INTERIOR DECORATING TIPS TO MAKE YOUR HOME AMAZING
Your home is your sanctuary and your pride, so it’s natural that you want it to look its best. Styling your home can be hard but here are a few tips that can help you:
Draw inspiration wherever you can.
If you need design ideas, you can get inspiration anywhere—magazines, your friend’s home, your travels, online. The sky’s the limit. Jot down your inspirations on a notebook, or keep website links in your phone, or cut out pieces you like and paste them in one notebook so that they’re always within reach.
Prepare a design brief.
A design brief is like a road map. It details all deliverable's and the project scope needed to finish the creative project. This includes pieces of furniture and fixtures, work/repairs needed, timing and budget.
Pro Tip: Do a design brief for every room, so that the decorating process is manageable, not just in the matter of tasks, but also in time and budget.
Keep furniture and flow in mind.
When designing a room, make it easy for people to move around and pass each other. To do this, study the possible routes and movement patterns on your floor plans—track them in different colours. Doing so can improve how you live in your home.
Understanding your space is essential.
Do a mock-up in a large room so that you will understand how to work out the pieces of furniture and elements you should put in the room. You can do the mock-up in a shed or a vacant room in your house. Include the key items—use either the real pieces or cardboard boxes that will resemble the volume. Mark out with chalk and masking tape so that you can work around it.
Plan out good storage.
Take note of the unused space and utilise them for your collection of books or ceramics and the like. You can have shelves designed and made to fit where you want them.
Use samples.
Samples of paint, fabric, or a catalogue are useful when designing your home. In the beginning phase, they represent options and ideas that you can consider using. Then, as the project progresses, they will represent the choices you made. Remember to try and keep two samples—a working sample and one in the master file. The working sample will be used to reference texture and colour. The sample in the master file enables you access to codes and colour numbers when you need to.
Try things out before buying.
Try out pieces like rugs and artwork before actually buying them—many suppliers and stores will let you. This will ensure that the pieces will go well with the whole room.
Layer the lighting.
Layered lighting that can be individually controlled depending on the events, time of day, or moods. These will be divided into three: ambient, accent, and task lighting.
Ambient lighting illuminates the room generally, accent lighting emphasises a room’s features such as artwork or decor, and task lighting gives you light you need as you go about your tasks.
This assortment of lights will give your rooms depth and make your interior look great. Remember to separate the switches between the lights so you can easily mix them.
Keep what’s only functional.
Go through your rooms and remove everything that's not useful to you—all the trinkets, papers, and everything that only serves as clutter. Go to each room, take everything out bar the basic items, and determine if they are really functional or not and if they serve an aesthetic purpose to you. It might be hard if you’re the sentimental type, but your home will be better without the clutter.
Designing your home can be a challenge but it can be rewarding, too, when you see that your home looks amazing and just the dream home you wanted to have all along. If you need help or advice, don’t hesitate to drop a message—we’ll be waiting!
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