One of the many perks of owning a home is being able to decorate accordingly. While there are bigger items such as appliances and furniture that are usually at the top of your decorating list, the textural details that you include within your space are what can tie everything together into one cohesive layout. Adding texture to your home simply means creating visual interest, which can be done in numerous ways. Whether you’re decorating from scratch, or want to refresh your current living space, we’ve curated some textural elements that will elevate your home regardless. 

Photographs

According to a study from the University of Portsmouth, looking at old pictures of happy moments on Facebook can be soothing and comforting. Researchers discovered people often use social networks to reminisce past experiences to enhance their wellbeing. The study concluded that the pictures we post online are reminders of positive past events, and when feeling down, our mood is altered by looking back on old memories. Pictures immortalize the moment in time, documenting special  moments that we’re able to hold onto forever. 

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You can carry these feelings into your ow home by printing out old memories and hanging them up in your home, reminding you of fun times with loved ones. Using decorative photo frames will help to elevate your photographs. There are countless styles of frames that will be sure to cater to your own personal style to add a subtle color or texture to a room. A photo frame will give the photograph a more distinguished place in your home, instead of just pinning a photo on your wall or fridge. Everytime you walk by it, you’ll be transported back to the time the image was captured, reliving the moment. 

Rugs

In interior design, creating a focal point in a room is important. It not only helps establish your furniture arrangements, but also sets the tone and mood for your space. Without this critical element, there may be too many pieces in a space that will overwhelm one another, causing feelings of disarray. Focal points can be built in various ways, whether it be contrast, emphasis, or visual weight. It’s all about being able to balance out the furniture and accents in the area to create a cohesive look. To achieve this, consider getting a rug for the room you’re decorating. 

To bring about the focal point, there must be something called the dominant element. This entails a design piece that holds the greatest visual weight, drawing the eye to it immediately. Small or large, rugs can create the dominant element in a room scheme. Rugs are also an easy way to add texture to a room, with their endless materials and patterns that cater to any space. With a rug, you’ll be able to easily make or enhance a focal point and center the room. Consider the color and furniture in the space you’re decorating. If your walls are a lighter, neutral color, counteract the shade with a darker colored rug, or at least one that has some darker pattern to it. 

Plants

Being in nature, or viewing images of it, reduces anger, fear, and stress. Increasing more pleasant feelings, being in nature can contribute to physical wellbeing, by reducing blood pressure and heart rate. One study from Stanford University highlighted the importance of nature when they had participants take a 50 minute walk through a grassland area with trees and shrubs, and another group walk through an urban city. The people who had strolled through nature had an increase in cognition and decrease in anxiety as opposed to those who were on the city walk. Translating these feelings into the home can create serenity and overall wellbeing.

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Plants add living, breathing texture to a space, bringing subtle touches of the outdoors into the home. Besides the vibrant pop of color they provide, houseplants actually improve the air quality inside a home as well. A natural filtration system, plants reduce carbon dioxide levels as well as increase moisture in the air, enhancing your home in many different ways. This decor element is not one to skip out on, as it has benefits for both your physical and mental health. Don’t have a green thumb? Common houseplants that don’t require a lot of maintenance include snake plants, succulents, or cacti. Check out your local greenhouse for a plant that fits your space well.

Walls

The items that are on your walls dictate a lot in a room. While the idea of a more minimalist lifestyle has been a trend in recent years, a study on the perception of space has alluded that less visual stimulation is actually less impactful to humans. In other words, less stuff in a home is not necessarily more. Not to say that your home should be filled to the brim with things, but to find a balance that is appealing without too much or too little. Large blank walls can be daunting, too little visual stimulation in a room leads our brains to register that something unnatural is going on, which can stress us out more than a cluttered room.  

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Adding a wallpaper that is engaging for the eyes is one way to create texture in a room. Explore options with different designs and prints, but keep in mind how it will factor in with the other elements of your room. If you choose to cover a whole room with wallpaper, make sure you find a pattern that doesn’t completely overwhelm the space, as the eye won’t be able to land on one focal point. Depending on what tone you’re setting for your room, accommodate accordingly. If you don’t want your whole room covered with wallpaper, opt for one accent wall instead. This will still create a depth in the room, yet in a simpler way. 

Lighting

A design element that is overlooked is often the idea of layering lighting. There are three main types of lighting when it comes to catering to your home: ambient, accent, and task. Ambient is a general form, usually when you’re turning on a light switch the main lighting that comes on would pertain to ambient. Accent is for aesthetic purposes, emphasizing different parts of a room for a more artful lighting placement. Task is correlated to what you need to be doing with the lighting style: a task. Whether you’re in the bathroom getting ready, or cooking dinner, this is what task lighting is used for. 

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For interior design purposes, layering all of these is easier than one may think. By combining all of these, you’re able to create a depth of luminosity that you wouldn’t get with just one of these types. Light layers add more control to your room, so you can choose to focus on one aspect of the space rather than everything with the light type. Depending on how much use the room gets will vary with what lighting you choose to include. 

If you’re not looking to doing a whole home overall with texture incorporation, even taking one insight from our tips will help revamp a room. Catering your home to your personal style and aesthetics is the essence of establishing comfort and contentment for yourself. The most important thing about decorating is that you need to make it you!