Introduction
Some of you may be wondering what the difference is between “interior design” and “interior decorating.” Great question! And that is one that gets asked a lot. Interior design is a profession that requires schooling and proper training, such as architecture, furniture design, and space planning. Interior decorators do not have that formal training. They simply envision how your room could look better and recommends the pieces to help get it to where you want it to be.
First Steps to Redecorating Your Room
Your official first step to interior decorating is to find a style that you like and mimic it. This could be contemporary, casual, formal, traditional, etc. Then you will want to develop a plan for how you want the room to be balanced. You want the lighting to be even whether it is natural or artificial. Though, if you are using artificial lighting, then you will have more control over how the room is lit.
You are going to need the focus of the room. Yes, everything in your home is quality furniture and, yes you spent a lot of time decorating it so it should get the attention that it deserves. To get to talk about it, though, you need to make one piece stand out above all. This is achieved through something either really wild, unorthodox, or like the piece that all other just seem to point to.
Like anything in art, rhyming makes things interesting. Use patterns, colors, high contrast to elicit a different emotional response when looking at the room. You may want to repeat the contrast in different places and the patterns. If this is done well, those who see your room will like it, but likely not be able to put their finger on why. This gives you the opportunity to give your well done job some praise and attention that you have been eager to give it.
The Colors in the Room
When you are choosing your colors, you need to find the color palette. This will give you a good idea of what colors work well together. High contrast is key. The color scheme in your room will help to tie it together. You will want to consider what colors you like best and what colors will look the best in the room.
The Room Pattern
When you get more experienced, you will find that you can up the ante by mixing patterns throughout the same room. Though, this is not recommended for the beginner, because you can still achieve a great result without doing this. It just may not be as exotic. The patterns themselves don’t have to match, but they do need to work with the others and coordinate well. You will want to consider the entire color, size, and scale of the patterns that you are looking for.
Getting Started on Redecorating Your Room
The most important part of any project. Congratulations, you made it! Now you want to find the exact room(s) that you want to decorate. If it is your family room or your home office, then pay attention to how it looks upon entering and how you enter it. There may be something that you say, “hmmm…that could be better.” Then identify what you are thinking. Would a sliding door work better? Would you rather open the door and walk into a blue room instead of a beige one?
This is a consideration further down the road, when you are putting the icing on the cake and that is to furnish your room. While furnishings really draw attention to the room, they should never be the main part of decorating. Your room, if decorated well, will be able to look beautiful without the furnishings, which can become really expensive and make your budget for the rest of the room dwindle quickly. A suggestion, however, when it comes to populating it with furniture that works better is to buy it second-hand, especially if you are looking at doing this on a lower budget. www.joysusedfurniture.com always has an expansive collection of high-quality used furniture. Nobody will be able to tell the difference and you will be able to redecorate more of your rooms more often if you don’t break the bank the first time around.
