6 Elegant Decorating Tips From Designers

Silverware, crystal, sunburst mirrors, and paintings of faraway lands—all these are decorative accessories that hint at old money and good taste. But these days, decorating a sophisticated home doesn’t have to cost you an arm and a leg.

Architect Angelo Siochi and interior designer Nina Santamaria showed that decorating an elegant interior is easy and quite affordable with their design vignettes at the “Complete Your Home” event in SM Makati, using SM Home products. Here, the architect and designer styled a quietly elegant bedroom setup, and a Euro-eclectic dining area.

Angelo explains that the bedroom should be handled in a particular way, because the relationship of its space with its users is more intimate than any of the other rooms in the home. “The bedroom really reflects the character of the people using it,” he says. Meanwhile, Nina went for a dining room in a Euro-maximalist style. “When you’re inspired by a look, don’t just copy,” she advises. “Add your favorite pieces in mix, like stacks of your favorite books or your favorite artwork. Anything. You have to add your own stamp to make it more unique, to make it you.”

If these tips don’t inspire you yet, check out the photo gallery and more of their elegant design tricks below:

Showcase a combination of light and dark colors.

In his bedroom setup, Angelo used blue with subtle gray tones—in this case, a grayish blue tone called “Space Encounter” from Boysen Paint—to create a traditional feel with a calm, and relaxing ambiance.

Choose a tailored bed.

This bed—as sturdy as it may be—achieves a classical feel with its crisp, tailored-looking upholstered headboard. An exuberant silver starburst mirror gives a European touch to the bedroom setup and is a nice contrast to the cool wall and wooden elements.

Add greenery and metallics.

Potted plants bring life to an already calm space, while matte and rose gold tabletop accessories in simple, restrained forms complete the elegant vignette.

Create a symmetrical, neat look.

Classic European interiors traditionally sport perfectly symmetrical vignettes, and this adds old-world elegance even to department store finds. Nina painted her dining area in a heady, medium gray tone called “Tinderbox” from Boysen to add to the sophistication.

Hang tasteful artwork.

Nina also designed this dining area with a well-traveled couple in mind, so vintage-style prints of European palaces were hung on the wall.

Finish the entire look with floral touches.

Flowers and floral prints add color to a mostly-neutral-gray room, and also offsets the hard textures and surfaces of the dark wood and glass. The floral patterns balance all the other details in this room.

Check out these designer vignettes at the fifth floor of SM Makati the whole of July. You can find all the furniture pieces and accessories at SM Home.