The Basics to Decorating a Room

How to get started with an empty space and build it into the room of your dreams

What do you want the room to be?
Always think about the functionality and use of the room you’re setting out to make. You may know that it’s a bedroom or a living room or a dinning space but that isn’t enough. You shouldn’t buy furniture based on the general purpose of the room. Let’s say you like a nice bookrack and think it’ll look good in a bedroom but there’s a possibility that the book might never be used. It will depend entirely on the person who uses the room. Just buying pretty furniture will never help create a functional room. It’s more likely that the furniture will take up useful space instead of giving the room the look you want.

Make an outline … and stick to it
Decide in advance what you plan on getting for the room. This means you decide if you want paint or wall paper, a carpet or a rug. Decide the color scheme before you go out to buy furniture. The color scheme shouldn’t be based on the furniture available in store but rather on the size and amount of light in the room as well as the purpose of the room and the person who’s going to be using it.

Will you need to add something and are there any constraints?
If you’re renting a space (as opposed to living in your own home/ apartment) you might be faced with some restrictions to the improvement you can make to the apartment. You may not be able to put up more shelves and things like. If your rooms lack storage you’ll need to buy furniture to make up for it. You might also be restricted from changing the flooring and if you choose not to have a carpet put it, you’re floor will influence the room’s color scheme. If you need to put shelves up make sure that you keep in mind how much space they’ll take up (it’s better that you put them up first).

Can it be a multipurpose room?
Is there a chance that the room will serve multiple purposes? A lot of people combine the kitchen and the eating space or a spare bedroom with a sitting room so you need to take in to account if the room can be used for more than one purpose. There’s never anything wrong with using a room for more than one function, most interior designers try and give rooms maximum functionality and buy furniture specifically for it.

What do you need?
Once you’ve got this all mapped out, you need to make a list of some basic furniture that you’ll absolutely need, like a bed in a bedroom and sofas in a living room. Decide what size of furniture will work for the room. If your spaces are small, don’t buy big furniture, it’ll make the room look overcrowded and claustrophobic.

You’re ready to shop furniture!
Now that you’ve got this basic outline in your head, you can start shopping for furniture. If you want a better idea of what your room should look like go online and look for ideas that fit your room. Never worry about not finding the furniture you need in the right color, colors are always out there you just need to hunt for it.

An In House Paint Job- Getting the Colors Right

When the kids throw cereal at the walls the stains are going to stay forever

A home maker that I’ve always admired once told me never to paint the walls in anything other than a neutral shade, ‘when the kids throw cereal at the walls the stains are going to stay forever!’ that home maker was none other than my mom who in my opinion kept the house award winning clean with us four kids running around and me having an odd fascination with drawing on the walls. Since moms are always right, I never really experimented much with paint and was deeply thankful to God for giving mankind the genius to invent wall paper.

When reality TV took over as America’s highest rated programs, I too joined in to watch rooms, offices, apartments and entire homes get remodeled. The one thing that stood out was the paint jobs. I’d always used wallpaper in the living room and kept the rest of the house in a neutral shade. After my first month of watching stunningly beautiful and dramatic home makeovers, I decided it was time for change, (I should’ve had ‘yes we can’ patented). One trip to the paint store however and I retreated back into my neutral colored shell (no offense meant to turtles). I couldn’t figure out which shade of any color was good for any room! They made it look so darn easy on TV! Since I already had the house ready for a new paint job I ended up giving it a fresh coat of beige which did absolutely nothing for the room except give it an Adam’s family look. I’m proud to say that I’ve grown wise now as far as paint is concerned and I’m going to share what little I know about rooms and paint jobs.

Choosing a paint type:

Paint type refers to either latex based or oil based paints. Latex is better for the exterior of your home as opposed to the walls because it can take a lot of weathering and oil based paints are easier to clean stains from.

Choosing a paint finish:

Paint finish is how glossy or matte a paint will look once it’s dried. When you pick your finish, keep in mind the amount of light in the room you intend to paint. If you’ve always wanted to brighten up the room or give a dramatic light effect choose a high glossy finish. Take two slightly different shades of the same color in a high gloss finish and use them on parallel walls to create a unique effect. Finishes come in flat, eggshell, sating, semi gloss, high gloss and ceiling flat. Egg shell and satin will work well for bedrooms and the living room. Ceiling flat is meant for the ceiling (a no brainer) and other textures are more suited for rooms where the cereal and or ketchup is less likely to be thrown at the walls.

Choosing the color:

What you need to figure out before you enter the paint store is your color. The color doesn’t depend on what available in the paint store but rather on the furniture you have in your room. So sit down and take a good look at the colors. When deciding on the color you need to come to one of two mind sets; either match the color or make a contrast. This all depends on how you want your room to turn out. If you decide to match, pick the color that’s least prominent in your room for example the color of the cushions or the rug. If you decide to make a contrast then pick shades that will make your furniture stand out. And pay close attention to any wall that may be covered with frames or shadow boxes. It may be a good idea to paint that one wall a different color. The shade will be decided once you pick which way you want to go. If you have light colored cushions and you’re looking to match with the furniture try going with a darker shade of the color of your cushions.

Once you’ve made these three critical decisions, you’re all set to visit the paint store, happy painting.

This is an excellent example where the paint matches the furniture, you can see more images here.