Designing Tips from a Pro!

This week's post is brought to us by Jen N. about interior design! You want to take the time to read these great tips. Thanks, Jen!

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Are you sick and tired of all your furniture? Do you appreciate good décor, but feel like you don’t know how to pull it together yourself? Do you want to change the look of your home’s interior, but just don’t know where to start? Décor can be so important, as it sets the stage for the feel of your home and provides the backdrop for your family’s life. When you’re satisfied with your home’s appearance, you want to spend more time there, you feel more relaxed, and even cleaning becomes more enjoyable! But if you’re unhappy with your home’s interior, it can be something that bothers you every day and makes you less likely to entertain or otherwise enjoy your home. Here are some simple design tips to help you improve and love your home - on any budget! I’ve also included some different resources that you might find helpful or inspiring in your quest for a beautiful home.


1. DON’T START WITH PAINT! A common mistake a lot of people make when trying to redecorate a room is to pick their paint color first. This should literally be the LAST item on your list! It is so easy to find a paint color that will complement a grouping of furniture and accessories, but it can be very difficult to find furniture (particularly upholstered pieces) to match a specific paint color. It’s okay to have a color in mind, but leaving the specific paint color for last lets a room evolve - you don’t want to find a piece you love and have to pass it by because it doesn’t complement the paint you chose at the beginning. Instead, be willing to adjust the final color to accommodate the choices you make along the way. This is true even if you think you’ve chosen a “neutral” color. There are very few true neutrals; most “neutral” colors are still either cool or warm to some degree, and the tones may not work with items you find for the room. (Can’t-Fail Color Schemes by Amy Wax)

2. FIND INSPIRATION. Inspiration for a room can come from anywhere – photos from a magazine or website, a friend’s room, a painting, nature, a piece of fabric, a TV show, books, clothing, one item you love that you know you want to include in the room, or even a piece of scrapbooking paper. If you don’t have any inspiration yet (you just know you want a change!) then look for some. There are endless websites with endless photos of gorgeous rooms (another good place for photos is your local bookstore)– look through them until you find at least 20 rooms you really like, even if you don’t know why you like them, and even if they’re not the same type of room you’re redecorating. Then compare – what are some common themes you see? Do you favor rooms with a lot of dark wood? Incorporate some dark wood pieces in your own room. Are you looking at twenty photos of blue rooms? Maybe blue is a color you should consider . . . Are all the rooms light and bright? Work on achieving that feeling in your own room. (hgtv.com; getdecorating.com; home-designing.com; Pure Style by Jane Cumberbatch; The Illustrated History of Textiles by Madeleine Ginsburg; Secret Gardens by Jennifer Potter)

3. GET SHOPPING! While shopping for your home is fun, there are a lot of things to keep in mind. First, everyone’s on a budget. It’s easy to redo a room from top to bottom in a short period of time if you have a large amount of money to spend – you can find almost anything if you’re willing to pay enough. However, for most of us, that’s not reality, and when your budget is small, bargains are your best friend. Here are some tips for redecorating affordably:

• Be patient. If possible, expect to redecorate your room over a period of time – perhaps a few months – so that you can buy good deals as you find them, instead of forcing purchases just to get the room done. That means if you want the guest room to look awesome for the in-laws at Christmas, start working on it now! You’re never going to find a whole room’s worth of items you love and that you can afford all at one time, unless you have a sizeable budget to work with. If you need to get a room redecorated more quickly, expect to either make some compromises or spend more. To save, wait for items to go on sale or clearance – almost everything does, eventually. Also, keep checking back again and again (and again!) at places like thrift stores – your diligence will pay off!
• Stay open-minded. It’s great to have an idea of what you want to do with a room, but be willing to adjust that vision as you find pieces you love – you may surprise yourself!
• Don’t tempt yourself. Shop only at stores where you know you can afford to buy. Getting inspiration from pricier stores is fine, but there’s no point in seriously falling in love with something you could never purchase – you’ll just be disappointed with what you do end up buying, feeling it’s “not as good.”
• Be thrifty! Thrift stores are an awesome resource. Be open-minded and look at the lines (not the color or fabric) of pieces. Would that hideous purple table be really cute in white? Would that old flowered armchair look beautiful when reupholstered or slipcovered? I bought a large armoire at a thrift store a couple of months ago that was actually labeled “badly painted cabinet” by the employees – and it was! But once I got it home and painted over the hideous blue paint and magenta diamonds with a nice cream color, it was beautiful – and it cost me all of 9.95! Also, be willing to make minor repairs to pieces and to change out hardware, and you’ll find some great deals. Or . . . “shop” in your own home – do you have pieces that could be repurposed/refurbished so that you love them again? (Book Recommendations: The Complete Photo Guide to Slipcovers by Linda Neubauer; Painted Furniture Decorating Ideas and Projects by Better Homes and Gardens)
• Don’t forget the internet. There are so many places to get great deals online, so make sure you comparison shop when possible. Online garage sales and auctions are a particularly fabulous resource – all the selection, none of the driving! (Great Websites: atlanta.craigslist.org; ebay.com)
• Don’t buy everything at one place. Rooms look much more sophisticated and tasteful when there’s a good assortment of “found” items – in other words, don’t go buy a matching set of furniture all at one store, and all of the matching accessories to go with it. Instead, find individual items at different places whose tones, lines, and scale provide a nice balance of complement and contrast with one another. I could go on for a whole other article on how to achieve this type of balance, so if you want to discuss that, just ask me! (Book Recommendation: Home Design Ideas: How to Plan and Decorate a Beautiful Home by Clifton-Mogg, Simmons, and Tanqueray)

4. CONSIDER GETTING SOME HELP. If you still feel like you can’t trust yourself to put together a room you would love, or if you’re really struggling with the functionality of a room (furniture arrangement, accommodating traffic patterns, etc.) think about hiring a professional. In general, a good interior designer can accommodate any budget by offering either guidance or full decorating services. Using a designer can easily save you money in the end, since you won’t end up with a room full of purchases you regret.

Most of all, don’t be afraid to try! Have confidence in your choices – you can’t go too wrong with a room full of things you love!