I never really knew what it took to reinvigorate a home until I finally moved in with my girlfriend this past year. Before, I was aware that my parents’ house was nicely decorated and “put together”, but I probably couldn’t have told you why.

Now that I’m on my own and we buy our own furniture and decorations, though, I’m starting to realize what it takes to do it all and really put a place together thematically. And let me tell you, it’s really not as easy as it would seem at first. Even deciding on a theme can take awhile to do, and other times, the theme doesn’t really present itself until you’ve already got mostly everything together. It’s a lot tougher than imagining in your mind that you want a rustic living room and that’s that. What makes it rustic? What would be too much rustic and what’s too little? Obviously, putting something like cardboard boxes in a specific room as art (it happens!) may  not fit a rustic theme, but if you’re going for a more industrial look to a room, having cardboard boxes stacked strategically really could work.

Overall, it’s trial and error. I’ll share a few of my style tips below.

Succulents.

I’m a huge fan of live plants in the house. It makes the air more refreshing, oxygenated, and a little more humid to help combat that dry skin during the winter. Succulents, in my opinion, are the most gorgeous indoor plants you could take care of while also being some of the hardiest around. While one species to the next will differ in how you take care of it, succulents are pretty self-reliant for the most part.

Open space and minimal decor.

One problem people run into when they’re trying to bring a theme together in a room is cramming too many things into a small area. If the room is big, it may require bigger pieces of furniture and decor. If it’s smaller, it’ll require smaller things. No matter the size of the room, though, you don’t ever need to cram too many things in at once. While I will admit that part of our place is still open or barren compared to others and could use some decor, I’d rather have that for the time being than too much stuff.

Liquor bottle display.

This one is dependent on your home, the type of liquor you drink, and where you place it, so be careful about putting too much on display in an ill-fitting spot. I just recently got into finer tequilas and mezcals in the past month or two, and I wanted a way to show them off as decoration rather than having a liquor cabinet specifically to dive into for drinks. Our home entertainment system has a lot of shelves and other similar decor, so I figured putting the tequila bottles next to one another on top of the home entertainment system’s bridge would show off my collection well. I wasn’t disappointed in my choice to move them there and they really don’t seem out of place whatsoever.

All I’ll suggest is shying away from cheaper liquors, as no one really cares to see your bottle of Captain Morgan or Jose Cuervo on display above your TV.