When it comes to designing your interior there are a few things that separate you the novice, from me the expert. But here’s the thing, I see the same rookie mistakes over and over and over again. So it’s time to hit the WHAMMY button!

What sets a professional designer apart from the average joe, aside from experience and schooling, is typically the approach of designing a room. Design is a process and we all have tricks that allow a space to look and feel luxurious and custom but novices tend to do it wrong.

Often to avoid mistakes and the unknown, novices will typically over indulge in one thing, possibly two things to over compensate for their inability to pull it all together. For example, I’ve seen many clients over the years buy EVERYTHING in a neutral color, or run to Home Goods and buy their entire inventory of fake ivy and cheap accessories to shove in every corner of the house. The problem with this theory is that it looks dull, and you end up wasting money. Plus cheap accessories look cheap! Cheap means crooked, poor finishes, and often smelly.

How to create the perfect room

Most of my clients are fantastic at 85% of all their design, and have a terrific vision of what they want. But it’s that last 15% that makes or breaks the space, and green ivy and cheap accessories will not save the day. In order to make your space look like the pros you need to plan for the perfect room starting with 4 simple tips.

Make a plan

Seems simple enough, I know, but most people seem to skip this step. It’s essentially like planning a trip to Hawaii without booking your travel plans or packing your suitcase until the day you leave. Things get expensive and chaotic real quick! What do you want to accomplish? What do you want to experience in the room you are decorating? How do you really want it to look and feel? Rushing out last minute running all over town for lamps, rugs, and accessories is not the answer to a beautiful room.

Budget

Everyone HATES this question, but it is a part of the process. Do you decide to purchase a car and go straight to the Porsche dealership? I’m gonna guess no. Everything has an average cost. These numbers don’t come out of thin air and are not easily manipulated. A sofa costs, what a sofa costs. And yes, just like cars there are different levels of economy and luxury, which do you want, and which can you afford? Coach, business class or first class?

How to create the perfect room

Timing

This is a huge rookie mistake that I see a lot. Homeowners will live with the same room for ten years and then suddenly want it completely redesigned in a week because of a huge event or they watched some ridiculous TV show that lead them to believe its possible. And worse, many people won’t consult with a professional and they end up buying in a sense of spastic urgency only to hate everything they purchased 6 months later, ultimately wasting a lot of money. I see this a lot around the holidays. Just last year I had a gal who called me who spent $5,000 on a dining table and they couldn’t get it to fit in the room. Rookie mistake!

Yes design can be done quickly but only if you have a plan and a solid budget.

Creating that happy, healthy, home

Here’s the thing, how you approach one thing is the way you approach all things. And so does the energy that follows. What does that mean? If you’re running around making rash decisions, rushing and cutting every corner because you planned your budget poorly it will show up in how the room feels.

Energy resonates and can linger for weeks, months or even years. I’ve had clients slam a space together and cut every corner to fit their budget only to hate the room for years. Every time they enter that space it’s a feeling of UGH! That little energy bubble is entirely different than that of a space that is well thought out, curated and loved.

So, what can you walk away with? Decide what it is you want to do, how much you are willing to invest to get it, and give yourself enough time to attain the room you’ve been planning your whole life. Avoid rookie mistakes. Seems simple, but sometimes we say things like “if it were a snake it would have bit me” for a reason!

%d