How To Decorate Your House: 10 Things to Consider when Decorating your Interior

There’s nothing more exciting or daunting than moving home and being faced with a complete blank canvas. Knowing where to begin when you are starting from scratch is half the battle of designing a beautiful interior. We’ve devised ten tips to help you get on your creative feet and come up with ideas for decorating your home.

1.)    What are you drawn to?

Scroll through some design blogs, Pinterest or Instagram and see what it is that draws your eye. If you find that you don’t like busy interiors and are drawn to clean cut lines, then use this as an outline for how you want your home to look.

2.)    What is the room going to be used for?

When it comes to interior design, practicality is key. You may be attracted to that plush white carpet, but if you have a big dog and three kids it’s not going to work. Draw out a plan of what each room will be used for, and tackle each one individually.

3.) Work from the outside in…

From experience, we find that the best way of making a room work is to decorate from the outside in. So choose the colour scheme for your walls and curtains, and the rest will follow. A good idea for this is to cheat a little and figure out what artwork will be going in your space. If the piece is big and will draw the eye, pick a colour from that piece and match your carpet or curtains to it. It will mean that the whole colour scheme will come together.

4.)   Plan your budget…

It’s important not to get carried away when you see something you love. Often someone will find a pair of lamps that they adore, but if there is no money left for a nice sofa then the room will just look mismatched and inconsistent. Make sure you plan everything you are going to buy before you purchase it.

5.)   How can you make it personal?

The best interior designers are inspired from their personal experiences. For example, if you have spent time in India you can use some Middle Eastern inspired art work or even display some souvenirs from your trip. These personal touches are what makes your house feel homely.

6.)    Follow your instincts…

With a huge task like decorating a house, it is easy to play it safe. However, as Coco Chanel once said ‘In order to be irreplaceable one must always be different’. If you see a zebra print rug that you adore or a colour that really stands out to you, trust your gut and find a way to fit it in to your scheme. It will most likely bring a sense of individuality to your space. Make sure you don’t go over the top though!

7.)    Where will you put your furniture?

When moving house you inevitably bring some of your things along with you. Make sure you plan where you’re going to put your furniture before you start decorating. If you have a big statue that you want to put on display, make sure that you integrate a place for it. Without planning, you could end up stuffing all your furniture into one room and it will look cramped.

8.)    Take your time…

It’s easy to rush things when you move into a new home. You want it to feel as homely as possible as soon as possible, and as a result many people will impulse buy furniture or accessories that don’t suit the interior, or will just over crowd the space. The best thing to do is take your time when home decorating. This way you can discover what you truly want from your space and you can buy what you need accordingly.

9.)  Are you thinking long term?

With interior design, styles go in and out of fashion. Industrial chic may seem like a good idea for your kitchen, but after a year it may be out of style and you’re left with a kitchen that looks like a shelled out building site. Make sure that you incorporate fashionable looks with a classic interior, so that you can stay on trend without having to re-decorate your entire room.

10.) What will make you feel comfortable?

The most important thing to consider is what it is that makes you feel comfortable. If you like the idea of a minimalist kitchen, think about whether you will feel at home  there. Re-creating someone else’s look may seem like a good idea, but if it isn’t truly your style then you won’t feel happy with it – so stick to your own tastes.

All images sourced from Etsy.

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