Interior Design: Do It The Right Way

Whether you have just bought a new home, or you have been living in your home for years, you can probably benefit from some design pointers. Interior design does not have to be difficult. With just a few simple ideas, you can make your house a more pleasant and more attractive place to live.

An excellent interior decorating hint is to always strongly consider what the purpose of a room will be. If you are decorating a den that will be used often, don’t make the mistake of using elegant furniture or flooring that will wear too easily. But those colors will not work if the room is a library.

The amount of light that each room gets is something you should always consider when working with interior design. Using dark colors can make a room seem drab, uninviting and much smaller than it is. Use light colors to brighten up a room and give it the illusion of space that most people crave.

A lot of interior design professionals have great tips, see what they have to say. Following the advice of others instead of listening to your own desires will leave you with a home the reflects the interests and tastes of someone else.

Take your sofa cushion shopping with you. It might feel silly, but taking along part of your sofa can save you a lot of time any money. Bring it with you when shopping for curtains or other decorating materials. This way, you will be able to ensure that everything matches.

Instead of replacing your bedroom and kitchen drawers and cabinets, get new knobs and handles. Just a hint of silver on a handle, or a bright new knob, can bring old pieces back to life. Think about the atmosphere you want, and choose little pieces accordingly. You won’t have to spend a lot of money, and you will still see improvement.

Updating your home’s accessories is a great interior design tip. For instance, change your fans, accent pieces, and lighting fixtures. Try out a few new pieces like new curtains or a few stylish tea towels. These easy improvements will not only make your rooms look nicer, but they are affordable as well.

Create collections. A collection is at least three of something that are of the same kind. For example, if you have a trio of vases grouped together, that could be called a collection. Three pictures counts as a collection. Put your collection in a group to create an attractive display, and it can also serve as a conversation piece.

When it comes to lighting and interior design, it is always a good idea to use layers of lighting. A simple overhead light, while it may provide lighting for the entire room, does little for the ambiance so consider adding some accent lights as well. Accent lights can bring focus to specific parts of the room.

Hanging a collection of picture frames on a wall can be hassle-free. Place a large brown craft paper on the floor or table and arrange all the frames on it. Trace around the frame and where the nail would go. Tape the paper on the wall and put the nails in the place you marked on the paper. Remove the paper and hang your frames.

Paint or varnish old furniture before replacing it. That side table that you want to toss out? Try a silver varnish on it first and see if you like it better. Sometimes all you need to create a new look is a quick varnish or paint. Get creative, and even think about using a stencil. You may find you like the new look of that old furniture!

Those with children should use slip covers in their room designs. Slip covers are very versatile, as you can match them to the colors of your furniture. For each season, try to pull out a new slip cover to add variety.

If you live in a small space, implementing storage into your design is very important. Consider furniture pieces that can also serve as storage units like ottomans that open or shelves that allow for the placement of some attractive storage bins. This is a great way to hide your clutter and increase your usable space in the home.

An excellent tip for making small spaces appear bigger is to use mirrors in the design. Mirrors can make even the tiniest rooms appear huge. They do not have to be floor to ceiling mirrors to add a dramatic effect. Small mirrors hung in multiple locations can make even a small room appears large.