Not all of us have an eye for appealing design, but we can decorate our homes as if we do. Whether you’re furnishing a brand new home, starting from scratch or want to do a top-notch bathroom interior design, these are lessons everyone should know.
Know Your Style
What’s your style? Shabby chic? Industrial? Modern? Traditional? Inviting? Humorous? The list is practically endless. If you aren’t sure, you may want to browse through interior design or lifestyle magazines or get inspiration from real life. Think about a restaurant you’ve dined in or a hotel you’ve stayed at where you really enjoyed the setting. What was it you liked? A simple, minimalistic design, something retro or nature-focused?
Knowing what you don’t like can help you determine what you do. For example, a certain color that evokes feelings of a past trend you really don’t want to repeat, or a bold design that reminds you of a traumatic moment. Memories are highly individual and help to define our tastes.
Color Theory
Color, including the color of your furnishings, décor and the walls, is one of the most important decisions you can make in interior design. It’s essential to consider the house as a whole in order to harmoniously connect spaces. Take into account the way colors can affect mood – for example, yellow is known as a cheery color, while blue is often equated with calm and tranquility. As HGTV notes, color can make a tiny room feel larger, or a spacious one feel more intimate.
No matter what your style or goal for the room, you may want to add a few splashes of black as it adds focus, character and depth like no other color, perhaps a black stripe on throw pillows, pictures in black frames, and so on. Or you could go bolder by painting an interior door black, providing contrast against white walls.
Add Natural Elements
Adding natural elements and greenery with plants brings warmth to a room, making it seem more put together. Some well-placed greenery can brighten the space and create a more relaxing, restful ambiance. Even if you don’t have a green thumb, you can still incorporate plants that are easy to care for into your design. Rubber trees, for example, not only help to clean and purify the air in a room, they’re one of the easiest plants to grow, as they thrive even in rooms with dim lighting and in cooler climates. A snake plant requires little water or light to survive, making them a great choice for any corner.
Use Layers
Adding layers provides visual warmth and comfort by varying your fabrics and textures. For example, you might toss a fuzzy area rug onto a carpet, mix velvet pillows and silk curtains. Different textiles provide a more luxurious effect.
Don’t Forget About the Lighting
Lighting has been known to make or break the interior design of any room but it’s something many non-experts don’t think about. For example, for a modern home interior, pendant lamps are a great choice that can really make a room stand out especially those that have an unusual design, calling attention while triggering focus upward. Aim to create three layers of lighting: ambient, task and accent.
