A Sentimental Shelter: How to Intentionally Incorporate Personal Items in Your Home’s Design

Above all, homes should be personal spaces. But if we’re being honest—and shouldn’t we always?—homes replete with personal items can easily venture from heartwarming to hoarder status in no time at all. On the flip side, homes with no personal touches, no matter how well designed, can feel a bit soulless. 

So how do you do the dance? 

If you want to add sentimental elements to your home but are scared of looking like an homage to a portrait studio from the nineties, take heart.

Here are our 7 favorite ways to incorporate personal items with a touch of character and class.

1. Display things other than pictures.

When we think of framing, we mostly consider pictures and artwork. But some of the most interesting things to frame can look outside this scope. Consider framing your grandmother’s handwritten recipes for the kitchen. Personal and poignant letters in your office. Or your grandmother’s scarf in your closet. 

Display a china collection or your grandfather’s wristwatch. Once on a trip, my  husband and I stopped for a long-impromptu lunch at a charmer of a restaurant. We took the wise approach—wine pairings—and had one of the most glorious afternoons of our trip. Post meal, we had our waiter write down the wine list, and we have it framed and sitting on our kitchen counter. That little scratch of paper transports me back.

Image Source: Roman and Williams

2. Create a balanced gallery wall.

Sometimes what makes family photos feel so cluttered and busy is their presentation, not their content. Turn the composition into a work of art with balance, symmetry, and scale through framing. I love opting for black and white photos to give the visuals a sense of history and warmth.

Source: The Lifestyled Co

3. Mix and Match

Despite our preference for things to be collected and composed in a “family,” it doesn’t have to be either/or. You can mix personal photos with artwork for a more well-rounded and engaging presentation. I love doing this in built-in cabinetry or on floating shelving.The personal moments are a surprise and a delight that make you pause and look closer.

Source: Chris Loves Julia

4. Add pieces from your travels.

One of our main family activities is traveling. We might not get to the movies often or venture out for weekend dinners, but we’ll hop a plane across the Atlantic faster than you can say, “Bon Voyage.” These trips become landmarks for our family, moments in time where the hustle and bustle of work and the buzz of school subside and we get to be together.

Given their significance with us, I’ve taken to collecting mementos as we go. It doesn't necessarily matter what it is—a vase, a small sculpture, a piece of art, a shell—but we’ll bring them back and layer them into our day-to-day belongings. Then, as I’m packing up school bags and brewing coffee, I’ll spy one out of the corner of my eye and my mind gets to travel for a moment to those really special places and memories.

Image Source: Taller Ruiz Lopez

5. Use old-fashioned photo albums.

One of my new favorite things these days is actually quite old: photo albums. I find my phone is so full of images that I rarely revisit them, but if I print photos and put them in an album—”Ada’s second year” or “Our trip to the Coast,” I’ll pick them up thoughtfully and often. Artifact Uprising’s albums with the linen covers are some of my favorites. They feel elevated without feeling stuffy and can mix well with coffee table books.

Book Stand from Studio H

6. Frame children’s artwork.

If you have a child (or a grandchild), you’ll be blessed frequently if not daily with their newest artistic creations. They are proud of their work and their march toward the Matisse life. And while it might not be prudent to save all their masterpieces, select some of your favorites and frame them. Add them to a playroom gallery wall or incorporate in your family space with elevated frames. Their little etchings and musings spark a sense of tenderness and playfulness—something we assuredly could all use a little more of in life.

Source: Home of Zanna Roberts Rassi

7. Incorporate heritage furniture and decor.

While there’s a larger discussion to be had about what to keep and what to let go of when you’re inheriting items, I love incorporating a few furnishings or substantial decor pieces that connect us to our families. A writing desk, a china hutch, a grandfather clock. These pieces, when used thoughtfully, integrate well in our homes and add a sense of belonging and personalness that can’t be achieved with even the best reproduction.

Source: Laura Hammett Interiors