HGTV designer reveals 7 easy ways to style your home

House Rules

Furniture scales the wall of Angelo Surmelis' in-store pop-up at HomeWorld.

When it comes to your wardrobe, you're always up-to-speed on the latest trends. Graphic prints? Totally. Neon? You betcha. Leather and lace? On it. Too bad the same can't be said for the rest of your place, which is filled with yawn-inducing assembled furniture from Wal-Mart.

Perk up. HGTV designer Angelo Surmelis is in town installing wildly fun in-store displays for his newly-arrived angelo:HOME line at HomeWorld, and he's totally willing to help. His biggest decorating tip?

Treat your home like your closet. Splurge on classic, big-ticket items, like a sofa, coffee table, and dining table. Then, accessorize with more affordable accent chairs, side tables, lamps, and accessories – anything you can pick up and stick in your car – in fun colors and prints.

Below, check out six more ways to move in the bright direction.

Rearrange first, buy later. Before you even start shopping, move your existing furniture around. Rearranging a room can help you look at pieces in a new light and figure out what doesn't fit.

Move your furniture away from the walls. Even if it's just six inches, extra breathing room will actually make your space, even a small one, feel bigger.

Swap out a couple of chairs at the dining table. Replace them with a settee, and/or mix and match chairs of different styles and colors – just make sure they're all the same height to avoid a garage sale look.

Invest in the largest rug you can afford. A small rug will make a large room feel cavernous and a small room even tinier. Pick a print that you love and make sure at least one of the colors matches your accent pieces. It will tie the entire room together.

When shopping for accent pillows, don't buy just one style. Get two matching pillows, then add a third in a different pattern. Look for something in the same color family, though they don't have to be the same shade.

Don't forget the drapes. Changing your drapes is an easy and unexpected way to freshen your room for summer. Choose light, sheer fabrics in fun prints that match one of your room's accent colors.

angelo:HOME is available at HomeWorld in Honolulu, 702 S. Beretania St., (808) 543-5300, and Pearlridge, 98-107 Kamehameha Hwy., (808) 488-1065. Prices range from $39 for a throw pillow to $869 for a nail head trim panel bed. Click here to view more photos of Surmelis' in-store displays and here to learn more about angelo:HOME.