Whether it’s a simple home redecoration or a complete remodeling project for professional reasons, undertaking a full-scale interior design can be daunting. We’ve written before about successfully planning a building project, and thankfully we’re here to do the same for your interior design ventures, too! Whether you’re modernizing your home or faced with a working assignment, here’s our advice on planning an interior makeover to achieve optimum results.
Visualize your Concept
So you want a change the interior décor of a particular space but not sure where to begin? Start by creating a mood board to give yourself a clear, objective view of what you want to achieve from the outset. What are your influences? Will the style be retro or modern? What colors will you use? A mood board is a visual stake-in-the-ground that serves to keep you focused on your concept from the project’s beginning until its end, ensuring you stay on track to deliver what you initially set out to do. Be sure to include swatches of fabrics and a color palette to stick to, to avoid getting carried away with a design scheme that looks haphazard or mismatched.
If physically creating a mood board seems like too much hard work, there are plenty of programs and apps out there intended to help you visually realize your ideas before putting them into practice. An app such as Houzz will also allow you to toggle things like placement of feature walls, furniture and even lighting concepts! It’s a great way to find inspiration as well as map out the details of your design.
Budget Generously
As well as a clear idea of the design concept, you’re going to need to know exactly how much you’ve got to spend before you get started on something you can’t afford to finish. It takes many of those who embark on a decoration project by surprise just how much seemingly small details such as light switches and the price of laborer’s fees after tax end up adding to the overall bill of a redecoration. However, with a thorough budget beforehand, you should avoid any nasty surprises. For the safest bet, give yourself a reasonable contingency budget for overspending on top of the actual predicted budget to help absorb the cost of unforeseen changes.
Accept your Limitations
Be realistic about how much of the work you’ll be able to do yourself without professional help. Even though you may have watched a dozen tutorials on wallpapering and think you’ve figured it out, you could save yourself a lot of sweat, hassle and rework by calling in the professionals. A job done well the first time will be worth every penny you paid for it and with a visual project such as home decor, poor workmanship (such as uneven plastering, patterns not matching up, air bubbles and tears in wallpaper) are all dead giveaways that a project was done on a budget! Invest wisely in the quality and it will pay off with a polished look that stands the test of time.
Finally, show it off!
One fun way to showcase and gather feedback on the fruits of your labor is with a personal website (particularly if your project was motivated by the need to create a design portfolio or profile). A personal website is a low cost and effective way to show off your achievements and share these with family, friends as well as the wider design community. For those with slightly less technical ability, there are advantages to investing in WordPress blog hosting from a known provider such as 1&1, who offer subscribers technical support and troubleshooting advice.