By Natalie Aldridge
While The Glam Pad is a proponent of traditional interiors, we celebrate individualism and the pursuit of finding one’s style of decoration. Even within the realm of classical interiors lays room for expression and the breaking of the confines of tradition. This task, however, can be a daunting challenge requiring the development of a personal aesthetic… and we often receive inquiries about how to do just that. As purveyors of inspiration, we have broken down our top tips for curating your decor aesthetic.
1. Start collecting!
This is your free pass to be a tad of a hoarder. And of course, we mean in the chicest way. Collecting objet allows your interests to shine through in an interior. Expensive or not, acquiring goods of a common theme suddenly offers a moment of unmatchable decoration.
2. Watch Movies
We carry moments of films with us throughout our whole lives. Subconsciously these moments influence our style, interests, and even personality. Making the effort to watch movies out of your typical wheelhouse can offer exciting aesthetic experiences. Spiraling down the rabbit hole of a particular director, era, or avant-garde genre opens the door to undiscovered realm of inspiration. And stay tuned because we will be sharing our most inspirational movie pics soon!Â
3. Collage
And we don’t mean pinning! The act of physically collaging brings tangibility to the exercise. Tearing pages of old magazines, thrift books, pasting cloth scrapes, photographs, and more allows one’s mind to wander and discover. Reappearing motifs that emerge in your collaging can be worked into the home by way of color, artwork, and fabric.
4. Read It All
Read as much as you can. Revisit old and new books. Read coffee table books, don’t just buy them to sit on a table (we are all guilty of this). Document your findings, take notes, make doodles, manifest the visual feast within the text.
5. Release Any Fear
One of the most vital components of honing an aesthetic is being fearless. After all, interior style and all that comes in between are personal interpretations. Emulation of a particular style should be infused with your sensibility and there truly are no rules to that.
Forging a personal aesthetic takes time but with the above tips you will be sure to kick start the process. And never forget, it is about fun and exploration, two things The Glam Pad celebrates each day.
Andrea, Always love your articles encouraging options!
I recommend the 2007 Nancy Drew movie for your inspirational movie post. The house they rent in LA is a Chinoiserie dream!
This is a great post and I have saved it for future reference. A bit of a crazy suggestion based on #2. Watch Movies! I paused shows and movies taken pictures of rooms that I loved! The pics go on my idea collage board! (Bonus Tip!: I have several from the old Perry Mason shows that were a binge favorite during the Pandemic Lockdown!)
Hi Mary Ann,
Oh my goodness, I do the same thing!! Great minds. 🙂
Xx,
Andrea
The Glam Pad
I really love this post. One thing I try to do is to go through all the areas of my house and just chic it up as best I can. Some things I can’t change, but I always have a nice India cotton tablecloth, Spode blue plates, and small and large stemware on the table. When my grandchildren are sick they get to have their drinks in the cutest little cut crystal stemware. I have a large Airedale—so that means all the main furniture is covered, but again, I make sure that the covers are colorful and chic themselves. I have Persian carpet pillows that help keep the kids and the dog off my smaller antique chairs. Here’s something that does bother me, though….my female cousins and I all have the same taste we inherited from our mothers. However, I know that people come to my home—which is very anglo-American and they think it is bad taste. They are minimalists and lost in a sea of gray and white. I think there is glampad taste and all the rest is bad taste (smile.).
Hi Sigrid,
Well of course I’m biased, but I completely agree with you! 😉 Your home sounds like perfection to me!
Xx,
Andrea
The Glam Pad
FABULOUS……..I think YOU would enjoy my latest BLOG POST!
COLLECTOR I AM
TAKE A PEEK……….
I ADORE EVERYTHING YOU HAVE STATED HERE!
This is wonderful post. So many great ideas!
I would like to add art museums. I have found so inspirational to visit museum from classical and antique to modern art. Every time I look at painting I feel captivated by scene, colors, mood. Sometimes I just go through halls, other times I come back to see just one painting, or look what I have missed before or if anything new.