Housemagnet
10 tips for interior design
Whether you’re renovating an entire house, sprucing up the kitchen, or reorganising your living room- these helpful decorating pointers are not to be missed. In this post, we are sharing tips and secrets to transform your homes like a professional.
1. Start with a plan
This first step is exceedingly important. It is time to look at the “givens”.
’’Givens are elements in a home that don’t move, such as flooring, doors, and windows. They also include the shape of your room. It may also apply to things you MUST work with, such as inherited furniture.’’
Here is what I recommend you do:
- Draw the shape of your room on a piece of paper. You could download and print a blank A4 sized grid sheet from here. It has a grid of 0.5cm. 0.5cm will equal to one foot. This will be your floor plan.
- Next, you give yourself a little quiz. What do you want to be able to do in this room? How many people would you like to be able to sit in it (comfortably)?
I really like this post by Laurel Bern Interiors, it provides a very interesting insight on the advantages of starting with a floor plan, https://laurelberninteriors.com/2020/07/05/the-number-one-decorating-mistake-and-how-to-avoid-it/
2. Find your style
Once you have your floor plan, laid out on a piece of paper. Let’s start by finding your style. I recommend going to Pinterest and creating a secret board where you can pin away everything you love. If you like, you could make notes in the place provided for a description. You could also share this board with anyone.
Your home is where you spend most of your time, so the space needs to reflect you.
Another way to find one’s style is to look at the work of other designers.
3. Figure out your budget
Prospective clients hate being asked this question. But it’s essential to take a good, long realistic look at how much you can spend.
How to figure out your budget?
An excellent way is to go to a website, which has pretty much everything, like Urban Ladder or Ikea. Go pretend shopping. Put everything you think you want in your cart. Allow for shipping AND voila! You have the prices of the most products you would need in your space.
I recently did a post about how much it costs to furnish a living room.
(Please note. We used all HouseMagnet furniture for this room and it was done in early 2022 so the prices may vary slightly.)
4. Choose your colours
Choose a few colours that you love and build your decorating scheme around them. This is not only about choosing the wall colours. But, through your inspiration photos, you should begin to see a pattern of colours you like.
Pro tip: Three colours are always better than two – The first two could be used for walls, wallpaper, furniture, blinds and curtains. The third color could be a highlight for cushions, lampshades, bed quilts and accessories such as a Painting.
Now, you are ready to get into the thick of it.
5. Starting point
Now, that you have your pictures of rooms that you like, and most importantly a budget. Your starting off point could be:
- A room you saw that you’re using for inspiration and direction
- Fabric(s)
- Wallpaper
- Artwork
- Furniture that you’ve inherited.
About the inherited furniture, Keep what you truly love. If you don’t love it, give it to charity or sell it. It’s okay.
OR, is there a way to use this piece of furniture to make something you love? Could it be painted perhaps? Or new fabric upholstery?
Do you see that you must do these five steps in your decorating plan BEFORE you even step inside a furniture store? Sure, you can look for ideas, but you are not to purchase so much as a table mat without a solid plan.
6. Select your furniture
When you shop for furniture for your new home, please remember these essential points.
- The scale of each item should relate to the room and each other. For instance are the chair and sofa heights within an inch or two of each other? Certain chairs can be taller than a sofa if there are far into the room, like wing chairs flanking a fire place wall.
- Are the heights of tables suitable for the size of the furniture and scale of the room?
- Can your furniture fit through the door? Don’t laugh. It happens.
- Furnishing also includes things like blinds, curtains, or rugs. But, if money is a problem, I would stick with the basic things you need.
- In addition, sourcing includes wall colours and/or wallpaper.
7. Make your moodboard
It should have your furniture, blinds, curtains, fabrics, floor coverings, and paint colours.
If you have a power point or keynote, you can easily make a mood board.
If not, you could buy A3 size paper and glue from your local stationery shop and put everything together (like in a scrapbook). This way you can see how all your choices would sit together within a room.
Live with your mood board for a while to be sure of it. It’s fun, you’ll feel great when you’ve finished, and the room looks fantastic. If it doesn’t look impressive, assess what might be missing. You could also consult with a professional pair of eyes. I guarantee you that a good professional will immediately see the problem and give you the best options.
Is it too much work? We can help. Give us call on + 91- 72 999 99 383
Here’s a look at some of our mood boards.
8. Layer your lighting
Use a combination of ambient, task and accent lighting to create a warm and inviting atmosphere in your home. Another great feature- Dimmers.
Pro tip: To make your house more inviting, make sure you use warm color of LED lights, 3000 Kelvin.
9. Accessorise with Plants
Adding plants to your home can bring life and color to any space. Choose the plants that are low maintenance and can thrive in your home’s lighting conditions.
10. Edit and declutter
Edit. Ruthlessly. If in doubt, leave it out.
It might mean reselecting. Revise the mood board that you’ve saved. Less is often more when it comes to decorating, and getting rid of clutter can make a BIG difference in the look and feel of your home.
Are you still struggling with some areas?
Then, contact a designer again. Quite frankly, I think you should be working with one the entire time, but I realise that sometime’s it’s impossible to find the right one. In days past, I would hold all my client’s samples up and stare at them for days. If something doesn’t feel quite right, it usually isn’t.
Pro tip: When placing orders, don’t forget to start with the items with the longest lead times, such as custom pieces.
I hope you enjoyed this post about 10 tips to design great interiors.
