It’s not hard to decorate like a designer. You can transform your home with many tricks and tips. We’ve asked several designers to share their simple ideas for home decor that will breathe new life into any space. This article will provide you with home decorating ideas to refresh the rooms of your home on a budget.
Home Decor Tips For DIY
1. Set the tone at the front door
Paint the front door in a vibrant, fun color. An interior designer in New Jersey, says that red is considered a lucky colour by many cultures. In early America, a red door was a welcome sign for weary travelers. On churches, it is a symbol of safety.
A screen door that is outdated should be thrown out. Replace it with a Storm door that has full-length glass and can be replaced with a screen panel.
2. Paint walls in light and neutral colors
Paint a room in a new color to create a dramatic difference. Keep your colors neutral, like beige and gray, on the first level, where it is most important to maintain flow. Breining says that you should minimize abrupt transitions. Neutral walls allow you to decorate with the most flexibility. You can easily change your accessories.
If you have two rooms that are close together, painting them in the same neutral colour will make them seem larger. Allen-Brett suggests that you can use a paint strip to change the color of a room by moving up or down two shades.
It is easy to change paint colors. You can match your new paint color with the existing decor to avoid buying new accessories. Or, you could consider painting a accent wall for some contrast.
3. Talk to your chairs and sofas
People congregate in your living room, bringing family and friends closer together. Arrange your furniture to create a warm, welcoming atmosphere.
Michelle Lynne is a Dallas-based decorator who says that a conversation area with a U shape, where a couch and two chairs are placed at either end of a coffee-table, or a H shape, with the sofa across from the two chairs, and the coffee-table in the middle, would be ideal.
Avoid pushing furniture up against walls. She says that people push furniture against the wall to make the room appear larger.
4. Let the sun shine
Lynne says that if you have heavy, old drapes, it’s better to leave them off than cover your windows with ugly ones. Window dressings are meant to be both functional and elegant. Think sheers with full-length panels.
If you have a room that gets a lot sun, choose light colors. They won’t fade. Cotton, linen and silk blends are the most popular lightweight fabrics because they hang well.
New window treatment can help homeowners decorate their rooms without spending a fortune. To keep costs low, choose vertical blinds, roller shades or curtains. As mentioned above, you could also strip the windows to let in natural light.
5. Install at least one mirror in every room
Breining says that mirrors can brighten up a room by reflecting light. Placing a mirror in the wrong place can be as bad as having none at all.
Mirrors should be placed perpendicularly to windows and not directly opposite. If you hang a mirror opposite a window, it can bounce light back through the window.
6. You can scale up your artwork to fit the wall
Breining says that hanging tiny little artwork too high up on the wall is a ridiculous look. The middle of the picture should be at eye-level. If one person is tall and the other short, then average their heights.
Scale is important. If you have a large space, choose a piece that is oversize or arrange smaller pieces in galeries. If you choose the latter option, keep the distance between the images to a maximum of 4 inches.
7. Layer your lighting
Lighting is a key element in setting the mood and ambiance of our homes. Each room should have at least three types of lighting.
- Accent : Accent lighting is decorative and used to highlight certain features of the home, such as artwork.
- Ambient : This type of lighting is used to provide overall illumination, and it’s often provided by ceiling fixtures.
- Task Lighting: This type of lighting is usually found above a reading nook or kitchen island.
You should use at least 3 watts per square foot for a living area. Breining uses uplights as a visual trick. He says that placing a canister or torchiere at the corner of a room will make the ceiling glow, and the room appear larger.
8. Anchor rugs under furniture feet
Placement and size are important when it comes to area rug placement. Breining says that in a living area, the rug should be large enough to accommodate all four legs from the sofas and chairs. The rug should also define the seating space. He adds that at the very least the two front legs of the chairs and sofa should rest on the rug.
To accommodate seating in a living room with less than generous proportions, an 8-by-10 or 9-by-12 foot rug is usually required. If you choose a rug that is too small, it will make the room look out of proportion.
9. Hire a professional to declutter
As you get older, you will see less and less of the mess. You may need to get a new pair of eyes. Hire an organizer to help you organize your bookshelves or closets. They are usually stuffed with more than they can hold. An organizer will cost you on average $522 for a project, or between $55 to $100 per hour. *
Breining recommends reducing the amount of clutter on your shelves to 50% if you want to do it yourself. Mix horizontal stacks of book among vertical rows, and add decorative items, such as vases or bowls, between them.
10. Visual tricks to raise the ceiling
Paint your low ceilings white to give the illusion of a larger room. Allen-Brett suggests hanging curtains higher than windows to fool your eye into believing the room is larger. The standard curtain panels are 84 or 96-inches long, so you can hang them 3 inches higher than the window casing without the curtains being too short.
You’ll need to order custom drapes if you want them to be hung higher. Do you love patterned panels or curtains? Vertical stripes will visually lengthen your walls. A large mirror leaning against a wall will also help make the room appear taller.
11. Refresh old finishes
Have outdated fixtures? Refinish them using spray paint or inexpensive kits. Breining says that a 1980s brass lamp can be given a new lease of life by spray painting it in hammered bronze or satin nickel.
White paint and new hardware can be used to update even old kitchen cabinets. If you thought Formica counters were hopeless, then think again. Breining uses Rust -Oleum Countertop Transformations a DIY counter coating product that simulates stone. It makes even the dated 1970s countertops look new.
The Conclusion
Your creativity can transform the flow of your space. You can use a bright color to brighten up your front door. Hang sheer curtains over a window and create an inviting living area with a U or H-shaped sofa. You can decorate your home on a budget by painting your walls, decorating your windows and replacing your old area rug.