Style Your Home Like a Pro

I believe that a beautiful home isn’t just about the decor you use, but how you bring those pieces to life. As designers, we often get asked by our clients how to style their new home. How do you make a bookcase look “just right’, or how do you keep a coffee table from feeling cluttered? The truth is, styling is a language of its own – one that blends intuition and a few tried and true design principles.

Today, we're sharing three different ways to style common spaces in your home: a bookcase, a sideboard, and a coffee table. Plus, I’ll share some expert tips that can be used to help you style any space. The best part? All of the items I’ll show can be purchased at our Shop in Sewickley!

Bookcase

Pro Tip #1: Don't Be Afraid to Mix Materials and Textures

A space feels “flat” when every surface is the same material. The goal is to create contrast through texture diversity! Use a mix of ceramics, glass, wood, and textiles to keep the space from feeling monotonous.

Take a look at this bookcase. While the color palette is a cohesive blend of earthy greens, warm woods, and gold accents, the real key to success lies in the mix of materials. If every item on these shelves were made of the same shiny ceramic, the display would feel repetitive and lackluster. Instead, we have layered in different finishes to create a “collected over time” look.

The brass clock, bookends, and Sleeping Eloise fox add a touch of “jewelry” to the space, catching the light and drawing the eye, while the natural textures in the picture frame and teak bowl keep the design grounded and cozy. We’ve paired the "hard" structure of the vintage book spines and the metallic finish of the gold owl bookends with the "organic" softness of the trailing greenery. The plants act as a visual bridge, breaking up the straight lines of the shelves.

Sideboard

Pro Tip #2: Embrace the Negative Space

Styling a long surface like a sideboard or buffet can be intimidating—there is a lot of "runway" to cover! When styling a long surface, think about how the groups of objects "talk" to each other. Don't be afraid to let items slightly overlap. You don't need to fill every inch. "Negative space" (empty areas) allows the eye to rest and makes the pieces you did choose stand out more.

On this sideboard, notice how the two smaller picture frames are placed slightly in front of the base of the lamp. By overlapping these pieces, we’ve created a single, unified "vignette" rather than three separate objects. This makes the left side of the sideboard feel grounded and intentional. The large, circular gold mirror acts as the "bridge" for the entire surface. It connects the taller lamp on the left to the taller vase on the right, filling the vertical "gap" and making the whole arrangement feel like one cohesive story.

By placing the low, white bowl of green apples in the center, we’ve reduced the amount of "dead air" between the main groupings. The objects are close enough to "talk" to one another, but we’ve left just enough negative space around the bowl to let the centerpiece breathe.

Coffee Table

Pro Tip #3: The Power of Varied Heights

To wrap up our styling masterclass, let’s look at this coffee table. While we often talk about the "Rule of Three," the real hero of this composition is the Power of Varied Heights. On a large, flat surface like a coffee table, varying the vertical scale prevents the decor from looking like a random collection of items and instead makes it feel like a professional landscape.

In this layout, we’ve grouped items into three distinct zones, but it's the vertical movement between these zones that creates the visual interest. The tall, dark green lamp provides a necessary "anchor" for the table. By reaching toward the eye level of someone sitting on the sofa, it breaks the horizontal plane of the room and provides a sense of enclosure and coziness.

The stack of coffee table books in the center serves two purposes. First, the books themselves are a medium-height element. Second, they act as a pedestal for the wooden sculpture. This "boost" ensures the sculpture isn't lost against the wood grain of the table, bringing it up to a middle-ground height. The gold tray and the floral box on the right sit lower to the surface. These pieces ground the composition. Because they are lower than the lamp and the book stack, they allow the eye to "rest" and appreciate the textures of the table itself.

Home styling is a journey, not a destination. It’s about experimenting with the pieces you love until your space feels like a true reflection of your personality. By mastering the balance of heights, the harmony of textures, and the flow of composition, you can transform any surface into a curated work of art.

We hope these tips give you the confidence to start "playing" with your decor today. Remember, there are no hard rules—only tools to help you tell your home's unique story.

Every beautiful piece shown in the examples above—from the vintage-inspired bookends and textural ceramics to the statement lamps and hand-carved bowls—is available for purchase right at our Shop!