Prime Highlights:
- Small finishing touches like unique lamps, contrasting textures, and personal items can make a room feel complete and polished.
- Adding visual anchors and texture creates balance and depth, turning ordinary spaces into warm, inviting homes.
Key Facts:
- Interior designer Tineke Triggs emphasizes that the final 10% of design, the subtle details, makes the biggest difference in a room’s look and feel.
- Personal items such as books, handmade bowls, or candles give rooms a lived-in and welcoming atmosphere.
Background:
Many homeowners feel frustrated when their carefully decorated rooms still lack that “wow” factor. San Francisco interior designer Tineke Triggs says that the key to making a room feel complete is in the small finishing details that turn a regular space into something special.
“Even when all the major pieces are in place, rooms often feel unfinished,” Triggs says. “The magic is in the last 10 percent, the details that bring life, depth, and personality.”
Triggs identifies three essential layers that most spaces are missing: visual anchors, contrasting textures, and personal touches. Rooms without a focal point or heavier element can feel floaty or timid. A lamp, dark artwork, or deep-colored fabric can help the room feel grounded and balanced.
Texture is equally important. Many spaces stick to a single material family, leaving rooms flat and uninteresting. “Adding one or two contrasting textures can completely change a room’s feel,” Triggs notes. A soft throw on a sleek sofa or a woven basket on a smooth console can bring depth and dimension without buying new furniture.
Triggs’ advice is simple: anchor your room, introduce texture, and add personal touches. Done thoughtfully, these finishing touches create a cinematic, polished space that reflects your style rather than a catalog image.
With her award-winning design firm and experience in numerous publications, Triggs continues to show homeowners how small, intentional choices make a big impact in interior design.
