Make Your Home Great: Timeless Style over Trends
By Dawn Sturmon
If you’ve ever looked around your living room and thought, Why does this feel like a furniture showroom instead of my actual home? — congratulations, you’ve been indoctrinated into the “I got suckered by the matching coffee table and sideboard set” club. It’s a rite of passage, really.
Here’s the thing: A truly stylish home isn’t curated in one click. It’s collected over time, layered with texture, and sprinkled with things you actually love (not just what’s trending on TikTok). It doesn’t matter if you’re working with a 750-square-foot apartment or a sprawling estate — your home should tell your story, not mimic someone else’s Instagram feed. And the best part? You don’t need a trust fund or an interior designer on retainer to make it happen. You just need a shift in perspective — and the courage to abandon that perfectly coordinated furniture set still haunting your online cart.
Who Are You? No, Really — Who Are You?
Before you start panic-ordering throw pillows or convincing yourself that a marble coffee table will solve your existential crisis, pause. Your home should reflect you — your experiences, your interests, and your aesthetic (not whatever West Elm is pushing this season).
Ask yourself:
What’s your story?
Where do you like to travel?
What clothing do you gravitate toward?
Does your home itself have a history?
These aren’t just late-night musings to spiral over — they’re the blueprint for creating a space that feels authentic, not staged. If you live in vintage Levi’s and classic trench coats, your home might lean into timeless elegance: well-worn leather chairs, crisp white linens, and a stack of art books you actually read. More of a bohemian traveler? Layered textiles, textured ceramics, and treasures from your latest flea market conquest are your vibe.
The Collected, Not Catalog Look
One of the biggest pitfalls in decorating is matchy-matchy syndrome. The logic is innocent enough: You think a cohesive look means buying a pre-coordinated set from a furniture store. But what you end up with is something that feels a little too perfect, a little too impersonal — like a waiting room with better lighting.
The fix? Stop thinking in terms of matching and start thinking in terms of conversation. Your furniture and décor should feel like they’ve gathered here organically over time, like old friends who just happen to look fabulous together.
A few rules of thumb:
Mix textures: linen, velvet, silk, wood, glass, leather. The more, the merrier.
Layer old and new: A vintage rug with a modern sofa? Chef’s kiss.
Embrace contrast: Modern art above an antique credenza? Yes, please.
The goal is to create a space that feels chic, warm, and a little bit lived-in — not like you panic-bought your entire aesthetic during a Memorial Day sale.
Buy What You Love, Not What’s Trending
It’s easy to get caught up in what’s in. You see a boucle chair on Instagram, and suddenly you need one. But here’s the thing about trends — they come and go. If you’re constantly chasing what’s new, your home will always feel like a work-in-progress rather than a well-lived-in space.
Instead, focus on what you genuinely love. Invest in pieces with quality and staying power over fleeting trendiness. The difference between a house that feels like a page out of a catalog and a home that feels deeply personal often comes down to those unexpected elements — a quirky painting from a flea market, your grandmother’s side table, a random sculpture that made you laugh. If you buy things that speak to you, they’ll naturally work together.
Think of Your Home as a Story
Great interiors don’t happen overnight. The most interesting homes are layered over time, filled with pieces acquired through different chapters of life. When you’re decorating, shift your mindset from Does this match? to Does this fit into the story?
Maybe that means collecting ceramics from every country you visit or displaying a (nicely) framed concert poster from your college days. Maybe it means embracing the slightly wobbly dining table you thrifted because it reminds you of home. When you approach decorating as an ongoing narrative rather than a one-and-done task, your home becomes a living, evolving reflection of you.
The Bottom Line: Comfort + Personality = Style
At the end of the day, style is about feeling. Your home should be warm, welcoming, and unmistakably you. It’s not about perfection — it’s about personality. So ditch the idea that everything needs to “go together” and instead, let your space be a reflection of your life. Because the most stylish homes aren’t the ones that look best on Instagram — they’re the ones that feel best to live in.
A freelance writer, Dawn has crisscrossed the country in a unique path — from holding cue cards on Saturday Night Live to working on Super Bowl commercials. A lover of truth, interior design, french fries, and fashion, you can find her dressed in a hoodie or for the Met Gala — there’s no in-between. She's on Instagram @the.mood.bar.