Add personal touch to home

What are some of the things that make you feel at home the moment you walk in? I think you know what I mean — your favorite collections, for instance, or your favorite black-and-white family photographs. Those elements that make your home a haven.

The objets are the way we put our individual or familial imprint on our interiors, whether it's a one-room studio or a spacious multigenerational home. These items — sometimes individual pieces, sometimes vignettes — allow us to express our own personal style.

They are, to borrow a phrase from one of my favorite musicals, "a few of my favorite things."

Hanging above the window in the eating area of our kitchen is a grouping of antique and new copper pans, pots and cooking molds — part of a collection that I started before I was married. It serves as a sort of textured curtain in our French Provence-inspired kitchen.

Many of their different shapes —an oval fish pan, a shallow paella dish, many heavy-bottomed sauce pans and the raised designs of my mousse forms —are dinged, dented and mellowed to a glowing patina from years of use. My copper collection is one of my favorite kitchen treasures.

Think about your own "favorite things" when decorating your home. They make it special and inviting. And to get you thinking, here is a list of some of the treasures that fill my own house.

Seashells. Shells and all manner of other things from the sea — bits of sponge, coral, dried seaweed, even sand — find their way into my home. They range from groupings on tabletops and in vignettes to working as "bookends." They add color, texture and depth, especially when interspersed with candles or books or displayed in a pedestal bowl.

Books. I've always believed that books belong in every room in the house. Not only do their bindings add color and texture, but they also add history, lore, great visuals and, of course, a constant source of entertainment. I stack books on my coffee table and use them as pedestals when serving appetizers or drinks.

Antique textiles and fabrics. Whenever I visit an antique store or flea market, I'm drawn to the stacks of old textiles — such as pieces of historic toile, tattered bits of paisley, tatted pillowcases, embroidered sheets, old coverlets, ticking stripes and coarse linens. I incorporate them into my home wherever possible.

Black-and-white photographs. The timelessness of black-and-white photos — no matter how simple the subject matter — makes them natural classics. Since my first forays into decorating, I have always used them in decorating schemes because they add instant authenticity to a room.

Take a moment to look around your home and rediscover your own "favorite things."

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Chris Casson Madden, frequent contributor to Home & Garden Television, is also author of 14 books, including the newly released "Bedrooms," from Clarkson Potter Publishers.