Not everybody can afford to hire an interior designer, leading all their design decisions, to move into their house. Using our unique style and expectations, some of us want to be the one who makes our own design decisions.
How can we get the inspiration, without a professional interior designer’s cost, to take our interiors from dull to beautiful?
Let’s take a closer look at how to design your home by arranging and designing your rooms in a space that you thought only an interior designer could build before now. Whether you want your interiors to look like a luxury hotel or to spice them up a little, these tips will help. Shhhh… our little secret is your DIY interior design.
Magazines and websites are full of home interior design inspiration.
For all the avid “Pinners” on Pinterest, there is an explanation of why people crave a fantastic home interior. As most of us have already discovered, a flame of imagination that we never knew we had will ignite decor websites.
If you haven’t already started making inspiration boards for your home’s decor, then begin now. This is the first step in creating the home you want.
After hunting and gathering for creative DIY interior design images that inspire you, step back and look at all you have collected — this should tell the story of your design style. You may be surprised at the style you crave to create.
Colour schemes: use three colours or shades
You need to pick a colour scheme now that you have a clear idea of a look you’re hoping to call yours. This is the challenging segment. Colour is so personal and generates inspiring moods within us.
No matter what, when you revamp your home interior design, select the colours that appeal to you. What colours are popular in the rooms you saved? Look at your inspiration boards.
We’re not going to tell you what colours you can pick, but we’re going to ask you to try a combination of three colours or shades. In smaller accessories like flowers, pillows and knick-knacks, one primary colour for walls, another colour for more comprehensive accents such as couches and chairs, and then a third colour shows up. Note, how much light you put into your home is determined by colour. Consider using floor-to-ceiling windows to enhance your interiors to bring out colour too!
Let’s say you choose a mix of brown, teal and tangerine colours. The colour of the wall will probably be a shade of brown, teal could be the colour you pick for accent chairs or an accent wall, and tangerine could be the colour you draw out in pillows and accessories.
This three colour mixture works in any mix. Just remember, three is better than one or two, as a room done in one colour is dull. Yes, you can have an all-white room but with three shades of white.
Add texture to your home.
The texture is just as crucial for colour, especially if you want a single colour scheme, such as all-white or all-grey. A room can seem like a single colour scheme at first glance, but you will find shades via fabrics/textiles within the same colour and plenty of texture if you look closely.
There might be linen draperies in an all-white room, a plush velvet chair, polished silk cushions, rattan chairs and woven baskets, and a nubby cotton sofa tossed on the side with a faux fur blanket. These elements add texture and satisfy the eye, producing an atmosphere that is warm and rich. Design can describe the owner’s personality, so using textures, patterns, and varying colours can bring a dull room into sophistication with ease.
Think about the fabrics that complement your lifestyle. You do not want a soft cotton sofa if you have children and dogs; instead, your needs may be best suited to a darker leather or mohair sofa. Then consider high-end silk draperies and pillows if you crave luxury.
Whatever your theme, try to add plenty of texture by bringing together numerous textiles into your DIY interior design.
Add big statement furniture pieces.
This is a common mistake most homeowners make —too many small, spindly pieces in one room. A room with leggy chairs, leggy tables and lots of little knick-knacks only serve to clutter the room and confuse the eye.
Try to have a well-mixed room instead. Have a wide couch, some skirted club chairs, and then one or two slender armchairs with attractive carved legs, so you can’t see the legs (depending on space). This is only one case, but it gives you the concept of mixing types and sizes of furniture to make the room look balanced, not too bulky and not too spindly.
There are plenty of decorating ideas to try, even if you are decorating a tiny apartment. Most designers propose that even the smallest of rooms, such as a large wardrobe or cabinet, have one large statement item. The key to a good home interior design is a combination of big and small. For accessories, too, this law goes.
Use trays, decorative bowls and baskets
To organize collections or loose objects that need a home, designers like to use trays, decorative bowls and sometimes baskets. Consider adding a glitzy gold tray to your dining table, ottoman, or side table for a touch of glamour. On top of the tray, place a pretty candle, a couple of books and a small bowl of coloured stones. Little vistas such as this don’t seem very sensible, but they are imperative to a layered, decorated aesthetic.
If you desire a more rustic approach, then try woven baskets in your home. Baskets are fabulous decorative tools that can hide a lot of clutter. Try to create these little niches throughout your home.
You will love how a tray or basket can collect bathroom soaps and perfumes, as you arrange these everyday items into a piece of displayed art.
Add flowers to every room.
Go back and look at all of your boards of inspiration. What do you see? In nearly every room, do you see flowers or plants? We’re betting you do.
It seems like an easy tip, but it can add the final touch to your home interior design by adding floral arrangements, live plants and natural objects, such as vases of shells or rocks.
There are many easy-care plants that you can buy for your home that, if properly fed and watered, will last for years. Most designers will advise you to avoid fake flower arrangements.
If flowers or plants are not what you want, then try other natural elements in a large urn, such as twigs or feathers. Natural arrangements bring to space the final touch, says ‘An interior designer has been here’.
You can still have a home that looks like you did if you can’t hire an interior designer. To create a cosy, well-designed home interior, all of these little tips and tricks work together. Today, try to add texture, colour, furniture and elements of nature to your home.
Snap a photo if you are unsure of the result or plans that you have made. Pictures of space will encourage you to see the design from a different angle, helping to see if somewhere along the way you went wrong.
Remember, it’s your home, and you are the one who has to live in it, so build a home that you love— a home that reflects who you are.
