DIY Home Decor: Get Your Spaces Working Well Before Decorating

Decorating is fun, but it's not all about shopping up a storm for shiny new furniture and accessories. Rather, it's about emphasising well-loved pieces and creating an environment you feel truly at home in. 

When it’s time to decorate, it can be tempting to jump in boots and all, and replace far more than you need to.

But diving in before you have really sussed your space can make the decorating process more complicated and overwhelming - not to mention, expensive!

Today, I want to share  with you my approach to decorating - and why it’s beneficial to get your spaces (and your existing  stuff) working well before you start that big decorating project.

See the overall vibe

If your room is cluttered with an eclectic array of items, it can be difficult to see the wood for the trees, so to speak. Too much stuff makes it hard for you to envision how a room could be transformed. 

A bit of a ‘Marie Kondo style clear out’ will create some visual calm and remind you of the items that “spark joy”. Even if you don’t want to Kondo your space, still have a declutter session and remove the things you don’t love - leaving you with just the pieces you really enjoy having around.

Once you have the ‘other stuff’ out of the way, you will be able to pick up on the emerging vibe (your personal interior design style) from what remains. You can then build on that vibe to create a space you will love spending time in. 

Get the layout right

Blank slates can be exciting, but they can also be overwhelming. So, before stripping the room bare, it’s a great idea to get your existing pieces working well. This will save you time, money and sanity in the long run.

Perhaps your room feels uninspiring or somehow “off” and you can’t figure out why. You jump to the conclusion that it must be the couch…. but before heading out to replace that piece of furniture, spend some time considering the layout and how to make your room feel more balanced. 

Balance is a game changer, and is the main reason for any space feeling “off”. Consider this in relation to furniture placement, texture and colour. You may not need a new couch afterall...

Emphasise the pieces you love

To me, decorating has never been about ‘out with the old and in with the new’. Rather, it is a process of discovering – or rediscovering – the style and pieces you really love and building a space you adore from those foundations.

Having removed all the stuff you don’t love, you’ll have a much clearer sense of your personal interior design style which gives you a great place to start your new design from. 

You’ll be able to display a treasured artwork, a gorgeous piece of furniture, or a beloved rug that works wonderfully in the space, and only need to buy new pieces that fit the vibe to complete your space.

Only buy what you need

Knowing what pieces you love and want to incorporate will help you to see more clearly what the room needs in order to transform it from drab to fab. 

Perhaps the couch works well, but you just need some blue cushions to balance the blue of your arm chairs. Maybe a textured rug will help anchor the space and give it more texture (balancing the amount of texture with the large expanse of wooden floors and windows), making it feel so much more inviting.

Put function before fashion

Your home is there to be lived in. So, it should not only be a pleasant space to retreat to, but it should be practical too. Before you even look at the aesthetics of a room, you need to ensure the space is comfortable and livable for its intended purpose. 

Once you have that part down, you can create a beautiful vibe reflecting your tastes and enhancing your key pieces.

Take time to consider the use of the room you want to decorate. Will it be a well-trafficked family room, a quiet space to meditate, an at-home office, or a space for entertaining? 

The requirements for each are varied, and these functions will help you narrow down the key items you need to make the space work.