Feeling stressed about decorating your home isn’t uncommon. In fact, the majority of people I talk to about this subject share the same fears and pressures when it comes to making your house a home. I understand exactly how that feels because I’ve been there before! It can be soooo frustrating wanting so badly to style your home to match your personality perfectly, but it it’s no easy feat.
If you’ve ever struggled with getting started with decorating your home before, there are a few things I’ve learned over the years that have helped me see the light at the end of the tunnel. In this blog, I’m sharing five simple and approachable tips to decorating your home when you don’t know where to start, or you feel stuck.
1. Choose A Color Palette & Identify Undertones
Choosing a color palette seems like it would be pretty easy, when it fact, it’s rather tricky. You see, it’s common for people to focus on one color, when you really should be focusing on a series of colors. If you’re looking to create an aesthetically pleasing home, choosing a few colors that compliment one particular shade is a great place to start. It’s one thing to love the color orange and incorporate that color throughout your space, but it’s another thing when everything in sight is orange—orange couch, orange throw pillows, orange rug, you get my point. You’d be much better off with an earth-toned color palette that included colors like burnt sienna, beige, peach, and olive green.
Color undertones for interiors
Once you determine your color palette, I recommend identifying the undertones. An undertone is the color underlying a color. For example, have you ever gone to the paint section of a hardware store only to notice a million shades of white? They’re all white, yet, they all look different? Well, that’s because the difference is actually in the undertone. The white will likely have a “warmer hue”, that indicates yellow and orange undertones, or a “cooler hue” which would indicate either a blue, silver, or even violet undertone. This can be especially helpful when choosing furniture and accents because you’ll be able to make your selections for products that have the same undertone.
2. Determine The “Mood” Of The Space
Have you ever gone to a really swanky restaurant or lounge and thought “wow this place is really bougie”? As the hostess escorts you to your table you notice the dim lighting, the tables are sleek and low to the ground, and the seating consists of dark blue velvet and chestnut leather. Once you’re seated, you notice the soft jazz playing in the background, everyone around you is dressed really sophisticated. and then all of a sudden, you notice yourself sitting a little straighter, acting a little more proper, or maybe even speaking differently? This all has to do with mood. Every detail of your decor choices will determine the mood your space will create. So if, for example, you want your home to be warm and inviting, yet sophisticated and elegant, your design choices will need to reflect that. So, decide what you want your room to “feel like”. Once you do, it will help you narrow down your design style.
3. Figure Out Your Design Style
This is perhaps one of the most important parts about getting started with your decorating process because being able to identify what your style called will help you find decor pieces that fit that description. It can be difficult trying to pinpoint the name so I suggest doing some initial research on the most common interior design styles in order to identify what you like the most.
Now, it’s important to note that your design style may be a combination of a few different styles, and that’s okay! That’s completely normal! My personal style happens to be a blend of modern farmhouse with a touch of industrial and boho. Confusing, I know. But that’s what makes everyone’s home unique!
Interior design styles
Here are a list of the most common interior design styles to help you start your research on discovering your perfect interior design style:
- Farmhouse
- Modern
- Bohemian
- Shabby chic
- Industrial
- Rustic
- Transitional
- Art deco
- Eclectic
- Contemporary
- Scandinavian
- Retro
- Cottage/French country
- Traditional
- Minimalist
- Mid-century modern
- Coastal
- Glam
- Southwest
- Mediterranean
- Asian influence
4. Create A Mood Board
If you really want to pin point your ideal style, color palette, or “mood”, sometimes you need a little inspiration. And what better way that getting some PINspiration on Pinterest? Pinterest is a completely free social media platform that allows your to search and save a variety of different images that are most often associated with a blog post. Start saving, or “pinning”, images of styles and color palettes you like. Don’t think too much about it before you pin it, if you like it, save it! Once you have a good number of pictures to browse through, try to identify any similarities between them. This could be a color scheme, a design style, or even a “mood” that can be portrayed in your home.
5. Order Large Furniture & Statement Pieces First
If you are at the very beginning stage of your decorating process, I highly suggest starting with finding and ordering your largest pieces or statement pieces first, and then working your way to the smaller items and details later. For example, if you want a patterned wallpaper or a colored couch, you might want to start there first. Sometimes doing this process in reverse can lead to you buying things that don’t match, or clash with the pieces you want to stand out. On this note, I recommend only choosing one or two items that you want to be the focal point of the room. Otherwise, things can get busy and overwhelming, unless of course, the “mood” you’re going for is chaotic anxiety.
Final Thoughts
I know that getting started on decorating your home can be a challenge, but I hope these tips make it a little bit easier to get started! It’s also important to remember that it’s OKAY to take your time when decorating your home. I know you might feel pressured to rush through the process, but trust me, taking your time allows you to find pieces you truly love and see how your style develops. Good luck!