Starting home decorating can be full of so many emotions. On one hand, you can’t wait to get started and on the other, you can. There is a lot of work to be done and all of it is before you. Sometimes, there is no way of knowing where to start or what to do or even how to decorate.
Still, you are at the starting gate and soon you will have all your questions answered. Before you actually begin decorating your home, I would recommend looking through home design magazines and browsing through some wonderful sites; starting with freshome.com if I can be so modest.
That being said, it is important to take all those ideas that you love and make a little scrapbook with them. Don’t worry, everyone does this and it ensures that you won’t forget an idea or accidentally toss out the magazine.
Once you have some ideas as to what you would like and colors you would enjoy using, it is time to get down to business. Now most people will tell you to start with a notebook and sketch out your room and write down all of your ideas but before you do that, put that notebook to a different use.
First, before anything else, you will need to look at a budget. As much as we would all love to have an endless supply of funds to decorate with, that just isn’t realistic. You will have a cap on your decorating budget so actually look at what it is now before you shoot for a design that is just out of your price range. Once you have your budget, add a few hundred dollars on top of that for mistakes or finds that you just couldn’t pass by.
Now that you have your budget, start making a list of rooms in your home that needs to be decorated. Obviously, if your budget is limited, you are not going to be able to do all of them over the course of a few months so you will need to prioritize your rooms. Generally, the first rooms that you will want to focus on are the high traffic rooms. These are, after all, the rooms that most guests see when they come over so you will want to have them looking their best.
The other rooms can be decorated at a later time and as money allows so don’t stress if you can’t get them done right away. I have heard stories of homes taking several years to get from point A to finished.
Okay, so you have your budget, your ideas and your priority list. Now it is time to get decorating. The first thing that you will want to do is decide on a design for your home decor. Generally, when you design your decor you will keep the same design throughout the home especially in rooms where you can’t close the door to the theme. The last thing that you will want to do is have a country-style kitchen with an Asian themed dining room. There are several different types of design styles and really it is a matter of personal choice. Lately, there has been a real shift to eclectic and modern decor and you can add elements of both into just about any style.
Once you have decided on your style, you can pull out that notebook once more and start sketching out the room. Make a few notes on what furniture are a must have for the room and also identify which items must be brand new and which items can be refurbished pieces. Both can make wonderful statements to a room but you can find some wonderful quality pieces through garage sales, auctions and flea markets for only a fraction of the cost to buy new. Trust me, when it comes to meeting a budget, used can be your best friend.
Color is one of the most important areas for launching your decor and it should be one of the first steps that you take when starting to decorate your home. Many people feel that your starting place should be your floors and walls but it isn’t the only rule for creating your color palette. Instead, you can start with an accent piece and work out from there, choosing your colors for your flooring and walls after you have pulled out the colors from the accent. The end result is really what you are going for so it doesn’t matter how you started the journey.
After you are finished with the walls, it is time to start decorating the space. Hopefully, by this point you have been going to auctions and flea markets and you have the furniture bought and refurbished the way that you want it. You can set up the room, and then add the accessories. Remember that you don’t need to go with traditional accents or furniture. An old chest can work well as a table, and an old door can be refurbished into a headboard. Feel free to experiment and find some great articles on using unusual pieces in your decor for inspiration.
So now that you have your budget, your idea and your style theme, there shouldn’t be anything stopping you from starting your home decor…except, of course, finding the time to do it all.
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