How to Decorate in Magnolia Pearl Style

Soften an already-soft mohair sofa with plush velvet pillows trimmed in ornate lace or ribbons. Reuse a cashmere scarf to add a cozy band of comfort around a plain, soft, cotton pillowcase. Line the headboard of your bed with overstuffed velvet and silk and satin pillows in a variety of shapes that will prevent you from leaving such cozy comfort in the morning. Darken a room with heavy velvet drapes in hues of vanilla, almond and coffee.

Rich and rustic are code words for the materials employed within a Magnolia Pearl-style-decorated home. Rough-hewn wood tables provide a solid surface and an eye-pleasing counterpoint to delicate vintage porcelain place settings and crystal glasses. Wrought iron beds – either painted and then expertly hand-chipped or in their natural, dark metallic hues – make the sumptuousness of embellished bedding seem even more luxurious. The angularity and transparency of chicken wire is also a standard Magnolia Pearl material and is a useful background for dangling trinkets on silk or velvet ribbons or displaying sepia-toned photos clipped onto its wires.

There’s no better way to view Magnolia Pearl style than to see it in the reflection of shiny surfaces, such as mirrors, mercury glass and chandeliers. Hang mirrors from doors so that light is bounced around your rooms. Scatter candle holders, vases and picture frames made of mercury glass around your rooms and on every surface. Buy ornate crystal chandeliers or string crystals from simple ones you may already have in your house. There are no rules with this style, so hang a crystal chandelier in your bathroom for a more-private display of Magnolia Pearl style.

Display curvy, vintage lamps topped with silk shades, hang bucolic Victorian art in gold frames, hand-paint lush flowers along an unadorned wall, add long silk fringe to the bottom of a decades-old ottoman. Elaborately transform your current furnishings with bits and pieces of salvaged fabrics, ribbons and lace. Reuse that Oriental rug you have rolled up in the garage, but top it with a rug in an English floral print. Finally, according to "Country Living" magazine, Robin Brown collects and decorates her interiors with anything that has to do with birds or the sea, so fill a big glass vase with pink shells or line a mantel with wooden birdhouses in a variety of colors