8 ESSENTIAL HOME DECOR ITEMS EVERYONE SHOULD OWN || 2026

Hi guys and welcome back to my channel. If you are new, welcome. My name is Hannah and in today's video we are talking about eight essential home decor items. So if this is something you are interested in watching, just keep on watching. We are diving deep into eight essential home decor items for the home lover. Maybe you are just purchasing your first home or maybe you're just starting to get into home decor and decorating your space but you're not quite sure where to start. It's probably very overwhelming for you. I compiled a list of eight of my most essential home decor items for your toolbox. These are things that are going to not only stand the test of time, they are not trendy, they are going to give you a long shelf life and they are incredibly universal. Think of these as like the building block pieces to then building the rest of your decor off of. So hopefully you guys enjoyed today's video. Like I said, there are eight of them. I will provide you guys plenty of B-rolls and examples of how I have implemented these things in my home, how I've styled them. So yeah, hopefully today's video is helpful but without further ado, let's get it. All right, so the very first item on this essential home decor list is coffee table books. Now think of coffee table books as like the building block to your styling. These are a great way to start. This is something that I definitely feel is essential because they not only will break up a flat surface, so whether you're styling a coffee table or a sideboard, they're just gonna bring that flat surface and they're just gonna give it a little bit of an extra height. You can use these to add decor on top of them or you can use them as is. They're gonna bring you color, they're gonna bring some visual interest and essentially they have so much beautiful and inspirational information packed within them. A lot of my books are obviously home decor because I love getting ideas from other designers. I love looking at other different ways of styling different things. So I definitely grab inspiration from my books but I definitely feel like they are a great element to add and they're not ever going to go out of style or date themselves. Now a few of my favorite places to shop for these items is HomeGoods, TJ Maxx, and Amazon. But if you are on a really strict budget, honestly start thrifting some of the books. If you are needing just filler books or if you are maybe trying to find books on a budget, Goodwill and thrift stores, they have a ton of books to choose from. And always make sure to lift the sleeve of a book because you might be surprised at how beautiful the book and the binding is without the cover on top. So don't overlook some of those cheaper books that have maybe a bright or obnoxious sleeve. Just pull back and see if you can possibly repurpose the book. But those are my top favorite places to shop coffee table books. But that is the number one item on this essential list. All right, so while we are discussing coffee table books, the next item on my essential list is a book stand. Now this is a beautiful way to showcase those books. It is a invitation for one of your guests to maybe sift through the pages. You can turn it to any page to reflect maybe the style that you are representing. It is a really nice way to showcase coffee table books and I love them. They're very universal. It's a great way to break up a flat surface. So when I'm personally styling something, the more height and different variations that I can add to a style, the more interesting the overall look is going to be. So instead of just having a stack of books here, that book stand's really gonna add just something a little bit different. Now you can style these on a coffee table, console table, open shelving, and you can even bring these into the kitchen if you wanna maybe have one of your cookbooks open on display for having your recipes showcased as well. So they are very universal. And again, these items that I'm discussing today are things that are not going to be trendy. These are things that are going to be able to stand the test of time and not get wrapped up into trends and what is circulating all over the place. So definitely keep that in mind when you are buying or maybe sourcing these items, that these are things that are going to last you a lifetime. All right, number three on this list is a no-brainer and that is decorative bowls. Now I think bowls are a great, very versatile item to add to your decor toolbox. This is something that you can style as is, or if you're wanting to add a little bit of extra something, you can bring some decor filler to your bowls. Now I think bowls are gonna be a great way to kind of determine what your style is, whether you lean maybe a little bit more modern, or if you go for that rustic, you like maybe a dough bowl or something that has a little bit more patina and character. This is a great way to showcase what you're into and your style. Bowls are obviously very universal when it comes to purpose, so you can have them at a catch-all, so something to drop your keys in at the end of the day, or if you wanna use them to house maybe your remote controls on a coffee table. They're obviously very universal and these are gonna be things that are going to stand the test of time. But make sure when you are sourcing bowls to not get wrapped up in something that's super trendy, maybe not something that doesn't have like scalloped edges or things that are kind of circulating in the moment. Maybe get onto Etsy or other places to source different bowls that are going to not only fit your design style, but things that are gonna be a longer shelf life in the end. So that is the third item on this list is decorative bowls. All right, number four are risers, which I feel like get overlooked in the home decor designing world. Risers are so versatile when it comes to styling your space. Now you can honestly bring a riser into any section of your home, whether that's a bathroom or in a kitchen. I really enjoy styling with risers. Now coming back to that whole bringing up a flat surface, it just adds depth when you're looking at a style. Whatever you're looking at, a riser's just gonna add a little bit of extra layer to any space. You can have these in the kitchen with maybe your pepper mills or your utensil crock on there to kind of give some elevation to a space. You can style them as is on a coffee table like I've done in the past, or you can even just style a geocrysler or a beautiful candle on them. They truly are a very versatile piece that you can never go wrong with, in my opinion, when it comes to decorating. You can bring a riser to any section of your home and it will make sense. So don't sleep on risers. A few of my favorite places to shop for risers, I always luck out at HomeGoods. They really have been bringing a lot of really great look-for-less options. The ones behind me are from HomeGoods and they are a McGee and Co. look-for-less, and I use these all the time. I love doing a double-stacked moment like that where I have a larger one on the bottom and a little bit smaller on top, so you can style them like that, or again, as is with maybe a couple decor elements on top, but don't overlook risers. They are super, super important when it comes to home decor. All right, so number five is a little bit of a controversial issue, and that is faux stems. Now listen, I totally agree that nothing beats the real thing. If I could afford to have real flowers in my home every single week, I totally would do that, but sometimes that adds up after a while. So I usually revert to faux stems because it is something that, one, I cannot kill, and two, they last me forever. If you can't afford to do real things, then obviously do real stems. If you have beautiful foliage outside, that's another place that you could source for the real thing, but I think faux stems are a great way to add texture, color, and height to your space, but it's all about sourcing good ones. There is nothing worse than sourcing really fake-looking stems and it just cheapening your space. There are some really beautiful faux stem makers out there that have things that almost look like the real thing. A few of my favorite places to shop for faux stems are Hobby Lobby. That is one of my favorite places. I choose Hobby Lobby over Michaels. Two, I love HomeGoods. There is a company called Allstate, which I have talked about many times in my HomeGoods Best of videos. They have some of the best, most realistic stems, so keep your eye out for Allstate. Etsy has a lot of really great sellers on there that have one-of-a-kind, more unique-type stems, things that obviously are not circuit box brand stores. And then lastly, I love Darby Creek Trading. They are a little bit more on the expensive side, but they are cheaper than Afloral. Obviously, if you have an unlimited budget, Afloral has a lot of really beautiful stems there too, but I feel like we can source them cheaper other places. So I personally love faux stems. I definitely feel like they add a lot of life to my space. And I think another really great thing about faux stems, they are going to stand the test of time and they're a great reflection of what season we are in. So you can bring your hydrangeas out for springtime, put those away, bring your pine stems out for the wintertime. They just kind of grow with you with every season instead of outgrowing you, if that makes sense. Now, I also get a lot of questions on how I store my stems. This is honestly one of my most asked questions. Since I did make a video on this, gosh, a few years ago, I have accumulated a lot more stems. It is honestly one of my weaknesses is stems. So I'm gonna showcase how I store them. I have them in a very large oversized basket. I zip tie them by bundle, so by style. And then I almost make like a gigantic arrangement by placing the stems within the basket. This basket lives in a spare closet. And this is just what works for me. I did have them in a box, but as I accumulated more stems, they outgrew the box. So this is just, again, how I store my stems and it has worked perfectly for me. So again, number five on this list is investing in really nice faux stems for every. All right, piggybacking off of faux stems, you can't have your faux stems without vessels and vases. Now, I love sourcing these and I have vessels and vases from super, super expensive to super, super inexpensive. I have ones that are a little bit more on the modern side and then I have items that are a little bit more on that rustic patina curated side. So I have a huge array of vessels and I think this is a great way to add a little bit of personality to a space. Not only are they essential when it comes to styling, I feel like along with the coffee table books, I always start with a big vase and some stems. That is kind of like the main building block to then styling around it. But I feel like these are items that are gonna stand the test of time. They aren't going to date themselves and it's gonna be an item that you're constantly going to grab for when styling certain areas of your home. So these are definitely going to be key items in your toolbox when it comes to home decor. A few of my favorite places to shop for these items, I love HomeGoods. HomeGoods is constantly changing, as we know, especially from month to month. As you guys see in my videos, what is circulating one week will not be circulating another week. So I definitely feel like HomeGoods is a really great kind of scavenger hunt for cool vessels and vases and they have been bringing a lot more really great look for less options. So do not sleep on HomeGoods. TJ Maxx is another really great place to shop. I enjoy shopping Etsy as well. Maybe if you are one that enjoys a little bit of an aged curated patina look, they have a lot of really great sellers on there. And then clearly I have some of my favorite local spots that I shop as well. But I have vessels from super cheap to really expensive and I just kind of intertwine them and they always add so much character, so much interest to any style. So make sure when you are shopping decor to get yourself a couple really good staple vessels and vases for your craft. All right, our second to last item is trays. Now very similar to the riser, they're going to confine things. Obviously with the tray, you're getting a little bit more of a lip. So I utilize the tray more in like a bathroom setting or a kitchen setting. So I will have all of my kitchen essentials kind of corralled into the tray, whether that's my peppermilk grinders, my salt pinch, garlic keeper, butter crop, anything you want to have kind of confined space. I think a tray is really, really beneficial. One thing great with a tray, they're not going to date themselves, doesn't matter what the year is. These are things that are going to stand the test of time, things that you're going to be able to grow with over the years. And they're super versatile when it comes to styling purposes. Like I mentioned, obviously I use them a lot in my kitchen setting, but you can bring these into a bathroom with some beautiful soaps. You can even sell them on your coffee table for maybe your candles, candle, a match clothes, your wick trimmer, all like your candle essentials, kind of keeping those together. So trays are really, really fun, very versatile, very universal. And honestly, they make for a really beautiful layered style. Now a few of my favorite places to shop for trays, if you are one that enjoys more stone like material, like onyx and marble, I love Apostrophe Home. That is a local spot here in San Diego. They do have a website if you want to check them out. I've sourced some really beautiful options at HomeGoods. And again, Etsy is another really great place that I love to shop for that type of stuff. So number seven on our list are trays. All right, and the very last item on this home decor essential list is candle holders. Now this is when you start bringing in different type of materials. So you're introducing different finishes like metal. If you like brass or black iron, this is a great way to kind of introduce a different tone into your style. So if you're like really heavy on black, say a black elements in a style, I would then recommend bringing in maybe a brass or a silver to kind of break up your tones. So not only are they bringing in a different type of finish, but you're also gonna get different height than some visual interest because obviously with candle holders, they all are different. They sometimes have really cool spiral or different designs. They're very interesting to look at and they're gonna bring height to any style. So this is good for if you're wanting balance, if you have a large vessel on one side, I would then say bring your candle holders that are a little bit taller on the other for balance and symmetry. Now, one thing really cool that I wanna state with candle holders is that you can style them two different ways. You can sell them without candlesticks in them, which I love this style. It's not for everybody. Or if you're wanting more of that ambience factor, you can have your candlesticks within them. So style them two different ways. You can pair them, a bunch of them together or more minimal. And these are gonna be things, again, that are not going to be super trendy. So I would definitely steer towards candle holders that are a little bit more versatile. Maybe they're a little bit more simple. They don't scream a certain time of year or they're not super seasonal. So definitely keep your eye out for some really good candlestick holders. But this is the last item on our home decor essential list. All right, you guys, and that is it for today's video. Hopefully this was helpful of eight essential home decor items. Like I mentioned in my intro, if you are just starting off in the home decor world, if you are buying a new place and you're not quite sure where to start, these eight items will be the building blocks to anything else you add to it. They're going to stand the test of time. They're going to last you a lifetime. They are not going to date themselves and they're just essential when it comes to any home decor styling. So hopefully you guys enjoyed today's video. But until the next time, I love you guys so much. Thank you for being here and I'll see you guys soon. Peace.