

Here’s 12 Spots in Your Home that You Can Style in 15 Minutes or Less

Coffee Table
Entry Table
Console Table
Nightstand
Dresser Top
Mantel
Shelves
Buffet
Sofa Table
Ottoman
End Table
Bench

So…What’s the Secret?

Well, there’s seven of them actually. I call them the 7 Simple Styling Secrets. They’re easy to follow formulas and tricks that will help you make any space more stylish. I’ve teamed up with Cassity to share with you an exclusive free online workshop so you can learn them all.

Interior styling is one of my favorite topics to teach because you can instantly see the improvement and you can get started right away…without buying anything new.

I’ll to teach you the principles I’ve learned from following interior stylists and experimenting with styling in my own home. I’ll break it all down with simple formulas to show you how to get those “designer looks” at home.

These 7 secrets will change the way you decorate forever. Within 15 minutes of the workshop ending, you’ll have your first surface restyled. And fair warning: the styling secrets are so addictive you just might find yourself restyling spots at your friends’ houses too (and they’ll love you for it).

Get the 7 Simple Styling Secrets Workshop

This online video workshop starts streaming on Sunday, Dec. 6th. You can watch anytime of day 24/7 (whatever is most convenient for you), but the workshop will only be available for four days. The class is free but you must register to get access: Click here to learn the styling secrets.

Disclosure: Remodelaholic is an affiliate for School of Decorating. If you join School of Decorating after clicking a link in this post, I may receive an affiliate commission. We only recommend products we believe in 100%. School of Decorating gives you the decorating courage and know how you need to create a home you love, and we’re sure you’re going to love it!

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