“The Perfect Accessory”

    Is there the perfect accessory? I don’t know if there is such a thing as ONE perfect accessory because I BELIEVE in accessories!!

    The right accessory makes your home different from any other home… it makes it uniquely yours. The operative word is different. Take 10 identical sofas covered in the identical fabric, throw a different pair of decorative pillows on each one, and suddenly you have 10 different looks. 

Take the same kitchen cabinet… same style… same finish and use different decorative hardware and each set of cabinets will look entirely different. This is the one design element that can EASILY change… update… give the right “pop” to your bed, coffee table, bureau, wall… the list goes on. There is no limitation except your imagination.

      An accessory gives you so much for relatively such a small investment. A decorative pillow or ceramic vase doesn’t have to break the bank. Look around your home… you would be surprised how many things you have that are functional… which if displayed in the right manner would suddenly work as design accessories. I took a bunch of umbrellas and walking sticks that have been accumulating over the years… put them in an umbrella stand… 

and now it serves as a “wow” element when you walk into my house.

    Don’t limit yourself as to where you find that perfect piece (s). Keep your antennae up. It can be at a tag sale… that little nothing shop you have passed by a dozen times… chain stores like Pier One or TJ Maxx. My girlfriend found a lamp on the street curb one day that someone threw out. I still wonder if it is an unsigned Tiffany treasure.

    And remember… change your accessories and their location from time to time. Take that bowl that has been resting on your dining room table since you can’t remember when… fill it with lemons and put it on the kitchen counter… and suddenly you have your “new” perfect accessory. Change the lemons to apples. Or even vegetables. (When you use one kind of anything, like ALL lemons versus a mixture of fruits, it tends to make more of a statement. Or ALL in one color like green apples with green pears. But that is another blog). When summer approaches fill the same bowl with coral and shells and put it on your coffee table.  Same bowl… NEW look.

    And the most important thing is to have FUN with your accessories. Because they represent such a small investment…they are so easy to change without feeling guilty. That’s what’s so perfect about the perfect accessory… it doesn’t have to be perfect for very long!!!    

Chris Nicole Prince

1/14/2012