BEST FUNCTIONAL DECORATING ESSENTIALS FOR YOUR HOME

Here are some of the best essentials you can use for functional decorating in your home.

This post may contain affiliate links meaning I may receive a commission if you purchase through my links at no extra cost to you. Please read the full disclosure here .

Are you trying to decorate your home in a way that is both functional and looks beautiful?

Decorating your home in a style that you like, but that is also functional, is not always a quick and easy process. Believe me I know!

But it is possible to achieve both! Especially since your home should be that place that brings you comfort, ease, and beauty that you enjoy living in and looking at. Decorating your home isn’t only about the right layout, but also the pieces that fill the space that make your home feel like a cohesive whole.

So, when it comes to interior decorating your home, it’s important to consider both the function and needs of your space but also the style. Thus, the term functional decorating, which is to focus on the function of your room while decorating around that function. Especially after COVID, needing the functionality in your home while wanting to have it to look the way you want, became even more important.

As I am sure you have probably also dealt with, my husband and I needed to make some changes in our home to adjust for us both working from home. We wanted to make sure different rooms were functional, but also were cozy and welcoming yet still looked pretty without spending a lot of money.

We did that by simply deciding what purpose was to be served, and then creating a space that supported that purpose.

So here are some tried and true tips we have used in our home with functional decorating that I hope you can use in your home as well!

POST OUTLINE

ESTABLISH SOME BASICS

1. Determine the primary function(s) and daily activities of your room.

Sometimes getting started and finding a starting point in decorating your home, especially when you feel overwhelmed by all the choices and decisions, can be the hardest part. To help with that, here are some key questions you will want to ask yourself to help you find a direction and get started. I have also attached the list of questions for you to download or print off to make it easier. Print questions here.

Will your room have a lot of walking traffic? Does there need to be enough space for someone to walk through or is it more stationary with less traffic?

Will you or your family be watching a lot of tv in this room?

Will it be just you or family spending a lot of time with each other in this room?

Will you need this space for more than one function? Such as space for work and also to eat. Or studying and sleeping?

Will your kids need to be able to play and/or study in this room?

Is the bedroom for more than just one person?

Will you hold family functions or entertain in this room and need space and furniture for people to sit and talk? Or will that only be occasional?

There are more questions you can ask according to your needs and personal situation. But you can get the gist that the whole point is to narrow down how you use your room, so you have a starting point.

My husband and I asked ourselves some of these exact questions in how we have been trying to decorate our current family room. We love to entertain and have friends and family over but at the end of the day, it’s usually just the two of us watching tv in the evenings.

So, for our family room, we knew we needed to have a sofa and furniture that would fit our need to be comfortable to watch tv in the evenings, yet with the additional ability to entertain. We also wanted it to feel open and casual, yet elegant.

2. Review your current layout of rooms.

Reviewing how you are currently using rooms in your home, especially rooms that you have hit a crossroads with or are feeling unhappy or frustrated with, is so extremely helpful to begin making the changes you need to make.

You will want to look at the arrangement of furniture in your room. Look to see if there is something that you like and how that room works, or what doesn’t work. Is there something about it that annoys you or something that you really like?

When we did this, it helped us see if the current use for a few rooms worked great or not, and if we needed to move our furniture around or change the location for a room.

You could discover that relocating a certain room to another room location would be better. It could also mean changing around some of your furniture and swapping different pieces to different locations in your home, or the same room depending on use and function.

3. Lighting

Ahhhhh… good ole lighting! Lighting can directly impact not only how you use a room but how effectively it can be used.

Depending on how you use your space, you will want to consider lighting. You can look to see if it will be a room where you will need to read or work or study or relax and watch tv. Having proper lighting according to how you will use your room plays a key role in fulfilling the function of your room.

Once you decide on what the need is for light in your room, you can then compare it to your current windows and light fixtures in that room and see if you need more or less light.

If you need plenty of light and it’s possibly also a room that gets warm, consider a ceiling fan with lights. You can fulfill two functions for light and helping with temperature, and then have fun decorating in choosing the look and style of the ceiling fan to fit your room!

Keep in mind tho, if you need to install a ceiling fan with a light, it can require more steps for the installation and cost if you need to hire someone to help you install it.

If you need less light and it’s a room with a lot of windows and heat in the day, you will want to try room darkening drapes or blinds that fully block the sunlight. Then have fun decorating with the look and style of window treatments or light fixtures that you want!

Using different sources of light in your room can make such a dramatic effect in your rooms. You may have canned lights in your ceiling and a floor lamp but the addition of a small table lamp with soft light can add just that additional touch of decorating elegance.

Your hanging light fixtures can also make a big impact for both function and decoration. In addition to ceiling fans with lights as mentioned earlier, special light fixtures, such as chandeliers can make dramatic effect.

In our former home, our kitchen had plenty of windows, and yes, a lot of oak! lol, but the lighting wasn’t great over the kitchen island for cooking. We knew it needed a larger hanging light fixture for better visibility, but we also wanted to add some elegance to it.

We bought a chandelier from Amazon which we put together ourselves to save money and we hung it. It literally transformed the entire kitchen! Have a look for yourself! We loved it!

We also needed to revamp the light fixtures over our dining room table, and we went with two bronze chandeliers.

Here are a couple similar ideas!

4. Having a made bed

Making your bed everyday will help make a big difference in how you start your day! It will be a small step in getting one of your to-do’s done for the day while making your room look a little more put together. And this means even if you just pull up the comforter on late days!

But how does this fit in to functional decorating?

First, our beds are clearly functional for sleep, but they also make a design statement. They are a primary focal piece for the design and decor in our bedrooms.

Also, when I make my bed, I actually feel more prepared and organized for the day. I think it is a mental step knowing you were able to complete at least one of your to-dos for the day! But please do not feel bad if there are days it just doesn’t happen- we all have those days.

And it’s a great place to fold and sort clean laundry! lol

FUNCTIONAL FURNITURE

When you can find pieces of furniture that fill both a functional need and look good in your home, it is such a win and makes you feel all warm and fuzzy inside! Here are some ideas below to help you with functional decorating with furniture.

5. Storage Benches

Storage benches are a great way to maximize space while providing multiple functions and being a decorative element in your home. You can use them in bedrooms, family rooms, and even outdoor patios.

6. Coffee table with storage

This follows closely to the same concept of the storage benches. There are many types of coffee tables that you can find that look great in your home but also have hidden storage. Here are a couple ideas below!

7. Ottomans and poufs

Ottomans come in so many styles and colors and many offer storage inside them. I love that!!! They can be a decorative replacement for a coffee table with a tray on top, a footrest or seat all the while storing items inside them.

Poufs are absolutely adorable, and they can be used as more than one function. The add additional seating for people or as a footrest for your feet while also being a great decorative piece where an end table possibly doesn’t work or just to add that extra piece to find balance.

8. Bookshelves with cabinets

Love bookshelves with cabinets!!! The bookshelves give you space to decorate with decor pieces and books. While the cabinets below the shelves are great for storing items such as decor items, fine china, blankets, you name it!

We absolutely love ours, both the separate wall unit and the in-wall units. They help store fine china and decor items in the cabinets, while I have the shelves to decorate with fun and unique decor items and family mementos! The piece above we actually found on Facebook Marketplace.

Here are a couple similar ideas below.

9. Designer File Cabinets

You can have a file cabinet look more like a side table or accent piece, either in a home office or even in your bedroom, while storing important files, papers, or any other storage items you have.

Here are a couple ideas to consider that can work!

10. Pet Furniture

We can’t forget our fur babies and their impact on our homes! If you have pets and are a pet lover like me, you will want to make sure they have their own beds, toys, food bowls etc.

But sometimes, these items can stand out like a sore thumb but there is a definite functional need to take care of your babies. For us currently, our babies are two very spoiled kitties, Noah and Niko.

Instead of using blankets we did not use and that didn’t match our current color theme, we found some great pet beds and other items to fit in with our color scheme on Amazon. They are listed below, and they fit our color scheme so you will want to adjust for your colors etc.

FUNCTIONAL DECOR

Having functional decor pieces can make a big difference in your home as well. But also remember, please don’t feel you need to buy functional decor just because it’s functional when you don’t need it (um, I am guilty of this!), unless of course if you really want to! 🙂

Functional decorating is about helping to fit your functional needs and not adding more to your space when it’s not needed. Here are some great ideas below!

11. Large baskets

These are great for storing towels, blankets, shoes, kids’ toys, and clothes while still looking intentional as a decor piece.

We decided to use one in our master bathroom next to our shower since we did not have towel storage close to the shower. It works perfectly to access towels after a shower and also looks decorative matching the color theme of our bathroom!

Here are some great similar ideas below!

12. Decorative key rack and mail holder

This may seem trivial, but it has been such a stress reliever for me and my husband! We swear by these, and we have one on our wall by our kitchen door. Having a single and easy spot for your mail and keys near a main location that you use will help keep mail off your counters. And save future frustration from losing your keys!

I found a great mail holder on Amazon, see below, to match our kitchen colors so it looks like a wall decor piece but has the function of holding our mail. We then added a small key rack below it to have it all in one place. A great way to not lose your keys either!

Here are some similar ideas!

13. Kitchen Tools

To be able to have a functional yet decorated kitchen is pretty awesome. Considering how much the kitchen is used, especially if you like to cook or need to cook a lot, having the tools that you need easily accessible and having their storage look decorative is a great thing to have.

I cook a lot and having my cooking utensils accessible, including cooking oil, (we have olive oil in this container), in a nice and safe location is extremely helpful. I also love using my wooden cutting boards and they can be used as both decor and food prep.

I love the kitchen utensil holder, oil and vinegar bottles, and spoon rest I have next to my stove!!! The utensil jar is roomy enough for all of my utensils, and looks great. And how can you go wrong with a Crate and Barrel oil and vinegar bottle combo!?! And a spoon rest from Magnolia Table- love!!!

Here are some similar ideas!

Kitchen utensil holder

oil & vinegar bottles

spoon rest

wood cutting boards

14. FOOD CONTAINERS

A great way to decorate and accessorize your kitchen while also storing food is by using unique food storage containers. I love using Weck glass storage containers and also copper and other glass food storage containers and cylinders.

You can accomplish the storage of your food while at the same time using the containers as decor items for your kitchen!

15. Designer Soap Bottle Dispensers

Using decorator soap and lotion bottle dispensers to hold your soaps etc. is the absolute best!! It just adds that extra finishing touch of elegance to your home and decor.

I use them all through our home in our kitchen and bathrooms and any other areas that have sinks.

16. Decorative Kitchen Towels

I am not sure about you, but I love having towels nearby in my kitchen to use in a pinch without cluttering up the counterspace. I love having towels that can hang from a drawer pull, or nicely arranged near the sink. They add a touch of color or design to help decorate while being able to dry my hands!

Here are a couple similar ideas!

I hope that some of these ideas on how to incorporate functional decorating in your home have been helpful. Especially when you have different demands pulling on your time, trying to do these in your home can sometimes take a little extra time but it can be so worth it in the long run when you see how things flow easier in your home. You will have a sense of ease and enjoyment that is beautiful to look at!

As a recap, for functional decorating if you can answer some basic functional layout questions, explore some functional furniture ideas, and use some functional decor ideas, you are well on your way my friends to having your home more functional, decorated, beautiful and comfortable!

Every day is a gift and I hope these tips can help you and your family enjoy your time in your beautiful home!

This post is all about functional decorating.