Sentimental Style: How to Make Your Home Feel Like You
By: Brittany Shepard / The Sentimental Decorator
When I think about the spaces that feel most like home, they’re rarely the ones that look like a magazine cover. Instead, it’s the rooms where you can feel the stories. A chipped table passed down through generations. A shelf full of cookbooks with handwritten notes. Maybe the fabric is a little faded. Maybe the brass has tarnished just so. But somehow, it feels alive.
That’s the heart of sentimental style. It’s not about following trends or buying everything new. It’s about surrounding yourself with pieces that mean something to you, even if they wouldn’t stop a stranger in their tracks.
And honestly? That’s where the real magic happens.
What Is Sentimental Style?
Sentimental style isn’t really a look. (Although, let’s be honest, it usually turns out beautiful without even trying too hard.) It’s more of a feeling.
I define sentimental style as a way of decorating that prioritizes personal history, storytelling, and emotional connection over aesthetics alone.
It’s the story behind the dishes stacked in the china cabinet, the ones your grandmother once set her Sunday table with. Or the brass pineapple you found at a flea market for five dollars that now sits proudly on your bookshelf, welcoming everyone in. (True story. I smile every time I pass by mine.)
Sentimental style layers your life into your home, piece by piece and memory by memory.
Sentimental Style Is More Than Antiques
Sentimental style isn’t just about old things. It’s about meaningful things. While it often includes antiques, hand-me-downs, or vintage treasures, it also welcomes newer or on-trend pieces, as long as they resonate with you personally.
A home styled with sentiment doesn’t have to follow one aesthetic. It’s not just vintage, antique, or heirloom. It simply needs to reflect your story through pieces that spark connection and emotion.
Start With What You Have
You don’t need a house full of heirlooms to style your home with sentiment. Often, the story has already begun, you just need to notice it. Take a slow walk around your home and ask yourself:
- What object in this room holds a memory?
- What piece reminds me of someone I love?
- What makes me feel most at home?
It could be your mom’s cookbooks, a side table you bought after moving into your first apartment, or even a tiny souvenir from a special trip. Those are the pieces worth celebrating.
Style With Intention, Not Perfection
Once you gather the meaningful pieces, the goal isn’t to display them “correctly.” It’s to display them where they’ll bring you joy every day.
Here’s a simple formula I lean on when styling a vignette:
- Something living (even faux — plants, flowers, greenery)
- Something sentimental (a photo, a gift, a treasured find)
- Something that glows (a candle, a lamp, a bit of brass)
That’s it. Nothing complicated. Just pieces that feel like you.
The only rule I follow when decorating is simple. Does this make me happy? If yes, it belongs.
Adopted Heirlooms Are Just as Powerful
Don’t have inherited treasures? Create your own. Some of my most cherished pieces are what I call “adopted heirlooms” — vintage finds that I’ve folded into my life and given new stories.
Like the antique Amish cupboard that now holds my mom’s and grandmother’s dishes.
Facebook Marketplace and estate sales are my favorite sources for adopting heirlooms. My best estate sale find is actually the home I now live in.
The story doesn’t always come first. Sometimes, we build it over time.
When thrifting, trust your gut. Look for quality — like wood, brass, or ironstone — but let your heart lead. If something makes you smile for no obvious reason, that’s reason enough.
Let Your Home Tell Your Story
At the end of the day, sentimental style isn’t about impressing anyone else. It’s about creating a place where your memories live alongside you. A place where every corner whispers a little piece of your story.
Maybe it’s the quilt folded across your bed that your grandmother sewed. Maybe it’s the flea market painting you fell in love with one rainy afternoon. Or maybe it’s the set of vintage Pyrex mixing bowls your mom gave you when you first started baking.
But maybe, hopefully, it’s all of it, woven together. Your home doesn’t need to be perfect. It just needs to be yours. Full of life. Full of meaning. Full of you.
What About You?
I’d love to know: What’s the most meaningful piece in your home?
–Brittany Shepard / The Sentimental Decorator
About The Author
Brittany Shepard is a writer, creator and sentimental stylist who believes a home should tell your story – not just follow trends. As The Sentimental Decorator, she shares how to create beautiful, meaningful spaces using vintage finds, heirlooms and small everyday rituals that bring joy on her blog and Instagram,
After losing her mother in 2017, Brittany began surrounding herself with familiar pieces – things that evoked fond memories and made her mother still feel present in her daily life. That experience shaped everything: how she decorates, how she writes, and how she encourages others to infuse their homes with meaning, not just “stuff.”
Brittany lives in the Historic District of Dothan, Alabama, where she’s restoring her 1953 home, one memory-filled room at a time. Joyfully single, Brittany shares her home with two very spoiled geriatric pups. She is passionate about curating a full, beautiful life that honors the past while celebrating the present – no matter the season of life. On weekends, you’ll often find her treasure hunting for vintage furniture to share in the shop she runs with her best friend.
A writer by profession, Brittany specializes in crafting content and writing copy for interior designers and home brands, helping them tell their stories in a way that connects and resonates. She also writes for local and regional lifestyle publications as well as interior design publications.
Connect with Brittany:
Website: Thesentimentaldecorator.com
Instagram: @brittanyshepard
Photos provided by: Brittany Shepard
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