Kips Bay Decorator Show House NYC 2023: 12 Mood-Boosting Decorating Ideas You'll Want to Try in Your Home

What’s your favorite place and why? When I was asked this question, I reached far back into my childhood memories, and recalled a grand home I visited with black and white checkered floors, a stately staircase, and high ceilings. There was something about the grandeur that appealed to me. It felt far removed from the suburban split-levels I was used to seeing, and I could fantasize about the wonderful life I thought people had in those homes. 

Whatever our favorite places are, they tend to be ones that trigger strong positive emotions, and wake up our senses. In fact, the most impactful rooms work hard to spark all five senses because we’re likely to remember and possibly be transported by them. The Favorite Place Guided Visualization exercise developed by design psychologist Toby Israel, invites us to visualize our favorite place and the objects in it using as many senses as possible. She writes, “Look carefully around…Notice the colors. The shapes…Pick it up if you want to…What do you hear?... Remember the smells around you…” All of this helps us more fully connect with favorite places, and we can use the elements in them to help boost our mood in our home. 

If you’re having difficulty recalling mood-boosting spaces, you can always expose yourself to the work of interior designers or decorators passionate about creating memorable spaces. Notably, the Kips Bay Show House never disappoints when it comes to well-designed, creative spaces with meticulous attention to detail. This year’s show house rooms were full of texture, sounds, colors, and tastes (we couldn’t eat the cupcakes there but I sure wanted to) that definitely boosted my mood. I took snapshots of 12 decorating ideas to try in your home—see if you can find more.

Add bits of fantasy

 If you’re looking for a room that feels like a cross between The Little Mermaid and Marie Antoinette, this is it. Designed by Sasha Bikoff of Sasha Bikoff Interior Design, the room is titled, Fantasy of Flight; and is exactly what you’d expect from a room inside a cozy seashell. The walls are covered in shades of effervescent pink and purple clouds; banquette seating covered in pink fur; and opulent drapes with bows. And that holographic clam shell bed is a definite showstopper. You can’t help but want to stare at every inch of the space.

One way to add a bit of fantasy into your space is to cover all four walls in a printed wallpaper, ala Bikoff style. Use a print that really speaks to you personally and preferably encourages daydreams. You can also opt for something more simple, like a large piece of artwork that captures your imagination.

Use more than one colored tile in a space

 Sometimes picking tile colors for a room is like eating potato chips, it’s hard to have just one. In this modern bathroom designed by Ahmad AbouZanat  of Project AZ, he used painted brick in two different colors to create boundaries between spaces. AbouZanat calls the bathroom “Untitled” to allow for the user’s “unbiased, emotional reaction”; and refers to an “ode to simplicity” and “a romantic, understated luxury.” It feels earthy and urban as the colors are drawn from the outside of the home.

The rust and white colored tiles creates visual symmetry and a sense of order that can possibly make you feel less stressed and hence, in a better mood. It’s great for smaller bathrooms as it creates the illusion of separate spaces without having to put up physical walls. If this is appealing, try separating your bathroom into sections using different colored tile in a similar manner. You can also install the same tile in different directions to create interest.

 Mix bold patterns

Mixing bold patterns can be challenging if you’re not sure whether they go well together. Mary McDonald of Mary McDonald Inc. Interior Design, does it in an awe-inspiring way that feels visually stimulating but not chaotic. She used an extravagant Shell Grotto wallpaper, against striped and geometric prints, and they all work together. Upon closer inspection, you see it isn’t just a random mashup of prints and patterns, but it’s all about being aware of scale and how the eye reads it.  

For instance, the busy printed wallpaper with large geometric shapes works well with smaller patterned or less busy fabrics in the room as the shapes do not compete, and the eye gets to take a break as it switches back and forth between prints. The eye also rests on solid fabrics throughout the room like the large area rug; the yellow chair, and the deluxe leather settee. To start, find two bold patterns samples you like, and put them side-by-side to get your gut reaction. If it feels like they could work together, figure out why. This will help to sharpen your eye.

 Add curved furniture and bright colors

According to research, curved lines are associated with comfort and friendliness, great elements for mood-boosting. And this bright, modern living room created by Ghislaine Vinas, has curves galore, a definite pick-me-up. Not surprisingly, she calls it the “Good Spirits” room. The curved theme carries throughout the space, from the curvilinear coffee table to the black circle on the ceiling which acts a kind of faux medallion for the light fixture.

I enjoy Vinas’ restrained, yet impactful use of color. Warm colors like this brilliant yellow coffee table tend to be energizing (think of the energy from the sun); the black and white accents are strong enough to match its energy; and the large black abstract geometric prints on the wall add more unexpected touches to the room. But there are also cool and neutral colors like the blue chairs and tan plaid printed walls that prevent the room from looking too severe.  And we can’t forget the large crying baby print. While some may not consider this a mood-booster, it creates really interesting tension that gives the room another jolt of energy. You can start by incorporating bright colored curved accents into your room to give it a boost.

Try patterned tiled floors

A room with patterned floors may very well brighten your day. Notably, straight, pointy shapes tend to be energizing, and can give you the right energy to start your day. This black and neutral-colored geometric patterned floor by Neal Beckstedt of Neal Beckstedt Studio would look great in an entryway or a bathroom. And it goes well with other patterns and textures like this stone patterned wall.

 Fill your table tops with items you love

You can easily go to any big box store and get trendy pieces to put on your tables; and while I love a good trend, it may not be as fulfilling. Decorating your home with objects you love is important to meeting psychological needs of love and belonging as well as aesthetic needs. This table top, created by David Scott of David Scott Interiors, has a worldly, traveled vibe. Take note of the ways the different heights, textures, and shapes create interest. And a shell tassel casually draped over books makes the vignette more dynamic. 

Give them something they can feel 

There’s something to be said for a room that makes you want to reach out and touch all the furnishings. That’s how I felt when I saw this cozy room designed by Kesha Franklin of Halden interiors. She calls it the Heart of the Vine room and describes Vine as “connection, strength, dedication, and friendship” all qualities that will bring joy even during difficult times.

The couch, pillows, and draperies were fully textured, creating an enveloping feeling of warmth. And the vine-like patterned green carpet, which Franklin designed for the Rug Company, along with the hand painted wall covering truly creates an enchanting experience. The palette adds depth to the room with soothing colors like dark green to pale yellow green. And again we see the emotional impact of an oversized photograph, a relatively inexpensive way to add drama. To add texture to your space, start with heavy draperies and pillows (they did wonders for Halden’s room) to create an abundant feel.

Create an emotional reaction with neutrals

When we think of mood-boosting rooms we tend to think of bright colors. But neutrals have their place too. Depending on your experience with neutral colors, it typically evokes a sense of calm and takes a back seat to the brighter colors in a room. But interior design duo, Sawyer and Berson of Sawyer Berson Architectural and Landscape Architecture created an entire room using neutral textures, including walls covered in neutral suede panels.  I felt intrigued by the room with its modern, understated, yet dramatic elements. I love the way the Old Master painting just captivates the space. Overall, a luxurious, restrained mood-booster. If you decide to try an all neutral room, make sure to include different textures and tones for interest.

Make your kitchen feel like a living space

They say the kitchen is the heart of the home; and even if you aren’t much of a  cook, you can still make it cozy. Wesley Moon of Wesley Moon Inc. put a couch in the kitchen, making it feel as cozy as any living room. Even if you don’t have room for a couch or settee, you can incorporate smaller furnishings like a table lamp or unexpected artwork to give it a homey feel. 

Try opulent details

Even in a largely modern room, including small opulent details can add a little extra something that livens up the space and your mood. Interior designer, Timothy Corrigan, used tassels, painted molding, and pleated fabric to create opulence. He calls the room “Spring Fever” and the florals and pastels definitely make it feel fresh and light. The dark green settee works perfectly well in the spring and the cooler months. 

Decorate your door

While walls get all the attention, doors can sometimes be neglected. But not by the designers at Yellow House Architects. They designed the lobby of the show house as well as this show-stopping bathroom they call “Enchanted Seduction Powder Room”. The textured floral patterned wallpaper engulfs the bathroom for a “wow, come see this” reaction. And did you peep the patent leather wall covering on the lobby walls? I couldn’t help but want to touch it, and think it would make a really cool door covering too. 

Create an art installation using books 

Using books as art isn’t new. But finding unexpected ways to use them requires flexibility and creativity. Interior designer, Jay Jeffers, painted a row of books on the bookshelf to blend seamlessly with the wall paint in this stylish library. It’s as if someone just painted the books with the wall; and feels edgy and fun— a great conversation starter for sure. Also, stacking the bookshelf with both books meant to be read and books as art feels really easy-going, and shows how a little ingenuity can bring joy into a study.

I Am Home

Our homes offer us a lot of things like shelter, safety, and comfort. But what makes a strong, positive self-place connection? If you asked 5 different people, you'd probably get 5 different answers because what makes home, home is unique for everyone. Our homes aren't just aesthetically pleasing, but psychologically, socially, and culturally pleasing as well.  Some people need complete tranquility, others need to be continually stimulated, and still others need a mix of both. I always say you don't really know someone until you've seen where they live. So I created a new series, I Am Home to showcase those elements that make people connect with their homes.  

For this installment, I’m interviewing Jennifer Fuchs, IT project manager and consultant for a global cosmetics company, and artist! I was so happy when Jennifer agreed to participate in this series because her creativity so clearly extends to her home. She showcases her whimsical and witty paintings, and sells them so you can add a fanciful touch to your home too!

Some of her recent projects include a painted matchbox series, (Cauute!)

painted polaroids,

and virtual backgrounds which include her art, to use for zoom or other virtual calls— so in other words, she can help you fix your computer problems, and make it look good too!

Here’s what Jennifer had to say about home.

Trulery: How would you define home?

Jennifer: I think home is where you can exhale and feel most comfortable being your authentic self. Home is also where your favorite people and dogs are!

Truerly: What makes your home feel like home?

Jennifer: I absolutely love the process of making a house feel like a home. For me, it's a very slow process of searching for unique items. There’s always a mix of thrifted, new, and DIY. I love the thrill of the hunt, searching for old items that are one of a kind. My home is also filled with art. I love to buy directly from the artist or create my own. I constantly change things around based on season or a new find that inspires me to switch up the room.

Trulery: What's one thing you learned about yourself as it relates to your home?

Jennifer: This is a tough lesson for me because I love my stuff. But it's best to let 1 or 2 larger pieces stand out and be the focus rather than having a mishmash of 10 small trinkets. It’s just more difficult for the eye to focus— if everything is the focus, then nothing is!

Trulery: What's one piece of advice you would give to anyone struggling to make their home feel like home?

Jennifer: I would say to focus on the room that's most important to you. Or, find a small spot you can make your own and start by having 1 thing you love to be your inspiration starter. Trust your gut and don't ask for too many opinions. It's more important to do what you love ! But there's also nothing wrong with starting a search on Pinterest to gather possible ideas!

So let’s recap what we learned from Jennifer:

1. Home is a reflection of our authentic self.

2. The process of creating home is a slow process of searching and changing things up as needed.

3. It’s important to let pieces stand out.

4. Focus on what’s important to us and trust our instincts.

From a design psychology perspective, these tips highlight the importance of home as a place to fulfill our psychological needs. That is, a place where we find self-expression, love, and a sense of belonging. Often times, there’s a pull to get the home decorated quickly, but this is a reminder that it’s okay to take our time and get what we love rather than get something quickly, but not so great. ♥

To see more of Jennifer and her work, you can find her on Instagram at @JenniferFuchs.

The Unfinished Home (And My Time Away)

It’s’ been about three years since I wrote a blog post, and I never meant to be gone that long. I only intended to stop blogging for a short time until I pulled certain things together. There were goals I wanted to accomplish like jump-start my children’s book writing career, create my design psychology classes, and move forward with my consultation services, all while maintaining my job as a psychological evaluator. So several weeks turned into months, which turned into years. I told myself I was just taking a short break, and felt somewhat good about it. It was a relief to have less work to do, to not feel pressure to present a business and brand without the resources to make it what I wanted. I used the time to step back and re-evaluate my values. Did I want to be consumed with frustration over not having the content I wanted to deliver, posting things under pressure to post something and struggling to make it feel consistent with my vision for my business? Or did I want to slow it down (even though I was over 40 and felt way behind), and let it be okay to take time to pull things together? I decided to do the latter knowing at some point I’d return. I completed my children’s writing course, wrote a few hopefully-soon-to-be published stories, put together a psychology of dress class, focused on offering design psychology services , and continued my interior design studies. All of this outside of the realm of blogging and social media. In fact, I stopped going on social media almost completely, and felt the break was much needed. Fighting the anxiety of comparison and the pull to allow others’ stories to make me feel like I’m not where I should be became a distraction that prevented me from truly seeing what was on my own plate. I am learning to be more in the moment and focus on things in my life that are also valuable beyond career (like my family). Thankfully, being in the moment (what mindfulness and mediation is all about) helps to slow down my “what-if”, “I-don’t-have”, and “what-if-I-never” thoughts. I had not set a date to return but felt it was time to start again, only slower and more focused, and more mindful of purpose—God’s purpose for me.

While away, I also had time to focus on my home. I moved into my home about seven years ago; and did not hire a designer to help me decorate; nor did I have a budget set aside for decorating. A design psychology client of mine once asked me what I tell my clients about how to complete a decoration project when they do not have a budget. And it got me thinking that there are probably many of us who do not really have a budget for decorating, although it would be nice.  I shared that it may be helpful to set aside a savings, no matter how small, from each paycheck for furniture pieces we chose. This is meant to keep the decorating progress moving no matter how slow. However, for myself, my home evolved even more organically than that. While I had a vision for my home, I did not have pieces necessarily picked out as I do for clients. I spent much of my time curating; and had no way of knowing when I would find the “right” piece, or if I did, would it be within my budget. From my own experience curating a home overtime, here are a few things I’ve learned along with some pics of my home so far (you may also recognize them from my newly updated website, *wink*).

1.       Learn to be happy while your home is the way it is.

 This is a loaded statement, I know. How can we be happy about an unfinished home? For some it may stop them from having the dinner parties they envisioned or having friends over. Others may be so preoccupied with the vision of a decorated home in their head that they couldn’t possibly figure out how to be happy with the current state of it. I can relate to all of these; yet while it may be difficult to be happy with the way your home is now, it’s an opportunity to realize that happiness isn’t created by having a fully put together decor as much as happiness is reflected in the decor. In much the same way, insecurities thrive when your value is inextricably tied to your level of success, not when you understand that any success is really only a reflection of your value. In psychology, we call this being internally motivated rather than intrinsically motivated. So if everything isn’t in place, learn to sit in that reality and be okay anyway, knowing you’ll make it better with pieces that you truly love rather than lesser adequate pieces that don’t reflect you. That brings me to my next point.

2.       It’s okay to wait for what you really want.

I have an area in my home that has been empty for a while. I’ve been looking for a console table, and bought a few less than adequate pieces I’ve since gotten rid of. Of course, I didn’t quite know they weren’t adequate at the time. I  bought them because I thought they could possibly be something, only to realize they weren’t. I had that gut feeling you get when you know it isn’t right but you’re still trying to work with it. By the time I got through a few poor choices, I had time to think about what I really wanted. I saw consoles in interior books and mags that actually excited me, and I became more certain about choice. As of now, I still have not found the piece, but I’ll certainly know it when I see it. And I learned a valuable lesson. The more I thought about and searched for the console that I wanted, the more I realized what I really wanted. I had to imagine, ponder, and visualize it. In psychology, we refer to this as divergent thinking, a key component of creativity. It allows us to look beyond the obvious to see things in different or unique ways. It allows us to persistently ask “what if?” This actually requires strenuous effort and dedication, as any artist or creative person will tell you. But if you persevere and don’t give in to the need to fill a space, the piece you find will likely be more meaningful and a more authentic expression of you.

3.        Make what you have as great as you can until you get better.

I have a friend who can make the most mundane furnishings look good. It’s not necessarily about the furnishings, but more about her slight of hand. She puts her all into it, in the only way she could. And it feels warm and settled. Sometimes we can be overly focused on trends to make our home, and make us feel more…something. But really, it’s not what we truly enjoy about our home. Trends come and go, but a home that is warm, comfortable, and harmonious usually stays with us. My kids aren’t concerned with what is trendy, they just know it’s “home”. And as we get older, our childhood experience of home is what impacts our own home design. In design psychology, clients complete an environmental autobiography that helps determine what aspects of home they most connect to and why; and how they have attempted to recreate that, albeit unconsciously, in their own home. This allows them to create a home they connect with on a deeper, emotional level that goes beyond of-the-moment furniture. One practical way to make an unfinished room feel as great as you can is to clean it out and throw away what you no longer need or want (so you’re not looking at furniture you don’t want all day), and re-style what you do have. This can give you a new perspective on what you have, and allows you to better see what you really want. Next, just like my elusive console, leave the spaces that need filling blank—don’t put anything else in its place (unless you want to of course). This leaves room for you to imagine or envision the piece you want there. And often when you get the piece, it feels like it’s always been there.  A home should continue to grow with you,  and so you’ll likely repeat this process throughout your time in the home. So in that sense, a home is never truly finished, it is just evolving.  

Tell me about parts of your home that are not finished. How have you been dealing with it?

Newsworthy: Teaching Design Psychology on Skillshare

Hey Guys! I want to share some important news with you-- I am now officially a teacher on Skillshare! It's been a really long process to get to this point, as I have been trying to put together a Skillshare class since forever. What held me back the most is the technology. Filming and editing is definitely not as easy as they make it look, but now that I got my first class out, I'm looking forward to it getting a bit easier. For my debut class, I'm teaching on how to use design psychology to create a coherent mood for your bedroom. The mood of the room is so important because it sets the tone for the rest of the design process. Check out my class and let me know what you think. I'd also like to know what other topics you'd be interested in learning about.

Creating Healing Spaces

Some months back I participated in an online workshop Healing by Design Psychology, with environmental psychologist, Toby Israel. If you don't know what design psychology is, you can read all about it here. But in a nut shell, it's a discipline that combines interior design with psychology to help people create spaces that they connect with on an emotional level.  I love the cross-pollination of design and psychology (so much that I created a blog about it!), and as someone who has worked in a hospital setting, I see how useful design is to help create what Toby refers to as "spaces that sustain, inspire, and help us heal." Not a whole lot is known about the relationship between physical health and healing spaces, but research shows that the quality of the environment supports well-being. This probably doesn't come as a surprise as it isn't a stretch to see how a supportive and welcoming environment, one that makes people feel comfortable and uplifted, can lead to better physical health. You may have heard it referred to as  the mind-body-spirit connection, and many with a strong faith and spiritual life have experienced healing that cannot be explained by science alone.

During the workshop, Toby talked about the keys to creating healing spaces in healthcare facilities including hospitals, nursing homes, and assisted living. Of utmost importance is designing elements that helps patients feel in control, and loved and supported. Patients should be engaged in the creative process (such as through focus groups) and elements should reflect an emphasis on the future and moving forward.

There are many design psychology exercises that can be utilized to achieve healing spaces. I've mentioned some of them here, but you can read more about them in Toby's book, Some Place Like Home. She conducted one exercise with us during the workshop, a guided visualization exercise, and it goes something like this: write down a timeline of all the spaces you've been in from childhood until now. Which one did you enjoy the most-- the one that made you feel most comfortable and refreshed. Now close your eyes and visualize yourself in the space and the way you felt there. What words come to mind as you envision it. With eyes open, write down all the words that you thought of. Now pick your five favorite words and use them to write a sentence or two that describes your ideal healing oasis.

Not too hard, right? My five words were "inspirational," "bright," "refreshing," "greenery," and "liberated." And my idea healing oasis statement read as follows: it's a space that is refreshing and inspirational with bright colors, and a lot of references to greenery and nature. It's makes me feel safe, strong, and liberated.

What words described your ideal healing oasis? Use it to create a room in your home, and let us know if it impacted your emotional connection to your space.

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