Posts Tagged ‘floor plan’

What You Need To Help Organize Your Interior Decorating Ideas

Here are the items that you need to help organize your interior decorating ideas and to complete your interior decorating project file:

• Pens and Paper – There’s nothing more frustrating than finding a perfect paint or carpet and not being able to write down the particulars for ordering them. Have several pens and pencils tucked in your file and a pad of paper or spiral notebook for taking notes. You may want to make notes of a furniture arrangement, trim detail, or window treatment that you see.
• Tape Measure – Try to find a lightweight measuring tape if you can, as a builder’s tape measure can get heavy if you’re carrying it around all day. A 10-foot tape is usually fine for shopping trips, but you’ll want a 25-foot measuring tape to measure rooms, windows, and ceiling heights.
• Floor Plan – If you’re doing a room decorating project or a whole-house remodel, you’ll need a drawing of the rooms with measurements. A scaled drawing on graph paper is most useful, but you can have a simple sketch for a smaller project.
• Photos of Your Room – Even if you can’t stand how your room looks now, take some “before” pictures. Get all the angles and details. These will be helpful when you’re working on your plan or when you need to talk to a salesperson about your project. They’ll help remind you of details as you’re working.
• Calendar – As you proceed with your project, you’ll undoubtedly have schedules to keep. Note when the floors will be measured for carpet, when the plumber is coming, or when you have a date with the painter. You can use your personal daily planner if you have one or keep one separate just for your decorating projects.
  Just be sure to have it with you!
• Magazine Photos – Magazines are a great source of decorating inspiration. If you see a color you like, a fabric print that is just what you love, or an arrangement of accessories that would work in your space, tear the page out and keep it in your decorating file.
• Samples of Fabrics, Colors, and Flooring – As you shop; you’ll want to collect samples of carpet, tiles, flooring, fabrics, and paint chips. The more you have in your Decorating File, the easier it will be to put your project together when you get home. Add more samples with every shopping trip. You may not be replacing everything in the room you’re decorating. Be sure to take a sample of anything that is staying in your room, including carpeting, upholstery fabric, paint samples, tile, or wood.
• Phone List – Have a handy list of phone numbers for your carpet man, plumber, painter, upholsterer, or contractor. Keep the list in your Decorating File for easy reference.
• Scissors and Tape – When you find the perfect paint chips, you might want to tape them together with fabrics you’ve chosen. Also put together fabric samples and carpet tufts.
• Envelopes or Zip-Lock Bags – You never know when you might find some small piece of information, color, or pattern that could get lost if put in the bottom of a tote. Have a few plain #10 envelopes or zip-lock plastic bags in your Decorating File.
• Post-It Notes – Simple post-it notes are great for marking pages that you don’t want to lose in a book or magazine. Or use them to mark possible choices in a wallpaper book. If you’re looking at paint chips, block off shades that you don’t want, using a post-it note.
• Color Board – Once you’ve made all your choices, put together a color board. Use a piece of mat board, foam core, or cardboard, cut to fit into your decorating file. Paint the board in the color of your chosen wall paint or just leave it white.

You’ll find that it’s fun to put together an Interior Decorating Project File for your decorating projects. It’s a useful tool to keep you organized.

Now that you at least have some idea of where you want to be with your new decorating project, you may be worried about how you will afford what you need.  Don’t worry!  You can still have a celebrity room with an everyday budget. 

Interior Decorating – Some Things You Should Do

The rules of interior decorating can be as solid as a rock or as open to interpretation as the sky. But many experts agree that learning the rules can be the first step toward freely breaking those rules when necessary. Here are some of the decorating dos.

• Do sketch your floor plan and record the room dimensions, window sizes and placement, and the location of special features, electrical outlets, and so on. Take your floor plan with you when you shop.
• Do take the time to discover your personal style by reading interior design magazines, attending show houses, and browsing online and in stores to learn what styles and colors really appeal to you.
• Do identify the focal point of the room (a fireplace, a view, a bed, an armoire).
• Do define a room’s style in writing , being specific. (Not just “country French”, but “French Country with a rooster motif, chicken wire cupboard fronts, and a color scheme that includes black and gold.”)
• Do pick a signature piece to focus your decorating decisions. It could be a beautiful fabric, an area rug, a picture, a piece of pottery, dishes, or a postcard. The item should embody both the color scheme of the room as well as the style and mood you hope to create.
• Do coordinate fabric and flooring choices before making any major purchases, and before choosing exact paint colors.
• Do purchase large elements first (rugs, draperies, upholstered furniture) whenever possible, and use the exact colors and style of those major pieces to coordinate all other choices.
• Do use a mix of patterns — large-scale, small-scale, checks, stripes, geometrics, plain — when coordinating a room.
• Do allow for natural pathways in a room (such as from the door to the closet) and try to arrange furniture with those walkways in mind.
• Do consider the uses and function of a room before deciding on furnishings and arrangements. For example, if your dining room will also be your study, then you’ll need room for a desk, books, lighting, and files as well as the dining room table and chairs.
• Do consider using unifying elements such as trim color, wood tone, flooring, motifs, fabrics, or materials.
• Do use the principle of repetition when planning shapes, colors, fabrics, and patterns. One red accent in a room may look like an afterthought whereas several red accents here and there will contribute to the color scheme.
• Do plan ahead for appropriate task, general, and dramatic lighting by using a mix of light fixtures on dimmers for maximum control.
• Do purchase the best quality furniture you can afford. Learn more about quality construction and materials that can prolong the life of furniture and make it a better buy in the long run.
• Do use contrast to add interest to a space. Placing furniture and accessories against a contrasting background will highlight each piece.
• Do crosslink your rooms by repeating colors, fabrics, and themes in varying combinations.
• Do balance a room’s furnishings by paying attention to scale and visual weight. Balance a large stone fireplace with a large sofa or armoire placed opposite.
• Do arrange conversational areas to be within an 8 to 14 feet square area.
• Do anchor spaces in open floor plans with area rugs and furniture groupings to define each space.
• Do pair seating in conversation areas with side tables and lamps so that there is a place to set drinks, books, etc. as well as adequate light for reading.
• Do choose accessories that reinforce the color and style theme of a room.
• Do use scale and pattern to create interesting focal points.
• Do use pairs of items to underscore symmetry and balance.
• Do use odd numbers of items (3, 5, 7) when grouping accents for table-scapes. Do place items (high, medium, and low) within an imaginary triangle to add interest.
• Do use symmetrical arrangements in formal rooms. In more casual rooms go for asymmetrical arrangements of furniture and accessories.
• Do emphasize the important elements of the room and play down the unattractive or unimportant elements.
• Do use a variety of textures (smooth, rough, shiny, dull) when you want to add interest to a room.
• Do use line to underscore a room’s style. Horizontal lines emphasize length and underscore a calm mood. Vertical lines will emphasize height, and diagonal lines emphasize space and provide a dynamic and exciting feel.
• Do reinforce the style and theme of a room with appropriate details and accessories.
• Do install more details in a plain boxy room. Consider crown molding, wainscoting, and other applications to add interest and character.
• Do consider the location of your home and the architectural style when planning interiors.