This means that one of Miriam’s biggest priorities is to avoid blank spaces. “If there’s nothing in the middle of the room, the eye has to travel too far. It either lands on a big, vacant space in the middle or drifts to the other side. It unbalances the image.” This is why coffee tables aren’t just a key functional item—they also help create a visual landing point. But it’s not enough to just have a coffee table, either. “There needs to be something there, and you need something on the coffee table. It can’t be something too large, because that will have too much gravitas. But you need something on there so the room is balanced and your eye can travel.” When decorating your coffee table, think of small items, like trays holding candles or small vases of flowers, or stacks of books. “[The TV is] a big, solid, black square that sucks a lot of balance out of a room,” Miriam said. “If you’re walking into a room and the TV is directly opposite, it’s going to be the first thing your eye travels to. It’s not pleasing! It’s sort of a black hole of energy.” While Miriam can work her angles to avoid shooting a room with the television in the center, you can use other tricks for real life. “Do things to break up the shape. Add flowers next to and slightly in front of the TV to break up the shape. Painting the wall behind the TV a dark color also works well, as it softens the look." “I love it when people have them on swivel brackets so you can kind of slide it back!” “At the head of the bed, you need something pleasing at the top. Two plain pillows is not very aesthetically zen,” laughed Miriam. “A bunch of cushions makes a big difference! It changes how the whole bed area looks. People pull the duvet up over the pillows, but it extends this expansive nothingness.” If you’re not a plant person, then Sara has another suggestion for warming up a room. “What takes the number one spot for styling accessories? A sweet dog or snoozing cat, hands down.” This is something Sara’s even incorporated into her own home. “In my living room, we have our sofa pushed up against the front door wall,” she said. “[That way], when you walk in, you get to see the whole layout of the space, rather than having the sofa right in the entryway, facing the fireplace.” This doesn’t just apply to her work life, either. “When I’m home, I live kind of the same way,” said Sara. “[I] open up all my window treatments to let in as much natural light as possible. As we’ve been renovating our home we’ve tried to find as many opportunities for more natural light as possible, including a skylight in the primary bathroom and a sun tunnel in our primary closet. In the evening lots of cozy lamps, rather than bright overhead lights, makes a space feel cozy and homey." “Hot tip: I think styling bedding is the absolute HARDEST thing in interiors. There are people who specialize in it! In my own home, I opt for bedding that looks better [when] wrinkled and textured, like hemp or linen.”
