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Nell Hill's Feather Your Nest: It's All in the Details

Nest Building 101

Nell Hill's Feather Your Nest

Step 1

Determine your personal style.

Whether you're building your dream home from the ground up or just giving a tired room a face-lift, you must first discover and develop your own personal decorating style. How to begin you ask? Look in your closet, home decorating books, and the homes of others. What do the items you like have in common? What colors do you gravitate towards? What items have you been collecting, just itching to display?

Step 2

Plan, plan, plan.

Create a plan for carrying your own unique vision throughout your home by incorporating colors and objects that you love. In the purchasing stage, buy fewer pieces of furniture than you think your room needs. People often make the mistake of overcrowding their spaces with furniture. If you buy less, you always have the option of adding more.

Step 3

Set the backdrop.

Be it a fresh coat of paint, new curtains, or a different area rug, I'm always amazed how a change of color gives a room new life. Scan your clothing wardrobe again. What colors do you see repeated over and over? Just as people often decorate in the same style in which they dress, they also tend to like the same colors in their décor. If you're still undecided, pick a favorite painting or an eye-catching fabric and build your color palette from there.

Step 4

Mix in the unexpected.

Create balance and harmony with contrast. Mix light and dark. Pair tailored vintage and traditional items with cozy and casual ones. Mix your antique heirloom furniture with modern wall art. Merge delicate pieces with unrefined, rustic treasures like a brilliantly polished silver candlestick holder next to a chipped garden statue tufted with moss.

Step 5

Unify and evolve.

Once you determine your personal style, carry it through your entire home by continuing to add dashes of diversity in unexpected places. Don't second-guess yourself if your look doesn't fit into one of the narrowly defined design categories like "French Country" or "Old World." Many of us have a unique style that blends the best of several different design groups. So, don't lose steam or get discouraged. Instead, let your look evolve over time.

Contact: Kathy Hilliard, Publicity Director, (800) 851-8923, ext. 7497, khilliard@amuniversal.com