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Sources: Similar Ottoman // Blue Glass Lamp // Rattan Daybed // Rug // Plaid Pillow // Similar Turquoise Animal Otomi Pillow
Today let’s talk about 5 Stylish and Practical Reasons To Have Ottomans in Your Home!
Ottomans are Versatile
I love using my ottomans in my home because they are so versatile. An ottoman is used as place to put your feet up, an extra seat, and they are handy in place of a coffee table, too!
We have had a leather ottoman in our home for over twenty years (and have moved it with us to five of our homes now!). I’ve used my teal ottoman in so many types of rooms and several homes as well, it always seems to work somewhere! Right now it’s in our upstairs room we use for guests and my office. Everyone loves it. We can pull it up to the daybed or sofa for the ultimate comfort while relaxing or watching TV, or use a tray on it for serving snacks!
Sources: Similar Leather Ottoman // Wall Candle Sconces // Battery Taper Candles
Ottomans are Classic Furniture Pieces
You may wonder if certain styles of ottomans are in style. If you choose an unusual shape or certain trendy fabrics they can feel dated, so I’d stick to classic shapes and fabrics. Leather (or faux leather) and tufted ottomans are both classic home furnishing staples. They don’t really go out of style!
I think the addition of tufting on an ottoman adds a little more sophistication and flair to a room, but they don’t have to feel fussy or too formal. I certainly use them in casual rooms. That’s what I love about classic pieces, they are a good investment if you want a style that can endure for decades and beyond.

Ottomans Add Softness to the Room
Ottomans come in lots of pretty fabrics and textures. Those fabrics and the padding will add softness that will enhance the coziness of a room. One wonderful thing about ottomans is that they comfy for your legs and feet (and won’t hurt if you or your littles run into them!). The softness of an ottoman means they can easily double as seating, much like a bench but without the discomfort of a hard surface. I also love to tuck small ottomans around a room, too, for these reasons!

Ottomans are Simple to Use as a Coffee Table
Tufting tends to give them a slightly more firm surface than some ottoman styles, but with any ottoman you will still want to have a tray or solid surface you can use on top. That way they are also functional as a coffee table for decor, or serving food or drinks. Of course, there is a risk of spilling on the ottoman if you use them as a coffee table, so take that into consideration.
Some fabrics will easily wipe off or repel spills, but a large tray (perhaps try a tray with sides!) will also help minimize that risk. Like I said, I’ve had my ottomans for a very long time with kids of all ages (my youngest was a year old when we got our leather ottoman!). We’ve also had many dogs (and one who especially loves the ottoman!) and these ottomans have held up well to daily use.

Ottomans can be fun to style, too!
If you’re hesitant to try an ottoman in place of a coffee table because you feel it would limited your decor options, I don’t think that has to be a deterrent. You can use blankets, trays, baskets, books and other decor elements to style them for every season. I’ll show some simple ways to style ottomans for fall in an upcoming post (so stay tuned for that along with my simple decorating formula!).
Related Post:10 Tufted Ottomans You Could Use in Place of a Coffee Table!
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Remember when I said I was having trouble finding large glass lamps, so I resorted to my DIY glass bottle lamp? Well, HomeGoods surprised me recently and had tons of pretty and large lamps, including these lovely glass lamps I put on my console cabinet! YAY! (Similar Lamp Source, and more options HERE) They aren’t as huge […] More

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Sources for above — click here
Styling shelves can feel daunting, but it can be fun and less stressful when you know a few designer secrets for selecting the right items and how to style them.
Here are some of my favorite tried and true tips for selecting items to display and how to style open shelving in a kitchen (or anywhere!).
Botanical Plates // Brass Bells // Blue and White Chinoiserie Ginger Jar
Pair practical and pretty
I like to use both practical and pretty items decorate a kitchen. This philosophy is true of shelves, too. Often some of what I choose to display are pieces that are stored on the shelves because they are practical. They could be brought down off the shelves and used, such as a stack of plates, a pitcher or a basket.
Seascape Art Print in This Wood Picture Frame //  This art print and others are in my Amazon Art and Frame Storefront // Blue and White Plates // Stoneware Crock
Set the mood with a palette
Determining a mood for your shelves will help you narrow down what you want on the shelves and ultimately brings everything together. The mood can be built around your style or the items you have to work with. It can be altered through the selection of colors and textures to give your shelves a more intentional, cohesive, streamlined look.
A cohesive palette doesn’t mean everything has to match, or stay neutral or that you can’t use your favorite colors.
Pick a mood word or two to describe the overall feeling you want to achieve. Do you want your shelves to reflect a certain season? What word would help you to describe the overall vibe? Moody? Happy? Colorful? Serene? To establish a strong mood, be intentional with what you add to the shelves. If something doesn’t contribute to the mood or is a distraction, it can go.
Sources: Blue and White Chinoiserie Ginger Jar // Botanical Plates // Brass Bells // Favorite Cookbooks // Artificial Artichoke // Seascape Art Print in This Wood Picture Frame // This art print and others are in my Amazon Art and Frame Storefront
A formula I use often in my home:
A few shades of two colors + a wood and a white tone + a metal tone. Any additional hues are included in small doses.
On the top two shelves you can see I used shades of blues and greens with mid-tone woods and whites. Then I included a few very small pops of reds and yellows only within the dishes on the plate rack.
Blue and White Chinoiserie Planter Pot on Shelf // Seascape Art Print in This Wood Picture Frame
Use unmatched + unexpected
While you certainly can style shelves with one kitchen collection for impact, such as a matching set of dishes or all cookbooks, you can also mix pieces that don’t necessarily match or are unexpected in a kitchen. This makes it easier and more affordable to change the look through the seasons and show off smaller or growing collections in fresh ways.
Mismatched pieces can look pleasing together because they all contribute to the mood and color palette you’ve selected. While it can be nice in a kitchen to display every day items on my open shelves I like to include pieces that aren’t necessarily just “kitchen related.”
I use various collected or vintage items, interesting textures, a few plants, books, faux or real organic elements like florals, vegetables or plant stems, as well as artwork and vessels.

Blend a mix of sizes and shapes
Rounds, cylinders, rectangles, spikey or feathery shapes … blend together elements with opposite or unique shapes to add interest! Don’t use too many small items, but a couple of smalls will make the overall look more pleasing, interesting and natural.

Pair, Lean and Layer
To make mismatched pieces look more intentional and cohesive on shelves, practice the pair, lean and layer techniques. Start in the back. Depending on the length or height of your shelves, you may be able to lean a piece or two against the back wall of the shelves. Artwork and large platters or plates work well for this. Then layer / slightly overlap some pieces in front of others. Pair different heights, allowing some breathing space. Try to style three items together at least once for a cohesive grouping. Combine textures and colors for style and function — for example, placing apples in a basket.
Kitchen Hardware // More Kitchen Details
Step back and look
Does the overall look feel natural and pleasing? Step back to look around the room, too, not just directly at the shelves. If it’s too cluttered or crowded or not interesting enough for your taste, nudge items around, add or take away colors, sizes or shapes, until you like the way it feels!

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Click here for mood board sources (and see more below)
Botanical Plates
Brass Bells
Blue and White Chinoiserie Ginger Jar
Seascape Art Print in This Wood Picture Frame // I ordered this art here because I wanted a specific size but you can also get these prints (and others) HERE on Amazon in a variety of sizes and some already framed as well!
Blue and White Plates
Stoneware Crock
Favorite Cookbooks
Artificial Artichoke
Kitchen Hardware
Blue and White Chinoiserie Planter Pot on Shelf
Basket plant is in (pineapple lidded basket)
Paint color: Classic Light Buff Sherwin Williams
Kitchen Tour and Details
Shop More of My House and Style
Shop My Amazon Favorites More

Rattan Serving Cart (on sale!) // Brass Ceiling Light // (see more sources at end of post)
A few weeks ago I had an epiphany that led me to (unexpectedly but excitedly) buy a rattan serving cart! I am SO thrilled with it! The truth is I didn’t plan to add ANY furniture (except our dining table and chairs) when we designed our kitchen and dining room.
Sometimes you don’t really know how a room will come together until:
1) you start trying various arrangements, or2) you’re in it (not just looking at it on paper)
That is how this rattan serving cart ended up in this special spot in our home! It was meant to be. Today I’ll share more about this serendipitous addition to our kitchen and dining area, why it works well for us, how we’ll use it and what this added piece brings to design-wise our space!
Rattan Serving Cart (on sale!)
While I love free standing furniture for storage and adding character to a room, as we were designing our kitchen and dining room we realized it really wouldn’t make sense to incorporate furniture (other than the table and chairs). We didn’t have many walls to work with (all of the three main rooms are smallish and open/connected to each other, plus two of the walls are filled with French doors), so we chose to use the available wall space in the dining room and kitchen for built-ins.
This decisions and arrangement really helped us to maximize floor space, as well as improve storage and function in an “open” layout, and I can’t wait to share more of the details and the whole renovation in the reveal!
Sources: Blue and White Ginger Jar // Rattan Serving Cart (on sale!)
As I mentioned, the rattan cart wasn’t in the original design plan. Yet it serendipitously turned out to be the perfect piece for our room and looks so charming with the island, too! I love when a room comes together organically. I always expect a space evolve as we live in it, but that means you don’t always get to know in advance exactly how that will happen. You have to TRUST it will come together in time! And often if I’m patient, slowly but surely room will reveal to me what it wants :).
A few months ago I did an inspiration blog post on rattan bar carts, never imagining at the time that we would ever have room for one ourselves!
I knew I loved the look and had seen so many ways to use rattan carts (plus my mom had a rattan cart in her home for YEARS!), so there was no question I would love one in my home. Yet it wasn’t until I was finally standing in my new dining room one day, observing the space we had available that I could imagine how a small cart would be perfect. It would not only work space-wise with the table and chairs in place, but feels like a “meant-to-be” design decision!
Rattan Serving Cart (on sale!)
To be certain we would like it there, we brought in a similar cart (the one we got this summer for the porch). It wasn’t the right size (just a wee bit too big, but every inch counts), but it confirmed that we would love a similar piece in that spot. Now if we could find just the right size, color and shape we’d be set!
I was so excited because I immediately found a rattan serving cart that checked all of the boxes, so I ordered it on the spot (and bonus I had a $50 credit and it was on sale!). MEANT TO BE!
It is really is a wonderful addition to our kitchen/dining area in so many ways. Not too big, not too small. I love how it brings a subtle shift and connection in the function from the “kitchen side” to the “dining area.” It also brings together and adds to all of our warm toned textures, from the cutting boards and the wood flooring to the metal fixtures over the island. I also love the way it contrasts with the natural stones and soft creamy cabinets. It feels just right, so warm, homey and inviting, like I planned for it to be there all along.
I think many times, that’s the best way to design a room. It can turn out even BETTER when you don’t plan every detail to begin with! It is fun when you find that unexpected piece, or there is an element of surprise with how it came together, or when you simply have the joy of watching it evolve and become your own over time.
Similar Wood Handle Flatware
This is what I hoped for in our kitchen. I wanted the overall design to feel welcoming, classic and timeless, as if it always been here in our family. Yet in order to feel like it’s truly always been with us and will be for years to come, it would naturally evolve because we would enjoy it and live in it.
While it’s a new kitchen and a new serving cart, every day it’s feeling more and more like a family home we’ve always loved and always will.
So how will we use the rattan cart and what is on it now?
Blue Rug // Rattan Serving Cart (on sale!)
I can’t wait to use this rattan cart in different ways and of course, share it with you each season. Besides looking really cute, it is so handy to hold things we may need day to day, like a stack of cloth napkins, our favorite little trays and various trivets, some coasters, a small wood cutting board, a vase for flowers and wood flatware that not only looks so pretty on display but it handy to grab from the table. Plus it is fun to be able to lean art (which we did on the lower shelf!) or set potted plants, display seasonal decor or foliage, or even to set up with dishes or desserts to serve at family gathering! We can also move the cart around to other places as needed.
Happy start to the fall nesting season, friends! We’re enjoying getting more settled and comfortable in our home every day. It’s the ideal season for all things cozy, so stay tuned as I’ll have so much to share with you! Thank you for being here!

Rattan serving cart (on sale!)
Striped blue and white cloth napkins
Round rattan trays
Blue and white ginger jar (see more of my blue and white favorites on Amazon here)
Similar wood handle flatware
Woven charger placemats (see more woven chargers and other entertaining supplies in this folder of my Amazon shop)
Blue rug
Brass ceiling light (see our kitchen design mood board here for more sources)
Black and white pattern crock is an old kitchen canister, out of stock but find similar in this Kitchen Jars & Canisters folder
Cabinet color: Classic Light Buff Sherwin Williams
Flooring: real European White Oak hardwood, engineered. I unfortunately don’t have a link to them — they were purchased through a local store and have no brand name I can find online.
See our most recent renovation update here.

Rattan Bar Carts inspiration rooms
My flea market find rattan shelf (still have this, now in our guest room!)
My rattan daybed (this is now in our Snug which has been recently rearranged after getting new floors, I’ll share that soon!)
Inspiration: Rattan and Bamboo Accent Furniture
My “Rattan Love” Pinterest board with inspiration photos
My outdoor serving cart (+ simple gathering inspiration)

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One of my favorite decorating accessories for my home is PILLOWS! But how do you get decorative pillows that go together and make them all look pretty in your home? Today I am going to share some of my own “designer secrets” that will not only help you select decorative pillows that will go together and look lovely, but that can also save you money, frustration and space. These tips will also help you simplify decorating and create a more cohesive look in your home in any season.
Most people struggle with pillows! Too many? They don’t look right? Not enough? Storage, style, sizes, pairings, mix and match, inserts, there is so much to think about and learn. But I’m here to share a few of my secrets today. I hope they’ll encourage you!
Sources: Wildflower Pillow // Striped Pillow // Rug // Gold Floor Lamp
The right pillows and pairings don’t have to be perfectly styled to look pretty.
This is one of my best discoveries. This might ruffle the feathered inserts of some designers, but I will share my tips so that your pillows do not have to be perfectly styled to look pretty. They are known by many as “throw pillows” for a reason. My dogs throw my pillows on the floor. Every day. All day. Perhaps your spouse or children do, too. Ha!
If I expected pillows to stay perfectly arranged, fluffed and styled at all times I would be forever frustrated. Pillow perfection is not reality at our home. But that does not stop me from wanting pretty pillows.
I want to enjoy my home, laugh at my dogs and have pretty pillows. It’s a fact, they will likely be smooshed (the pillows, not the dogs). The pillows will not always be set up in the right order (according to designer rules). They probably will be tipped over or on the floor much of the day. But they can still look pretty if you incorporate a few of my secret tips which I will share today.

A different approach to decorating for a lived in home
There are many people who offer advice on home decorating. Even if they are considered an expert, that doesn’t mean what they say a space should look like is going to inspire you or even be right for you or your home. For my personal taste, I prefer a more casual “we actually live here” look.
A more laid back style feels the most inviting to me. So with that said, some decorating rules I read online or in books don’t inspire me. I don’t want my home to feel so stiff or overly styled, so I have to take a different approach to decorating.
I offer my own decorating tips simply to be of help to those who feel as I do. If you feel your home is meant to be a haven in the world, and want it to be a pretty and inspiring place where people and pets are comfortable, you are probably in the right place. Your style might be different than mine, but I hope the encouragement you find here will inspire you in your own lived in and loved home.
Whether I follow known decorating rules or break them, make decorating mistakes or inspire an idea, my lived in home has always felt pretty, welcoming and cozy to our family. That’s who you are designing your home for, the people (and any pets) who live there. Perfection isn’t necessary and in fact, it can be a hindrance in so many ways.
Source: Wildflower Pillow
A signature style that is pretty and practical
If you’re like me and have home that is comfy and lived in, you’ll see my tips for creating your own signature style with pillows that still look pretty when they are smooshed, not fluffed to perfection, or even when they are on the floor, too. 🙂
Recently I bought a fresh new collection of pillow covers to add to our home. I thought it would be fun to show you what I got and how they look together in different pairings. You don’t have to have these exact pillows to learn from this post. I’ll share my tips to make your pillows look pretty together and in your room, regardless of your style of sofa or pillows.
For inspiration I’m mostly showing them on our leather sofa. Many people are flustered if they have a leather sofa because they don’t think pretty pillows work as well on them. I hope you’ll find through my tips why that doesn’t have to be the case! I’m a big fan of using what you have and pulling together a look that is both pretty and practical for your family.
Sources: Fall floral pillow cover // Windowpane pattern pillow cover // Navy plaid pillow cover // Blue hand blocked floral pillow cover
Here are my tips for choosing decorative pillows that go together, saving money, avoiding mistakes and finding your signature style for your spaces.
1) Choose your signature color palette for your home (or a room).
I think my home decorating secret for a signature palette is a good one for so many reasons, if you can make it work. Let me explain why it’s helpful when it comes to pillows (I’ll share more on this topic in an upcoming resource, if you’d like to be notified when it’s available, make sure to sign up for my newsletter to be updated when it’s available HERE).
When you have one base palette for your home, you will be able to swap, mix and match many of your pillows and accessories any room all year round.
Sources: Fall floral pillow cover // Windowpane pattern pillow cover
Your investment in pillows will go further and your need for seasonal storage goes down! If you have a cohesive palette you can then more easily shop your home for a fresh combination of pillows to update the look of any room (rather than having a full set of pillows that only work in one room or one season).
A signature base color palette can feel fresh in any season by simple swapping textures of some of the pillows, or adding in a few pillows in your palette that you’ve chosen for a specific season. You can also play up one color or combination of colors in your palette more prominently in different rooms or seasons.
Your home might naturally look best with a certain color palette, so go with what makes sense for your home! A signature palette doesn’t have to feel boring or redundant at all. There are so many ways to keep your spaces feeling fresh and up-to-date without redecorating everything all the time.
Sources: Fall floral pillow cover // Blue hand blocked floral pillow cover // Wildflower Pillow
2) Find a base set of decorative pillow covers that all go together.
Let’s start with the basics. You’ll want to find pillow covers. I’m talking about decorative covers that usually have zippers and are used over the inserts (which we’ll talk about in another step). You can buy a large set for your home all at once, get a few to start with, or one and have a plan to add to your base set over time!
I am sharing examples of some I have, and you can find more ideas and inspiration for pillow covers that might look good together here in this post!
Have fun with your mix of colors and patterns, as long as you like how they look together and in your home. Ideally don’t mix very modern with very traditional patterns, it will feel better to go in one direction. Here’s a helpful guideline: I prefer to stick to mostly classic patterns like stripes, plaids, and traditional florals or fun botanicals.
Sources: Wildflower Pillow // Similar blue stripe pillow cover // Similar Tufted Ottomans // Leather sofa is out of stock but here is the chair version
I also like to mix in a couple of unique pillow covers such as a star pattern, polka dots, a traditional geometric or even a seasonal specific one, just to keep the style fresh. Vary the sizes of the patterns and don’t use too many. Make sure some patterns are bigger and some smaller so they aren’t in competition with each other.
Here’s another tip, consider buying a set of two or even three matching pillow covers to make a cohesive style statement. Place them on the ends of a sofa, on a bed, or a bench. They can make your space feel more cohesive! Or even use them around the room, on two or three chairs to bring the room together. But sometimes I decide to use mismatched pillows and various sizes everywhere. This is up to you and just a personal or style preference, in my opinion.
If you have a patterned or colored sofa, of course you’ll want to select pillows in complementary patterns and colors.
Sources: Blue hand blocked floral pillow cover // Similar blue stripe pillow cover
3) Choose the right sizes and shapes for your pillows.
I suggest you pick at least a couple different sizes you can pair together or use in different ways.
Bigger square pillows look better on a larger sofa (22 x 22 to 24 x 24 inches, or larger) or a deeper bench seat or beds. Smaller (19 or 20 inches) work better on smaller scaled chairs or when paired with larger pillows. Longer rectangles look nice in the middle of a bed or even a sofa. Shorter rectangles are handy for chairs (especially those that already have a puffy back cushion), or they can can be paired in the middle of two squares on a sofa. I use small rectangle pillows, 12 x 20, for my smaller scale chairs and sofas. You can also get round pillows to add to the mix!
Source: Windowpane pattern pillow cover // Wildflower Pillow
4) Consider your signature pillow cover fabrics, textures and details!
Ideally your base set of pillow covers will be in textures that work for your home and style in most seasons. Maybe your home shines in the fall or feels best in the summer. Or maybe you like a cozier heavier feel or a lighter airier vibe! But no matter the mood of your home, you can also consider having some in additional textures (linens, cotton, denim, cozy woven, velvet, knit, flannels, chenille or wool) to allow you to have a fresh mix for various seasons. Whichever fabrics you prefer, if you can find a few with tassels or fringe it can make the whole mix more fun.

5. Invest in good quality inserts and buy what you need for each room / piece of furniture.
You can do this step over time, or get them all at once. Make a list of what sizes you want if you plan to add to the collection as you’re able. Keep a list of what you have or still need (put it in your phone or small notebook you carry with you) in case you see inserts or covers anywhere at a good deal. If you stick to your chosen sizes for your standard collection of pillows, you will feel free to buy new covers without having to invest in new inserts or find storage for the extras.
It’s important to keep in mind for the best look, the general rule of thumb buy inserts one or two sizes bigger than the cover. So if you have a 20 inch cover, you’ll want a 22 inch insert. That will give it a fuller, higher quality look.

Pillow insert quality is important because if they are are flimsy and lightweight, or not firm or fluffy, full and heavy enough your pillows will look lifeless! Plus if you have a leather sofa the lightweight cheap ones will also just slide right down or fall off. They need enough weight!
You can decide if you prefer a fluffier pillow, like down or hypoallergenic down, or firmer style. I often choose mine based on what I think I’ll use them for the most. I like firmer pillows for the back of a bed to lean on. My favorites for sofas are the squish-able soft chubby fluffy ones, they just look so relaxed, cozy and casual, like you can grab them to take a nap! That’s the look I prefer for my home and suits my style, but you can choose what you like the best.

Sometimes you can find inserts affordably but with a cover you don’t like. Watch for those, you can give away the cover and keep the insert, or if they don’t have zippers some of your pillow covers may be heavy enough that you can use them over the original pillow.
I hope you found my ideas on pillow pairings and a pretty and practical signature style helpful! This is a preview of an upcoming home decorating resource, would you like to be the first to know when it is available? Sign up for my free newsletter here to be in the loop!
Where to get decorative pillows and my pillow sources
I got a set of my favorite pillow inserts at PB here and also have bought pillow inserts on Amazon, too. See some of my favorite pillow inserts here in my Amazon storefront.
Here are the links to the pillow inserts I bought if you want the same sizes: 20 inch square insert // 22 inch square insert
Here is a big round-up of decorative pillows and pairing ideas to inspire!
Below are the pillow covers I bought more recently for our home, so feel free to buy the same ones as long as they’re available. But you can even just use this collection as inspiration for finding your own pillow covers over time!
Sources: 1 /// 2 /// 3 /// 4 /// 5 /// (6 is sadly now out of stock, here is a similar one)) … You can also get 3 as a set (click here)

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Pin this post for later so you can look for similar patterns and styles. We also keep our Amazon storefront stocked with current and seasonal styles we like (see our Amazon pillow shop HERE), so be sure to bookmark it for easy reference and you can always watch the blog for fresh ideas.

Here is a post on lots of pretty fallish pillow collections!
^ Pin this for later! ^ More