HOME DÉCOR 101: A BEGINNER’S GUIDE TO INTERIOR DECORATION
Would you like to redecorate your home and just don’t know where to start? Or are you moving into a new home and looking for interior decoration ideas? Look no further! We’ve prepared some practical interior decoration tips and ideas to help you get started!
What is Interior Decoration?
Although people often use the terms interchangeably, interior design is distinct from interior decoration. Interior design goes beyond the aesthetic appearance of a space, encompassing furniture design and architecture. On the other hand, interior decoration is all about aesthetics and surface appearance. However, this article encompasses both concepts.
6 Helpful Interior Decoration Tips
Create a floor plan
Before you run over to the furniture store, it’s important to take into account what you’re working with. First, take measurements of the rooms you’ll be decorating. This ensures that you don’t end up with pieces of furniture that are either too large or too small.
You can create a floor plan by doing it the old-fashioned way: with measuring tape and writing materials. On the other hand, you can decide to make use of sophisticated room mapping software to make your work easier.
Choose a style
While you might have some interior decoration ideas based on what you’ve seen in other people’s homes, there’s nothing like choosing a décor style to give you ease in determining the type of furniture to invest in. Do you want to go for shabby chic in the living room and contemporary in the master bedroom? Or would you like to create harmony by choosing one style for all the rooms?
The style you select should be dependent on your needs. Do you want a comfy setting or something chic? Do you regularly host dinners or have small children around? This should determine the kind of style you settle for. Remember, your home should be your palace and what looks good on a magazine spread might not be suitable for your style of living.
If you find it difficult to settle on a style, look for inspiration online or page through style magazines for some home décor ideas. See what works for others and decide on what best suits your style.
Below are some of the most popular interior decoration styles:
- Contemporary
- Traditional
- Formal
- Modern style
- Industrial
- Bohemian
- Minimalist
- Mediterranean
- Midcentury modern
- Eclectic
- Beach style
- Shabby chic
- Nautical Design
- Scandinavian
- French Country
- Coastal
Create a budget
It’s important to map out a budget before going shopping, and this will be much easier after surfing the web or visiting physical stores to compare prices. After setting out a budget, stick to it in order to avoid overspending. Interior decoration doesn’t have to leave you financially stranded. However, if you can afford to, don’t hesitate to invest in high-quality items. You don’t have to compromise on quality for the sake of price, thanks to Aycee Market, a one-stop shop for excellent interior décor items.
Choose a color scheme
Your home is your comfort zone, so select colors that you naturally gravitate towards. However, avoid choosing colors that are so starkly contrasting to one another that the space becomes tacky and overpowering. Feel free to make use of a color wheel in determining what colors complement each other. Hint: Colors opposite each other or next to each other on the color wheel go well together.
Professionals also recommend using the 60-30-10 rule. 60% of the room should have a dominant color for large pieces of furniture like sofas and rugs; 30% for soft furnishings like pillows and curtains; while the remaining 10% should be for accents like lamps and artwork.
Find a placement that works
Even with an awe-inspiring style and a perfect color scheme, the wrong placement might turn your décor upside down. Furniture should be arranged so that the space looks well-ordered and harmonized. While furniture shouldn’t be pushed against the walls to give the appearance of spaciousness, they shouldn’t also be clustered in the middle of the room. Always strive for symmetry and balance. Placement is also important for smaller items like pillows, end tables, area rugs and lamps.
Lighting
Good lighting is important in every home to create ambience and enhance the beauty of a space. If you want a room to look well-lit even in the absence of artificial light, go for soft curtains in lighter hues instead of heavy and dark-colored drapes. If you’d still like to use thick drapes to protect privacy, include sheers behind them for days when you’d like to have more light in the room.
It’s also important to include more than one source of artificial light. Feel free to make use of chandeliers, accent lights, lamps and overhead lights. Mirrors are also a good way to reflect light, and you can do this by placing them across from windows to bounce off light. Looking for a good place to shop for excellent lighting, from chandeliers to decorative lamps to LED lights? Check out this robust catalogue from Aycee Market.
You might not be professionally trained as an interior decorator, but we hope these helpful tips are enough to get you started in creating the home of your dreams! If along the way you need expert assistance of any sort, don't hesitate to reach out to us today.