Before you start that next interior design project

So you’ve decided to decorate your home. Now what? Whether you’re furnishing a new home for the first time or you’ve decided that your home just needs a new look, decorating can be a very difficult task. A mistake many homeowners make is being too anxious to jump right in with an interior decorating project without taking the time to plan it out properly. This can result in costly mistakes which will haunt you for years until you can afford to redecorate again so it’s best to take your time and do it right the first time. Here are some things to consider before you even begin.

Take a close look at your home as it currently is

Before you do anything else you should start by evaluating what you already have. Make a list of everything you like and dislike about the current state of your home décor. Are their certain textures, fabrics, or colors that you want to carry over when you redecorate? Which pieces do you plan on incorporating when you redecorate and how will that affect other design decisions? Resist the urge to make the same decisions you made the last time around just because it’s familiar to you. Don’t be afraid to do something totally different if it’s what you truly want.

Write a wish list

This is probably the most fun part of planning an interior design project. Here, you pretend that there is no budget and simply dream about everything you want for your home. Make a list of everything you need regardless of cost. Once you have a master list, then you can start to prioritize and think about practicalities and budgets. But you need to have that dream list to start with.

Collect photos

Consult magazines and the internet to start gathering photographs of home interiors that you like. This will help you, or your interior decorator if you plan to hire one, get a feel for your personal taste. Try not to spend hours and hours in a single day poring over photos. Break it up over days and weeks to let your mind rest and really get a feel for what you want.

Consult your better half.

If you have a spouse or significant other, even if he/she isn’t as interested in interior decorating as you are, it’s a good idea to consult him/her to make sure you’re both in agreement about the general direction your interior decorating plans are going. Once you begin making actual purchases, chances are he/she is going to start to care so at least let him/her look over your photographs that you’ve collected or maybe head out to a home improvement store together to look at merchandise.

Figure out what you want

Sometimes it’s hard to pinpoint exactly what it is you want. Maybe you know you really like a certain photo of a bedroom you saw online but you can’t figure out what element about it you really want. Try to look at the types of photos you’re attracted to and look for patterns that pop up again and again. Maybe it’s a color, a pattern, a texture, or just the way the furniture is arranged. You can’t start the project until you know what it is you like.

Narrow things down

Chances are you have way too many ideas at this point to do all of them. It’s time to start zeroing in on the aspects of your vision that are the most important. You may have to let go of certain ideas to allow you to focus on other ones.

Don’t feel like you have to do it overnight

If you do have a large budget and want to knock out this interior design project in a single go, that by all means do it. But don’t feel pressured to decorate the entire home all at once. The average homeowner can’t afford to buy everything they need for their home so decorate in stages. Maybe focus on one room at a time. By collecting pieces over time you can be more patient to make sure you’re selecting the absolute best things for your home.

Source: Forbes

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