Decorating a home can be an exciting and creative challenge. Below are a few of my tips when it comes to adding decor and desiging your space.
1. Decide what you like - figure out your decorating style. One of the easiest ways to figure out what decor style apeals to you is by looking at photos. It gives you an idea before taking a risk and purchasing something and not liking it. My favorite way to find inspiration and decor ideas is through websites like Pinterest. I can search there for hours on home decor and decorations. I love seeing so many different types of decor styles and what I think would work best for me and my home. Pinterest allows you to create boards specific to your interest. You can go though and pin pictures of inspiration and styles you are looking for. It will give you an overview of what pieces you should be looking for when going shopping.
2. Sketch a floor plan - having a floor plan before you start moving furniture around or decorating is an important step. My mom is a contractor and owns her own design build firm, and I would always love watching her create these sketches for floor plans before any building or designing takes places. This gives you an overview idea of where furniture will be placed as well as the measurements to see if it will fit where you want it to go before actually taking to the time to move it around. For those of us who are not professional designers like my mom, this sketch is something that could appear difficult, however there are many free floor plan programs online (like this one here) that are easy to use and provide templates to give you a perspective of how your floor plan will translate into real life.
3. Choosing a color scheme - once you have a color palette selected, you can select the rest of the decor pieces. In high school, my mom and I were planning on redecorating my bedroom. I already had a white bed, white dressers, and a white desk. My mom came across a few pictures that really helped her draw some inspiration for my room color palette. Having images is another great way to help you select a color theme. She found images of rooms that has chocolate brown accents with bright white. At first I was skeptical of these colors but once I started to see her vision I was totally on board. We ended up selecting a custom brown color for my walls, and installing white carpet to go along with all my white furniture. We both love white as a good neutral color for decoration and went with the brown on the walls as my room had super high ceilings and tons of bright light. Although my walls were painted a glossy dark brown, the white everywhere else helped to make the room still feel open. Lastly, we decided to go with an accent color of orange and gold which are some of my favorite colors, but also worked perfectly along side the brown walls. Accent colors for decor is great because it gives you the option to swap that color out whenever you change your mind to give the room a completely different feel just by changing small pieces. We used orange and gold in pillows, wall art, picture frames, glass vases, and other decor pieces to tie the room together.
4. Shop on a budget - if you are looking to decorate on a budget, save when it comes to accessories. Some of my favorite places to shop for home decor pieces are HomeGoods, Target, and Ikea. I also love Urban Outfitters and World Market for some unique fun pieces. You can pick up great pieces such as mirrors, pillows, throws, lamps, picture frames, wall art, and little decor pieces for great affordable prices. There is no need to spend a ton of money on decor accessories. These are little things that can easily get changed periodically if you decide you want to switch things up, and won't need to worry about having spent a fortune on the decor pieces you no longer want.
5. DIY decor - some of my favorite home decor pieces I have are ones the i've made myself. Its a budget friendly and custom piece. Things I have made for my home include a dream catcher, jewelry display, wall art, table trays, etc. I loved making these pieces as they add a personalized touch to your rooms. You can even update something you already own. For example, you can paint an old piece of furniture to make it feel new again. There are endless DIY projects for home decor peices that anyone can easily make. If you are more artistic paint a canvas wall art. If you have a beachy home vibe maybe make some wall display using driftwood. If you like a more boho home you can make a dreamcatcher like the one i've made below.
6. Antiquing - searching for antiques by going to flee markets, yard sales, auction houses, etc. are great ways to pick up some unique treasures. I've recently come across Invaluable which is an online site that provides fine art, antiques, and other great collectable items. Invaluable is the world's largest online live auction shop. It brings together collectors and dealers to bid in auctions all around the world. You can find all types of things including fine art, fashion, jewelry, furniture, and decor pieces. Check out their recent post for more tips on summer antiquing. You can also check out their tips for decorating and styling a room here. Below are a few of my favorite finds from Invaluable.
