It's the little things, those small, decorative touches that can really finesse a room. As a home stager/property stylist I find decorative accessories, tabletop decorations, knick knacks, bric-a-brac, or whatever it is you like to call them, to be one of the most useful and successful ways to add interest to the ‘for sale' property.  

I know that for many home owners, choosing the right accessories is a bit of a hit and miss affair. It even gets a tad risky if/when you're trying to sell your home. As a professional home stager/re-designer I don't simply rely on 'smoke and mirrors' to add the right accessories to the right room. Accessorising at its best, is a combination of art, and science. Yes- I said science. 

So, in this post, I'm going to spill my secrets tell you more about the ‘science' behind the art of accessorising. 

Whilst accessories are considered simply decorative, they do in fact serve a real function. They add to a room's charm or mood. They also add interest, and a sense of warmth or whimsy. Look at the following living room photo with me if you would;

Now, let's for a moment imagine this living room without any of the accessories in it. Let's leave only the basic, larger furnishings. The artwork on the wall is gone, so is the area rug, the plants, the footstool at bottom left, even the lamp shades. Some may even have taken out the side tables.

It's not much to look at is it? And so we can see the ‘function' of accessories.

So, how should you choose accessories for your room? Well, it comes down to remembering 4 simple rules for accessorising success.

1. Pick out things that will suit the style or mood of your room or house. Here's an example of what I mean by mood or style. Let's pick up a cushion off the sofa of the country house (below left) and place it on the white sofa of the modern living room (below right). Now, let's put one of the white/red ‘pod' chairs into our country living room. Does it work? Not at all. So, rule #1; choose according to style or mood.

2. Pick out things that ‘work' or ‘match' with your room's colour scheme. Think about the colour, tone and finish. Pick up the white, modern coffee table and place it in our country room. Obviously we have a complete miss-match of colours and finishes. Rule #2: Choose according to colour and finish.

3. Go for things that fit in with the scale of the furnishings and the room itself. Small side table = smallish or less accessories. Large side table = larger accessories, or a grouping of smaller accessories (as seen on the table under the TV in the modern room). Rule #3: Don't forget about the size of the other things in the room and the size of the room itself. Will this piece dominate, or will it be lost in it's surroundings? 

4. Decide on how many pieces will work for the space and style of your room. This is where many people go wrong. As a general rule, traditional looking decors like the country style room shown here lend themselves to having more accessories. Whilst modern rooms are usually more pared down. If you start with nothing at all on the table, sofa, or in the corner of the room, take a moment to consider if you need to add interest. Is it a bit bland looking as is, or is the space or table etc a feature in itself? Rule #4: Think about the style of your room when deciding how many accesssories to use. Got too many for your look? Just rotate them insterad of showing them all off at once.

This is the science behind finessing a room with decorative accessories.  It's not all about science; having a decorator's eye goes a long way. That's what a trained home stager/property stylist does when staging a home to sell. But, with these 4 easy steps, you'll be well on your way to ‘accessorising success'.