Homeowners want to make their homes reflect their personalities and preferences. They often ask us for ideas on how to infuse their unique style into their interior design.

The most meaningful items in any home are those with a story behind them, especially when those stories speak to a person’s life, history, memory, interests and experience.  

Conveying meaning can be as simple as featuring a sentimental item or an artifact in an elevated way. Putting an adorable pair of your favorite socks in a frame in your laundry room for example. 

Framing or somehow repurposing and memorializing your objects in a new way will always make your space very unique and special. In a world that so often plays to the generic, a fearless willingness to address the specific allows your home to transcend trends, welcome idiosyncrasies and leave room for personal interpretation.

Over the years we have created deeply personal environments for our clients. Here are some of my all-time favorite ideas that are within reach for all of us:

Color blotting family photos 

When the John Baldessari Show, “Pure Beauty”, opened in NY, we were working with a family that had a large library of family photos. We selected a few interesting images and blew them up to very large sizes. We then shamelessly copied Baldessari’s photo color blotting using colors the family loved. This can be done by scanning the image, using a simple program like Canva and then having it blown up at a quality art printer. 

Frame an old recipe card 

A Recipe card with grandma’s handwriting (even with smudges of chocolate frosting) looks so romantic in a beautiful brass frame in the kitchen.  

Organ pipe lights 

Our office is in an old church. We salvaged the old organ pipes to make a custom light fixture. Using a local lamp shop like Wylie’s, on Cricket Avenue in Ardmore, and a great wire resource like Sundial Wire online can make creating custom lighting fixtures easier and more affordable than you might think. Sundial has a great selection of antique-looking cloth wire in great colors. 

Shadow wallpaper

When we wanted to give some natural charm to a new fast-casual restaurant, we took pictures of the shadows that our house plants made on the white wall of the office. We then took these images to Philadelphia’s very best custom wallpaper shop, MothPaper, and the fabulous Kate Rains blew them up on durable washable matte vinyl. 

This made the space feel like it was on an old tree-lined street, even though it was actually located in the middle of a bare parking lot. This is an original element that would add a lot of charm to a large wall of any home. 

Val Nehez is the owner and principal designer at Studio IQL in East Falls, which you can find at StudioIQL.com and on Instagram at studio_iql or for smaller projects quickandlovely_design.