Effortless, Elegant Styling Secrets from a Magazine Editor’s Home

Ciara Elliott is the editor of leading UK interior magazine Essential Kitchen Bathroom and Bedroom. According to her, the Georgian period home she shares with her family is a work in progress. But I say it’s a study in expertly arranged vignettes and enviable, steal-able styling ideas, like the ones below.

Whether you have a whole room dedicated to the entry or just a wall of your living room, I think it’s important to remember that the entryway sets the entire tone of your home. It should be functional for what you need it to be, but it should also hint at what the rest of your home looks like. Patterned floors, vintage furniture, lively plants and a touch of eclectic elements all mix to create a magazine-worthy entryway.

In this one photo of her living room alone, you can count a lot of layers. The fluffy rug, the puffy ottoman and sofa. The fringed blanket. The patterned throw pillows. All visually stack on top of each other to pull you into the space. But notice other elements layered in here, too. The ottoman is set off to the side (rather than centered with the sofa) and an end table sits in front of the sofa, instead of on the side. It’s a subtle arrangement that actually does a lot to make the living room feel unexpected. And even in the background, a patterned planter sits atop a colorful stack of books atop a warm wood credenza — the layers continue around the room.

Perhaps my favorite tip for effortless styling arrangement is layering and leaning art. Not only do you save your walls from holes, you add in the unexpected when you choose to lean frames and canvases on the floor or on furniture. Plus, there’s the added benefit of being able to rearrange art groupings as often as you want to keep your home continually feeling fresh. I also think that where this idea was used in Ciara’s home is worth noting, as well: Art leans alongside one hallway and at the end of another. It’s a great way to use space that often goes undecorated.

Though this corner is in her daughter’s room, I think it raises the vital fact that styling should be fun. From elements that light up to overstuffed baskets to saturated colors and mixed patterns and hanging art over a window, don’t be afraid to get a little quirky when arranging accessories and objects in your home.

This bathroom in her home is dreamy for a lot of reasons. That deep, rich blue wall paint color. The clawfoot tub. But I want to mention it thanks to the interesting arrangement used in the space. A colorful modern credenza lines one wall of the bathroom; cluttered atop it are a mish-mash of accessories styled like it were located in a living room. Boxy, unusual, elongated mirrors are both reflective surfaces, storage cubbies and shelves. A rustic leaning ladder with towels in this mix? Sure — here it works.