I’m no interior design pro, but I want my house to look like I hired a designer. I’ve been devouring any interior design rules of thumb and ideas to try to set myself up for success. What I’ve learned is that it’s entirely doable to decorate your house beautifully without being a pro, but you have to have a well-thought-out process. There’s no winging it and trying to tie it together later. There might be something unexpected that you come across and incorporate, but the process itself isn’t just about buying what you like. It’s about making a space that feels cohesive.
It’s easy to get overstimulated by Pinterest, social media, and things that we see other people doing. And not to mention all of the design shows we can watch with a few clicks of a button or taps on a screen. I know how overwhelming it can be to like a lot of different things and be able to find yourself in a lot of different design styles. That can lead you to waste a lot of time and money bouncing around different ideas if you don’t have a plan for your space.
I’m finding that decorating a space doesn’t have to be complicated. Here are the ways I’ve been approaching decorating our house.
1. Gather LOTS of Inspiration
Even though I just said Pinterest can be overstimulating, it is one of the best places to get a lot of home decor ideas. Start pinning images that capture the mood of the space you’re planning. You want to collect images that reflect the style and the feeling that you’re looking for in your living room.
2. Narrow Down Your Signature Style
After you pinned at least 30 images, narrow down your interior design style based on the patterns you see in the images you pinned. You can easily create a mood board of ONLY the images that match your design style in Canva so they’re on a single page or you can create a sub-board on Pinterest with just those images. You want to have the images easily accessible when you’re shopping so you don’t stray from your overall vision.
To figure out what the images have in common, look at the wall color and see if there are any you’re drawn to or that you see repeated. You can also look at the type of furniture styles, accessories, and trinkets that catch your eye. Consider what types of window treatments the spaces in the images have and if you have enough space to pull them off or if you need to look for an alternative. Look at the artwork in the spaces and identify the pieces that speak to you. Are there any styles or mediums that you’re drawn to?
3. Identify a Color Palette
Once You’ve narrowed down your signature style you should be able to determine a color plate that you’re drawn to. You want to keep it simple, having no more than three primary colors and two secondary. The more colors you add to the palette, the more difficult it will be to create cohesion in your space.
4. Find a Through Line
As you’re seeing what all of your inspirational images have in common, figure out a way to make each room of your house have a common theme too. This is especially important if you have an open-concept space or if you can easily see into one room from another. The throughline could be a color or shape and should be easily recognized as you move from room to room.
5. Know Your Space
You need to know the measurements of your space so you get furniture that’s the right size and allows you to move through the room how you need to. I recommend mapping out the dimensions on grid paper and penciling in the dimensions of the furniture you want to put in there. Whether you’re shopping in person or online you’ll know what size of furniture you’re looking for. This way you won’t end up with furniture that’s too small and looks like doll furniture and you won’t end up with a table that won’t let you get across the room.
6. Focus on One Room at a Time
By focusing on decorating one room at a time you won’t lose focus on what your initial vision was. It also helps you stay on budget because you’re not picking up random things that catch your eye in the moment. Get one room completed at a time and you’ll have a homey space soon enough.
7. Have a Go-To List of Stores
Shopping for things to put in your space can be fun, but it can also be overwhelming. There are so many furniture and home decor stores to choose from that it is easy to get paralyzed by having so many choices. To keep that from happening it’s a good idea to have a few go-to places you like to shop so you won’t be browsing in perpetuity.
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