You might move into a new house, and you’ll spend some time looking at all the empty rooms before setting up your furniture and other possessions.
Photo by Hutomo Abrianto on Unsplash
Now is your chance to try interior design. Maybe you’ll enjoy this, but perhaps you don’t know where to start.
Interior design doesn’t have to fill you with dread. Even if you’ve never done it before, you can look at Pinterest and Instagram for inspiration. We’ll also talk about some interior design strategies in this article that novices can attempt.
Put Mirrors in Most Rooms
Improving your outdoor space is fun, but you should also find it rewarding when you finish the job. You want functionality outdoors, and you can remember that when setting up a patio or deck.
Inside the home, you want functionality, but also aesthetic appeal. Achieving that balance isn’t easy, but putting a mirror in most rooms can start you in the right direction.
Putting mirrors in rooms isn’t about just checking your makeup or making sure your hat is at the right jaunty angle before you go out on the town. It’s also about controlling natural light.
If you have mirrors in rooms with windows, you can pull up the blinds on nice days. You can use these rooms to read or perhaps work on a laptop on a couch or loveseat if you work from home.
The mirror will reflect the natural sunlight that enters the room. If you position it correctly, it will add brilliance to living areas, particularly if you have dark wallpaper or darker paint colors in that room.
Give Your Space an Industrial Look
The industrial look can give your living space a unique feel that you might enjoy. You can achieve it in different ways, but you don’t necessarily need to spend much money producing it.
The term “industrial” is somewhat vague in interior design circles, but usually, it involves metal accents. You can include them by replacing bathroom or kitchen fixtures with copper or brass ones. You can find them at Home Depot or Lowes, but you can also get vintage or more exotic ones at reclaimed or refurbished furniture stores.
You might feature one exposed brick wall if you’re going for an industrial look. Industrial often means high ceilings, which you can easily find if you move into a loft or certain early-twentieth-century apartments or condos.
Wallpaper Creates Cheap Atmosphere
You might want to style your living space to make it your own, but you don’t have very much money to do that. Wallpaper and paint colors are your best weapons in these instances.
Splashy, bright paint colors tell anyone you have an eclectic or kooky personality. Deep purple or orange aren’t usual interior paint colors, so you might go with either of those.
You can also buy wallpaper relatively cheaply and even install it yourself if you watch a few helpful YouTube videos and get the proper supplies. You can find thousands of wallpaper options, and picking just the right one reveals the kind of living space you most want to have.
You might get a jungle pattern or one with fleur-de-lis on it. You can get gold-accented wallpaper to create a regal look that proclaims you rule your domicile. You might get wallpaper that resembles a rock wall or that features random shapes or fantasy characters from a favorite book series.
Throw Pillows
If you set up a room, and it seems like it needs some color, you can go big with wallpaper or paint, but maybe you want just a few touches instead. Throw pillows can give you a colorful effect without stifling the elements you already have in play.
If you go to Bed, Bath, and Beyond, or even Target, you should find throw pillows in many different sizes, colors, and shapes. You can get some different-sized ones that complement the colors you already have in your bedroom, living room, or den.
If you can’t find the right pillowcase covers, you can even make your own. Cutting cloth for pillowcases doesn’t require much more than some patience, scissors, and a sewing machine.
Chandeliers
Chandeliers provide light, and style as well. You can find hundreds of different ones at furniture stores, but you can also buy one online if you don’t like what you see at local boutiques.
You can find expensive or cheaper ones, and larger or smaller ones too. Some have distinctly modern looks, while others take you back in time a hundred years or more.
You can find recreations, but you might also shop at reclaimed furniture stores if you want the genuine article. Be wary, though. Old chandeliers sometimes get very pricey, and if you have a limited design budget, you might blow through it by buying this single vintage item.
Interesting Objects
You can also put interesting objects up on your shelves that tell your guests about you. What will you pick? For inspiration, you might look on Etsy or shop at Goodwill outlets and vintage stores near you.
Antique stores often feature odd trinkets and objects that have kitsch value, but sometimes, you can find something that seems perfect for you. At best, the objects in your home should reveal your personality. If you want quirky items, that will describe you.
If you want exotic items, you might pick some up while traveling. If you have objects from foreign countries in your home, you can tell a story that goes along with each one. If you invite a new romantic interest back to your house for the first time, you’ll have plenty to talk about as they pick up objects from your shelves and examine them.
Your home’s interior should reveal what you prioritize. Whether you have family pictures everywhere or beautiful artwork, each person who spends time there should leave knowing a little bit more about you. Neglecting home décor tells a guest about you well, but it’s probably not the message you’d like to send.