Home décor is a matter of taste, always. But what happens when the perfect room gets a little stagnant? When it doesn’t need a complete overhaul, but just a pick-me-up?

Sometimes all that takes is a couple of coats of paint. Other times all a homeowner needs to do is get a few helping hands and rearrange the furniture. But other times, an accessory that’s not necessarily new, but interesting and draws the eye, is the way to go. And local shoppers on the lookout for a room pick-me-up may need to look no farther than downtown Washington.

Take throw pillows: a bold, brightly colored pillow can spruce up a living room or bedroom in the time it takes to toss it on a given piece of furniture. At The River Girl, Antiques and Interior Design on West Main Street, pillows as a focal point take on a whole new meaning: storeowner, interior designer and painter Cindy Jowers paints one-of-a-kind pillows, and has a stock of throw pillows of all types — hooked-rug pillows, hardy needlepoint pillows, which she says are great for enclosed porch, pillows decked with beads, with metal grommets, with leather cutouts and cowhide.

“I think pillows make a room,” Jowers said. “They just add a lot.”

Jowers said hand-painted pillows especially can add more to a room than just a simple splash of color.

“You can’t look at it like a pillow. You look at it like a painting,” she explained. “It’s an investment, but instead of putting it on the wall, you’re putting it on the sofa.”

Sometimes all it takes to give a room a new look is a focus on the small details, like lamps and drawer pulls. At South Market Antiques, owner Pat Lewis said it’s the vintage-look new items that blend with antiques that are popular — accessories that don’t just take up space on a dining or living room’s flat surfaces, but are usable and eye-catching, holding candles, greenery or, in the case of cake-stands, food.

Sprucing up a room often takes little more than an interesting piece of furniture, and at A Southern Nest next door, the vintage and antique are repurposed to provide that option. Storeowner Elaine Taylor pointed out a double-bow fronted, crotch mahogany dresser topped with granite that would not only be a great addition to any room, but would also make a great bathroom sink vanity. She said she recently sold an Empire dresser to local residents for expressly that purpose.

“Personally, I’ve always wanted to do that and those vessel sinks make it really easy to do,” Taylor said.

A Southern Nest is also branching out with accessories, as well. Case in point, a repurposed silver-plate coffee urn turned into lamp that Taylor found at an estate sale inspired her and her husband to begin lamp repair and construction.

“So if people have something they want to do with a lamp, we do that,” Taylor said.

Those looking for a room pick-me-up can find plenty to choose from in downtown Washington — and it’s close to home.