There’s something about experiencing a new beginning that makes anything feel possible. Whether it be the start of a new career, the changing of seasons, or moving to a new city, embracing the transitions of life can be both exciting and gratifying. Just as people, places, and stages of life are ever-evolving, your home shouldn’t stay stagnant either. Home should be a place where you feel safe, fulfilled, and at peace. Most people don’t invest the time and attention into upkeeping their living spaces like they deserve.
If you’re reading this blog, you must be ready to begin your redecorating journey. Congratulations on recognizing that you deserve to be surrounded by a home that’s beautiful and comfortable! While redecorating should be fun, it can also be overwhelming. Fortunately, streamlining the process so that you can achieve the result you have in mind quickly and affordably doesn’t have to be complicated. Check out these helpful tips from the design team at Star Furniture to help you move forward with redecorating your home with confidence!
Dream Online
With the internet at your fingertips, the possibilities of finding decorating inspiration are truly endless. From lifestyle magazines and interior design blogs to social media sites and, of course, furniture stores, there’s no shortage of ways to find inspiration for what home decor styles you like (and which ones you don’t). Don’t be afraid to browse social media to dream a little bit and imagine the backdrop for your life that you’d ideally like to have.
With so many options, searching online can sometimes feel like going down a rabbit hole. When this happens, too many ideas can lead to decision paralysis. To help prevent your brain from shutting down from an endless supply of ideas, take notes of a few of the things that catch your eye (think: paint colors, a piece of furniture, living room layout, etc.), then quit while you’re ahead. The internet is great for decorating inspiration. Spoiler alert: ultimately and ideally, it’s best to shop in person! Read on!
Start Pinning
After you get an idea of the direction you’re headed from browsing through sites on the web, it’s helpful to have one place where you can organize your ideas. This is where Pinterest comes in. Along with narrowing down your search of particular rooms and pieces, such as farmhouse dining room sets or relaxing bedroom color schemes, Pinterest is the perfect place to save and sort what you find.
Not only can you organize your findings for specific rooms in your home, but also individual projects, such as flooring or light fixtures. And unlike a notepad or binder that could be difficult to keep up with or maintain, you can access your Pinterest account anywhere right on your phone, making it a convenient way to add to and alter as needed. Best of all, when it’s time to go furniture shopping or let others know what design ideas you have in mind, all of your inspirations are only a click away.
Shop at a Store
As fabulous as finding ideas online can be, doing an online search will never be as effective as stepping into a furniture store and feeling the pieces for yourself. After all, when you’re in a brick-and-mortar store, you can really understand the quality and comfort that a particular piece has by seeing, touching, and feeling it firsthand. This simply can’t be accomplished through a screen. Because of this, it’s a good idea to go old school and visit a store that you trust after you have an idea of where your project is headed from looking online.
At Star Furniture, our design team is trained to help clients bring their decorating dreams to life regardless of where they’re at in their decorating journey or how much design experience they have. Whether you have lots of inspiration to build on or you’re starting from square one, we can assist you in finding furniture and accessories that will work for you.
Consider Professional Help
It’s great to plan and prepare for your redecorating journey, and it’s even better to have expert guidance along the way to support good decisions. It happens to first-time decorators and seasoned professionals alike. When you hit a bump in the road and are uncertain about how to move forward smoothly, it’s probably time to seek professional help. While many people think that working with an interior designer will cost too much money, this is often a mistake.
In reality, working with an interior designer can actually save you plenty of time and money! You’ll feel less stressed about all of the moving parts of your redecorating project when you bring in a professional. Better still, professional designers have years of experience and training that may allow them to suggest techniques that you might not have thought of on your own. They also often have access to resources that the everyday person would have a harder time finding. These are just a few of the many reasons that working with an interior designer on any design project big or small is sure to be an investment that pays for itself for years to come!
Start with a Piece or a Room
Every redecorating project is unique. Some can be simple and straightforward while others may be expansive and complicated. If you’d love to tackle a big redesign project, such as a whole-home makeover, don’t let the size of the undertaking prevent you from going after it. Sometimes, getting started is the hardest part. It’s important to remember that redecorating several rooms in one home doesn’t all have to happen at once; the journey can take place in steps.
A good place to start for individuals who are new to decorating is to focus on a single room or even a single feature of a room at a time. For instance, rather than trying to give the entire interior of your house a fresh coat of paint, why not start with your entryway and work your way through? Or if your top priority is to replace your living room furniture, then don’t look for a new bedroom set until you’ve picked out the sofa and side tables you need first.
Taking the time to alter one small area or a single item at a time can help you build confidence as you watch the transformation unfold bit by bit. Before you know it, many small projects will come together to create one beautiful home that you’ll be proud to call your own.
Define the Space
If you think that decorating a space in your home is as simple as filling it with furniture and accessories that you love, think again. While beautiful decor and comfortable pieces are certainly an important part of creating rooms that you’ll look forward to spending time in, it’s equally important to consider how you intend to use the space before you move forward with your decorating plans.
Keep these questions in mind to help you define the space that you’re going to redecorate:
- What is the primary purpose of the room? Is it a guest bedroom, home office, family room, or something else?
- Can the space be used for more than one activity? For instance, can your guest bedroom also be used as a home gym or your home office double as a craft room?
- How should the room be arranged to function as well as possible?
- What are some problems within the space that need to be considered, such as an odd shape or unusual features that could impact the types of furnishings you bring in?
- Are there items that need to be removed or added to the space to help it reach its full potential? What are they?
Think About Your Timeline
When it comes to creating a decorating strategy, there are many factors to consider before you break out the paint brushes or bring home new furnishings. One of the most important things to keep in mind is your timeline. Are you striving to have a project complete before a specific date, such as a holiday or when family will be visiting? Or perhaps an area of your house needs to be revamped for practicality’s sake, such as turning a guest bedroom into a baby’s nursery. Whether this is the case for you or you don’t want to be stuck working on a home design project indefinitely, it’s a good idea to give yourself a timeline. Here are some tips to help you do just that:
- Be realistic. Sure, you’d probably like to redecorate your whole house in a month, but is that a realistic undertaking? Probably not. Rather than throwing out a date that merely sounds good, choose one that gives you an appropriate amount of time to complete the necessary tasks.
- Take into consideration how much time you have to devote to a project. Two weeks may sound like plenty of time to revamp your bedroom, but if you can only focus on it during the weekends you may need to push that end date back a bit.
- Set small milestones, not just an end date. As we said before, projects unfold in phases. With this in mind, creating a timeline that breaks your decorating tasks up can help you stay motivated and feel accomplished as you progress through your decorating journey.
- If you’re unsure about how long a decorating project will take, be sure to ask a Star Furniture team member. They can help you determine the best approach to finishing the job in a manner that is both realistic and timely.
Develop a Decorating Budget
Before diving into your redecorating project, it’s best to set a budget. Whether you’re looking to stick to a strict spend, or you’re OK with a ballpark estimate, setting a budget will help to naturally guide you through the process of redecorating. You’ll be able to narrow down your options for each piece, and, once the project is completed, you’ll feel good about sticking to your decided spend.
At Star Furniture, we’re proud to offer a large selection of quality furnishings that can work within any budget. If you haven’t been furniture shopping in a while, you may not know what to expect in terms of how much items cost. Talking with a design professional at Star Furniture can advise you on how much money you’ll need to achieve the look you have in mind.
Begin Your Redecorating Journey with Star Furniture
You don’t have to be a professional interior designer to decorate the living spaces in your home like one. Regardless of how much design experience you have, you can bring your home decor dreams to life with a little planning and some help from the experienced design team at Star Furniture. Along with guiding you on how to create a timeline, setting a budget, and recommending how to curate rooms that are stylish and practical, we’re happy to offer an extensive selection of quality furniture, including sectionals, tables, wall art, and more. Visit us on our social media sites to find the perfect inspiration for your next home decorating project then stop by our showroom to get the process started. We can’t wait to help you transform every room in your home from ordinary to extraordinary!
If you enjoyed this blog, check out this one about redesigning a home as an empty-nester.