Extreme Makeover: Home Edition’s Jillian Harris Explains How To Style Your Home
New Year. New you. That means taking the time to make your place reflect your personality.
-PJ Gach
A new year brings change. We’ve kissed last year good-bye and are so bright-eyed and eager to kick off the New Year right. We’re tossing shoes, accessories, clothes and sometimes even our boyfriends into the recycling bin. Since you’re in the mood for change, why not change the interior-of your house or apartment? Winter brings you lots of indoor entertaining, right? And instead of going away this year, you’re staying close to home, right? So why not take all that positive energy and make your nest the place you’ve always wanted it to be.
Interior Designer Jillian Harris can be seen weekly on ABC’s Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, Fridays 8pm/7 pm c and she knows a thing or two about how important it is to feel comfortable and comforted by your home.
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Jillian took time out of her busy schedule and shared her tips with us on how to inject your personal style into your house.
1. Think of what makes you tick, what brings back memories and what you adore. You should look at these things every day. For example: an old recipe from your granny you can frame; get a piece of glass made for the top of your first tickle trunk and turn it into a coffee or end table; hang your favorite party dress that usually sits in your closet on the wall as art instead.
2. Instead of traditional souvenirs and knick-knacks you might have picked up on your travels (like that Cabo ’09 frame that matches nothing), think of something a little more special and not so obvious when searching for souvenirs, like a framed original local art piece purchased for under $10.00. It tells a story, evokes memories and emotions without being kitschy.
3. Imagine your personality as a room and don’t ignore what you are drawn to, whether it’s a pop of color, a calm serene space, or even a velvet upholstered bench! Gravitate towards colors, textures and patterns that make your heart flutter.
4. Convert what’s old into something new. We recently took a tattered old fur that grandpa gave grandma and had it turned into a teddy bear–– what a great heirloom!
5. Always over-texture, over-layer and don’t worry about matching stuff.
6. Give your space a good cleanse of things or items that don’t evoke an emotion or a memory.
7. Go eclectic. Instead of purchasing an entire set of matching furniture, choose pieces independently. Here are two good examples of juxtaposing styles.
To get an idea of what looks good with what, take a look at this video. I was fortunate enough to visit a La-Z-Boy showcase and you can see from the film that they mixed up colors and textures to create warm, livable spaces.
Jillian Harris is a critically acclaimed designer hailing from Peace River, Alberta, Canada who first became known to the world as a contestant on ABC’S 13th season of The Bachelor, where she was the second runner-up. In its fifth season, Jillian became the first Canadian to star on The Bachelorette.
You can see Jillian work her design magic on Extreme Makeover: Home Edition . She has designed interiors for Cactus Club Café, Browns Restaurant & Bar, former Bachelorette Ali Fedotowsky and most recently designed the rail car interiors for the Rocky Mountaineer train. To learn more about Jillian Harris and pick up great decorating tips, visit her site.
All interior photos are from Jillian’s site.
PJ Gach is Senior Editor: Style + Beauty at BettyConfidential.
