Many people don't know where to start when decorating a room in their home.
Starting to decorate is often the hardest part.
Here are some interior designer tips & tricks for how to start the decorating process.
photo courtesy of PoshSurfside.com flickr.com/photos/kerryanndame/3093827149/
Budget
Determine your budget before you start to buy anything.
Come up with a list of everything you need to purchase and decide how much to spend on each item.
If you can't afford to buy everything right away, save money and purchase items you love instead of cheap items that fit in your budget now.
Consider purchasing vintage or antique furniture and accessories that are often high quality and unique, but at a reduced price. You can get an idea of the price of items by looking at Facebook Marketplace or eBay.
What to Keep
Decide what to keep in your room and what to get rid of or move to another room.
Your budget will often determine what you can afford to buy new and what you have to keep.
Rethink existing items that may be able to be reused for different purposes.
Old furniture might be able to be painted or reupholstered.
Make sure to keep what you love and what makes you happy.
If you have precious items packed away in a box in your attic, consider getting them out and putting them on display in your newly decorated room.
Floor Plan
If moving around or changing furniture, draw a floor plan of your space to determine the correct size of items for your room and where they should be located.
You can use graph paper or a basic drafting program.
Decide on a Style
Do you like traditional, contemporary, modern, or an eclectic mix?
Do you prefer lots of color, earth tones, or just black and white?
Do you prefer more ornate furniture or furniture with clean lines?
Look through magazines and online to determine what you like and what you don't like.
You can create a scrapbook from magazine clippings or use an online pin board, such as Pinterest, to organize your ideas digitally.
If you are decorating a room that is adjacent to other rooms in your home and is not separated by a door, all of the rooms should have a cohesive style and color scheme.
If the room you are starting to decorate is closed off by a door then it does not have to be the same style as the adjacent rooms, but it shouldn't be a completely opposite style.
Keep in mind the items that you are keeping in your room when deciding on the overall style.
If the items you are keeping don't quite fit with the new style, consider painting them or transforming them in some way to make them more style appropriate.
Keep studying different styles and colors until you you are 100% sure of what you want your room to look like.
Jumping Off Point
After you have determined your decorating style, find an item to be your jumping off point, which will often be the focal point of your room.
For a bedroom, it could be the bedding or a colorful rug.
In a bathroom it could be interesting accent tile.
A living room focal point might be a great piece of art.
Whatever you select as your jumping off point will determine the other aspects of your room.
Build From There
Once your jumping off point item has been selected, start building the rest of the room from there.
Select items for your room that have the colors and overall style of your jumping off point while meeting the size criteria that you have determined with your floor plan.
Keep in mind that paint can come in any color you want but fabrics come in a limited color selection, so decide on your paint color last.
If you are too overwhelmed by decorating yourself, consider hiring an interior designer or decorator to help you get started.
