Easy Ways To Decorate Your New House

Home Decor Tips

Moved into a new house? Having your own room for the first time? You may find yourself clueless about how to decorate your own house from square one. There are so many things to work on and so many ways to do it and it can all get pretty messy in your head. Luckily, there is an easier way to start decorating your home. Just like how many interior designers work, they rely on a more organized to-do list instead of thinking about which color of the couch matches the wall best when there are numerous tasks at hand. With that, here is a project management approach to designing your own house to make your life easier. You can also ask the professionals at Cutler for advice on how to renovate your home. 

• What you want

First and foremost is of course to decide what you want the house to look or feel like. If you don’t have the slightest clue, you can begin by browsing through images and shops to inspire your vision. Take a note of what color scheme, materials, and textures you would want in your home, and put it all together in one mood board.

Then, look at the mood board from afar and see if you have a tendency towards a certain material, outlook, or color. These will help you tie all of your decisions together throughout the decorating process.

• What you have

After looking at what you want, you have to start looking at what you have and think about whether they can fit into your new vision. You can certainly keep those memorable items despite having a different style or color from your home because that can add to the uniqueness of your new house. However, you have to decide whether it will really add to the flair of your house or become an odd combination. It all depends on your taste.

Once you’ve separated what you’ll incorporate into your new home from what you don’t need, donate or sell your old items so they don’t take up extra space.

• Appliances

To keep your house looking good but practical, you need to get appliances that have multiple and adaptable features. This way, you will not have to replace them once every few years which could also add to your cost. In other words, don’t only look for appliances that match the aesthetics of your home, but consider its functions and durability. It also depends on what you usually do at home. If you love watching movies, perhaps you could place your couch facing the TV; if you love playing some sports game, free up some space and hold on buying more furniture; if you work at home often, get a durable desk that color matches your room.

• Floor plan

Now that you’ve got an idea of what you want, write them all into a list, whether it’s within your budget or not.

With your list of items that you want, start incorporating them into your floor plan so you can tell which items are able to fit and which are better to discard. Narrow down your choices with these space constraints. Usually, you would want about three feet of walking space and one or two feet between your couch and tables. 

Lighting should also be considered at this point. What kind of different lights do you want around your house? For lighting, you need to know which requires an electrician to install. As a general rule of thumb, there should be three light sources placed in the shape of a triangle in a room. Map all of these lights into your floor plan as well.

• Budgeting

With a complete floor plan, now it’s time to consider your budget. Use an excel spreadsheet to tally the total amount of your furniture and your total budget. Pick a reasonable budget considering how many things you need to buy, and allow for a 20% allowance for taxes and miscellaneous fees. This will help you decide the things you have to buy and what you have to leave out.

• Taking action

 It’s time to get moving. When you are shopping for your furniture, remember to note the price of each of them and map it on your spreadsheet of budget. Make adjustments according to whether you’ve exceeded your budget or not. If you cannot let an overpriced item go because you’ve taken a liking to it, then visit other shops to look for a cheaper alternative. You could also keep a memo and buy it at a later time when you have more budget to do so. Consider whether this piece of furniture is essential to the design of your house. If you can splurge on it, then do it to improve the look of your home.

Remember to also consider the size of the furniture according to your floor plan!

• Painting your walls

Usually, people choose what color they want on their walls and match their furniture to it. However, it’s better that you match the colors of your walls to the furniture you have already chosen. Other than the color scheme, consider the materials of your furniture and whether it works with the color scheme you’re choosing. Lighting can also affect how the colors look like as well. Different lighting can result in different colors so it might be different from what you see in a magazine.

• Accessorize

The last bit in decorating your house is to add the little bits like accessories to create more dimension. Since you have already settled your large pieces of furniture, it’s easier to see which accessories can come well together with these furniture pieces when you leave it to the last. That way, you won’t have to waste money on accessories that don’t match your house. These accessories are completely up to your taste, from artworks to coasters.

For accessories then, you need a separate budget to work on, so don’t spend all of your money before this!

These eight tips will help you organize your planning to be the most efficient while ensuring it delivers what you desire. Now, it’s time to enjoy and lounge in the very home you’ve just designed from scratch.