Essentially EmmaMarie

I’m sure you’ve heard of the capsule wardrobe, it has been around for many years, and has one again become popular over the past few years. This theory teaches the principle that you have a small core wardrobe in which all items are interchangeable and small accents can be added to give more pop or flair to an outfit. This same principle applies to décor. 

While generally it is the rule to build your decorating style off several different looks, rather than buying pieces that are all the exact same style,(think all rustic farmhouse themed, or all mid century modern), this is not something we always apply to seasonal décor- but we can and often should. Imposing this filter on our décor will help to simplify our lives immensely! 

If you read my post How To Create A Cohesive Color Pallet, you may already be familiar with and utilizing these principles but as a quick refresher it is a good idea to create a color pallet for your home of about 5-12 different colors, having 1 or 2 main colors, about 3 accent colors, and 2 or 3 colors that you use vary sparingly. Now you may already be doing this but do you follow these guidelines when it comes to seasonal decor? 

If you have a neutral color scheme in your home, with a very small color pallet, then you have a lot of room to play when it comes to adding seasonal decor. However, you may have more colors in your home; you may like pastels or yellows and oranges which can make for challenging decorating when it comes to certain seasons. Enter capsule decorating.  

If you have a home that is decorated in pastel purples, blues, and greens then you may not want to plunk down a bunch of orange pumpkins in the fall. But what you can do is plunk down a bunch of white ones. You build your base of white pumpkins, and then add a few soft brown twine balls, maybe a pair of deer antlers, and some eucalyptus greenery sprinkled about. Then the next year you build off of this base. This gives you a framework for your decor; when you can’t decide between an orange and brown welcome fall sign, and one that is designed of beiges, grays, and creams you can easily make a decision to go with a neutral sign and therefore simplify your decorating. 

My base for the decor elements in my home are white, wood, and vintage. The white keeps things clean and modern, the wood keeps things rustic, and the vintage is all me- an expression of my personal style and what I like. When I cull through my decor and find the pieces that I use every season I see a theme, which I can then follow to help in the selection of new decor pieces. I picture the decor that I love the most and ask myself if this new item will find a home among my other pieces. I sometimes stray from this rule but it’s very helpful when I’m under a lot of shopping pressure! 

Capsule decorating is an easy formula to follow to add seasonal touches to your décor without feeling like you have to do a huge overhaul of all of your décor. Capsule decorating isn’t about  hard and fast restrictions that you can never stray from; rather capsule decorating is a tool to simplify your life. Who among us doesn’t need a little more simplicity these days? I hope this helps to simplify and give you more freedom in your decorating!