10 rules of freestyle decorating

Expert tips on how to make the most of what you have and indulge with care

Celebrate tchotchkes

Make what you already have display-worthy.

For Sheridan, every surface is an opportunity to tell a story or create a mood. A still life on her dresser is made up of trinket boxes she’s had since childhood, a vintage-looking phone from Pottery Barn, and other ephemera, including a 1920s art deco figurine she found at a flea market.

On a lawyer’s bookcase in her kitchen, she’s combined a doll form found at a flea market with antlers her dad found at his Oregon ranch (nostalgic pieces she plans to accent with gold leaf), a wax diorama from a 1920s biology class, and a stuffed duck 
(“I don’t support taxidermy, 
but I do celebrate antique art forms,” Sheridan explains).