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. 

Related posts:

1. Organizing Your Interior Decorating Ideas
2. Interior Decorating – Getting Ideas
3. Interior Decorating – Some Things You Should Do
4. Interior Decorating – Some Things You Should Not Do
5. Interior Decorating Using Cool Earth Tones