Decorating with your Hobbies

Buying a home seems like the hard part, right? But then you get the home, and you have to furnish it. Then the home is furnished and it's time to decorate. Why can decorating feel like the actual hard part? Because there are endless possibilities. Buying a house limits you to the market. Furniture is often limited to your design style and budget. But décor is so affordable and everywhere, and there is so much less limiting you, often giving a feeling of overwhelm.

When I approach decor, I love the idea of everything in your home reflecting YOU. Who are you? Your family? What little peaks will I see into who you are through your home? I think one of the easiest ways to have your personality shine through is by decorating with your hobbies. This can mean a range of things, but it is also a fine line between making your home look curated or crafty. No matter how you decorate there are elements and principles of design to follow to help your space be successful. There are 12 Principles of design which are contrast, balance, emphasis, proportion, hierarchy, repetition, rhythm, pattern, focal point, movement, variety, and unity. You don't have to have all of the elements of principles in order to have a successful space, but highlighting a few of each is what creates a beautiful room.

As I say in all my blog posts; if it makes you happy-DO IT! Don’t worry about what I have to say if it goes against something already in your home that you love. These are simply tips to help your home look more collected.

Fishing | Hunting

If you have any sort of hobby that falls into fishing/hunting, this is often a common way to decorate homes. Some tips I can offer for these hobbies is to remain consistent. If you have loads of antlers you want on your walls, the mounting wood should be the same for them all (finish/color). When hanging the busts, use THESE gallery wall principles to have an interesting setup that keeps the viewer's eye moving. This will create Repetition, that will calm down the movement of all the other lines formed by the antlers (or whatever animal you are hanging) and give cohesiveness to otherwise unlike objects.

If you have the fishing gear, you want to use to decorate here is an interesting idea to make a beautiful composition out of them. Consistency is key when you have things that can really vary in shape, size, color etc. Have at least one thing that is the same in all the individual parts gives a feeling of unity and helps the viewers eye rest through the business.

Cooking | Mixology

These hobbies are so fun to decorate with since they are apart of everyday use. You can find some beautiful cooking books to have on a shelf in your kitchen, or a few beautiful cutting boards. However, I think it brings added interest to have these things that are in use not just for display purposes. Since food is needed for our survival, it makes more sense to decorate in a more practical way, and the wear and tear tells a beautiful story. Try to make sure you will use the decor you have.

Mixology has a whole subculture. With this, you can have bar carts, trays of alcohol, mixing utensils, etc. I have seen beautiful bar cabinets, a bar cart, or a shelf on a bookcase be decorated with these. The fun part about decorating here is that it is always changing. Drinks get emptied and replaced with a new bottle- that might have a new size, shape, or color.

This creates variety that allows for visual movement. If all the glasses are different size, shapes, and colors it created interesting depth to the space it is displayed on.

Houseplants

In the last few years (thanks COVID and Instagram) having houseplants has exploded. Personally, during the first few months in lockdown, I dove into learning how to take care of my house plants. There is so much to learn, and so many people have started enjoying that more and more in their homes. If you have read previous blogs, you know that I LOVE decorating with plants. They are a natural space filler, that also brings life into your space and filters your air. A new design style has even popped up in the last few years from this of creating the feeling of a jungle indoors.

Some tips for decorating with plants is to first decide what level you can care for the plants. Plants can be tricky because each individual species requires a different amount of sunlight, water, and fertilizer. I read somewhere that it is important to "not buy a plant and find a space, but rather have the space and find the plant". In the quote they were trying to get across the importance of having the right surrounding for each plant, though I know this is not what most of us think when buying a house plant. An easy way to avoid this is to invest in “hard to kill” plants- like a snake plant or pothos.

Plants create interesting contrast when they are indoors- because naturally they do not belong inside. I think that's why we love them so much, its bringing a bit of the outside in. It gives this man-made thing (your house) a gentle natural feeling.

Music

Music includes such a range of different things you can decorate with. From a beautiful piano in your living room to a guitar on the wall, to a bunch of vintage records, there are so many options. Having an instrument in your home is an "active" decoration, as guests might want to give it a go when they visit. Not only are you telling the world about you, but you are also inviting them into it. Having records or CDs on display is a similar idea. You can entertain your guests with what you also use to decorate your space. Other examples of decorating our space with music is an old metronome, framed sheet music, even books of music.

Something to consider if bringing an instrument into your space is to consider the visual weight it will bring with it. For example, an upright piano is very heavy, everyone knows its heavy, therefore when seeing it on display with will have visual weight. This is so important when setting up your room to have visual balance. Have your large sofa on the opposite side, so that the weight will balance out, otherwise your eye will continually be drawn to the heavy option and miss out on other beautiful design you have incorporated on the other side of the room.

Painting | Photography

These hobbies are more self explainable on how to decorate. If you enjoy painting or photography (or really any art form), it's easy to frame something you created to decorate your house. However, I also know a lot of artists who don't like to be surrounded by their own work. If that is the case, I would say to find artists that inspire you, or prints, to help you to enjoy your home and move you forward in your hobby as well.

If you don't enjoy your work around the house, a nice way you could decorate instead is with your utensils. Put your DSLR camera on display while it isn't in use, or a bunch of old paint brushes in a beautiful ceramic cup on a shelf (extra interest if there is a bunch of dried color paint on them!). Using old equipment or less used equipment tells a story that brings so much depth to the room. It allows your guest to have a greater peak into who you are.

Depending on where you put this, old equipment or framed art can be a beautiful focal point of a room. A focal point is made when the elements of the room surround that thing. For example, usually a TV or fireplace is the focal point of a living room.

Literature

Books are such a fun way to bring personality into our space. When going to other people's houses I love looking at the books on their bookshelf. I feel it gives me a peek into their mind. There are beautiful coffee table books that can decorate your tables in the house, as well as colors for the bookshelf. I like to "color block" my books on my bookshelf. This means putting similar colors together on each shelf (I know this is a very controversial topic. I am simply saying my suggestion as a visual thinker). However, I don't think you should necessarily organize it in rainbow order. I feel this was all the rage the last few years, and to me, this feels "crafty" over curated. Color blocking creates a pattern on your bookshelf that draws the viewer in. Though not an obvious pattern, a bit of blue here and there give a beautiful effect when looking at the whole bookshelf.

Another aspect of literature you can decorate with is calligraphy equipment. Quills and calligraphy pens are very beautiful, and this is another practical decor example (like the cookbooks). If you like to calligraphy having these on display in an accessible location brings beauty while telling a story.

Games

Games can include both video games and board games. I, personally, have never really been into video games, but I know there are action figured and Legos that go along with video games that are often displayed. For this, aim to invest in nice display cabinets. It will help elevate your room and feel nice no matter what the price point of your collectable might be. This also gives visual hierarchy to your decor. Having these things in beautiful cabinets tells the viewer that they are important and worth the demand of admiration dictated by the cabinets. This will create a higher feeling for your space.

There are also nice ways to incorporate board games into your decor. First, you can find vintage boards (like a chess board) to use as a tray on your coffee table, to corral smaller objects. Or use vintage games to decorate your basement, game room, or office walls. My brother-in-law even has some nice shelves he lines vertically with the boxes of the games he plays, so they are accessible and add to the decor.

There are so many options you can do with either of these, the main take away I give you is Vintage games are always a great option for decorating, and its all about how you display the item more than what it is.

Travel

There are so many aspects of Travel you can decorate with. Personally, I love to collect art from every country I visit. Most of the art in my home is from somewhere I have travelled to, and every time I see them it fills me with memories. I also have loads of trinkets that fills spaces of shelves throughout my home. I love that having souvenirs around my home also allows for visitors to ask questions of the usual art. It guides a conversation into getting to know each other better.

Another great way to decorate from travel is with maps. Maps tell a story on their own and give a unique dynamic to a room.

The art that I have collected is all different kinds of styles and artists from different countries. I love the visual movement that is created by looking at the art collection. The dynamic pops with the different art styles represented and doesn't allow for visual stagnation.

I realize there are so many more hobbies than that that I was able to cover in just one blog post. I think a lot of the principles remain the same regardless of what your hobby is. Decorating is successful principles of design is applied. We looked at all but proportion, rhythm, and emphasis. These principles though given specific examples for each hobby can be applied beyond these 8 ideas. There is so much dynamic you can bring to a room simply by keeping these principles in mind. Whatever your hobby, using it as decor in your home gives the visitor insight into who you are, as well as sends them a message that you are inviting them in.