Creating a smart decorating plan for your home

Photo: Dragon Images, Bigstock

With the amount of information available online or in magazines, it’s more affordable than ever to decorate your home. But without any formal qualifications in interior design, it may not always be easy to envisage what you want, where you want it and how you want it.

Creating a decorating plan is a smart way to get the process started and will help to keep you on track for an immaculate finish. Follow these actions to create a smart decorating plan for your home.

Create A Vision Board And Outline All Your Decorating Ideas

Start by creating a vision board and outline all the ideas you have into a single space. This will help you determine whether you have planned too much or too little for your home. Consider the following:

  • Develop a vision board by filling with photos of furniture, artwork, accessories and room décor you want for each part of your house.
  • Paste fabric and paint samples to imagine the colour against the décor you’re planning.
  • Mix and match the items to arrive at the look you want.
  • Start removing items that seem too cluttered or too much when everything is set up together on the vision board.

A vision board will help you imagine how each room in your home will look with the decorative pieces that inspire you. It will also enable you to envisage the things you may not necessarily want anymore once you put everything together.

Develop A Priority List Of Things You Want And Set A Budget Against Them

Even after pruning your vision board, you may still not need everything that is left on it, so develop a priority list in order of things you must have and things that are nice to have. Consider this:

  • List down all the items you absolutely must have in your house.
  • List down the items you’d like to have in your house.
  • Set up a specific place in your home for each of these items.
  • Put a budget line against each item to see how much everything will end up costing you. You must not only list down the cost of the item, but also the labour that will go into it.
  • Consider items that can be bought second-hand or reused as a way to bring down your costs.

Once you make this priority list and tie it into your budget, you may end up shortening it even further to determine what you can afford. This planning step will help keep you out of financial trouble, so that you don’t end up spending more than you should.

Plan Your Interior Colour Scheme

The colour scheme you choose is just as important as your desired furniture and interior pieces because everything needs to go together for a homogenous finish. Consider the following:

  • The colour scheme you choose should match your furniture to give the space a uniform tone without looking too gaudy.
  • Try to choose a monochromatic colour scheme so your furniture blends easily into the space.
  • Choose a colour scheme that enables you to incorporate different furniture pieces without making the space seem chaotic.

Your interior colour scheme serves as the backbone of every space, so you must choose wisely based on the type of interior furniture you want. If you have different statement pieces with different colours, then neutral colour schemes work best. If you have simple furniture, then you can afford to go with bolder colour schemes for your home.

Make Sure Everything Fits Into The Size Of Your Spaces

Now that you’ve pruned your list and identified the items you want in your home, make sure everything fits to size. No sense buying a piece of furniture that is too large or small for the space because it will end up looking award. Follow these steps:

  • Measure the available space and the item you have earmarked for it to ensure the right fit.
  • Where possible, customise the order to get the exact fit you’re looking for in every space.
  • Avoid choosing items that are too bulky because they can make interior spaces look cluttered and overfull.

No matter how pretty your vision board looks, it’s important to be realistic about the things you buy based on the size of your home. After all, you don’t want something to look awkward and out of place when planning your interior décor.

You spend a lot of time in your home, so you naturally want to create a space that matches your lifestyle. Follow these steps to create a smart decorating plan.

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