We tend to equate interior design with people who are wealthy. After all, aren’t they the only ones who can afford to hire a professional designer?
Good news: good interior design does not have to be reserved for those with the budget to hire a professional. In fact, by learning a few basics, you can do your home makeover by yourself, and save a lot of money in the process. Here are the tips that will get you going.
TIP 1: Be organized. If you’re going to buy new furniture or even rearrange the old, you first must measure the room and then make a scale drawing of it on graph paper. Also make some to-scale templates of furniture, which you’ll place on your diagram. Inker with these templates on the graph paper until achieve just the right layout. Once you have this paper done, stick it in a binder. You’ll use this binder to collect all notes regarding your interior design project.
Also in this binder will be lists of everything you plan to change in each room, with dividers separating each section. You can also include in the sections product photos, samples prices, etc.
TIP 2: Be inspired. Get a good assortment of home design magazines and you’ll find professionally-done rooms that will give you ideas for what to do in your home. Don’t rush through this. If you look through enough magazines, you’ll see patterns and trends that start to emerge. You’ll get a feel for what’s “in” as well as for what you like–and don’t like.
TIP 3: Be ready to take your time. This means to be ready to set aside some time for the project. Most people won’t be able to completely redesign one or two or three rooms in a weekend. Sometimes you might have to adjust to having paint buckets and stacks of tile lying around for a couple of weeks. But don’t get frustrated. Keep in mind that there’s a wonderful new home waiting for you at the end of the work.
TIP 4: Have fun with it. Invite friends over and offer them free pizza if they’ll help with an hour’s worth of painting. Or listen to your favorite CD while laying tile. As much as possible, turn what could be a chore into something exciting. And you’ll be design with your gorgeous new home in no time!