Posts Tagged ‘decorating project’

How To Decorate Your Home When Money Is Tight

Just because you don’t have a celebrity checkbook doesn’t mean that you can’t have celebrity style!  Anyone can decorate their home or apartment – even with limited funds!  Consider the following:

• Decide ahead of time on a budget or payment plan, pace your decorating. Include money for accessories.
• Decide on one room at a time and designate a priority within your room. That’s where you should begin.
• Have a plan, color scheme, style, & atmosphere. Have a target date for completion.
• Your confidence level in tackling your decorating project makes a big difference. If you are the least bit unsure, contact a professional designer. He or she will save you time, energy, money, and frustration. Select a designer that you are comfortable with and trust. He/she should know your likes and dislikes. Whatever is done needs to suit you and your family.
• Measure your room to scale. Show windows and doors. Decide on a focal point. Measure furniture, rugs, etc. before purchase. Draw your furniture to scale and cut out the drawings. Place these on your floor plan, moving them around until you get an arrangement that you like. This is very easy on your back. This procedure will also help you decide if the items are proportionately correct for your room. Think too about ceiling height and traffic flow.
• Repeat each color in your scheme at eye level, mid level, and floor level to achieve good visual balance. Repeat any pattern and/or textures at least twice in the room.
• Paint and wallpaper/borders go a long way in updating and freshening a room and usually cost very little.
• View colors and patterns in your home during daylight hours before making a purchase.
• If you do not plan to be in your home for a long time, invest in accessories (artwork, area rugs, decorator pillows) that could easily be used in another home.

Organizing Your Interior Decorating Ideas

When you’re getting ready to begin a decorating or remodeling project it’s a great idea to get everything together. And keep it together! Any building, remodeling, or decorating project will be easier if you get organized before you start with an interior decorating project file.

Your interior decorating project file will hold everything you’ll need to coordinate the project. Include carpet samples, fabric cuttings, paint samples, floor plans, wallpaper cuttings, photos, and pictures of inspiration rooms. Having everything in one place will help the job go more smoothly from conception to completion.

You can choose any style of file you want. The choice is yours. A small canvas tote bag, briefcase, notebook with file pockets, expanding envelope, or file box works well. Be sure you select a container that will be easy to carry from store to home and large enough for all your items.

Probably the most convenient way to keep everything together, and your hands free, is in a tote bag with shoulder handles. Interior pockets are helpful, too. Be sure to have a container for pens, your cell phone, tape measure, scissors, and tape.

Place an expanding folder with pockets and divider tabs into the tote. These pockets will keep projects and items separated and organized. You can keep several projects separate by labeling the folders for each.

You’ll save time by having everything together wherever you go. Instead of wondering whether a paint chip coordinates with a fabric swatch, you’ll know right away.

If you’re shopping for a lamp, you’ll know if the lamp shade is the right color.

If you happen on a wonderful flea market, you won’t have to pass up a great bargain on an antique bureau because you don’t know if it will fit in your space. With everything together:  colors, fabrics, measurements, and ideas,– you’ll always be ready!

As you work on a project, you’ll think of things that would be helpful to have in your own interior decorating project file. The most important thing to remember about an interior decorating project file is that you should have it with you at all times.