Whether you’re outfitting a new space for the first time or refreshing your current one, decorating is always an exciting prospect. Gathering design inspiration, choosing paint samples, the thrill of finding that perfect vintage piece—decorating can and should be a lot of fun. But apart from the initial excitement, designing your space can be a long and daunting process. Between budget restrictions and endless decisions made over long periods of time, it can be easy to lose steam and feel a little lost. Pinterest inspiration can only do so much when you’re stumped on exactly how to decorate your space like those effortlessly beautiful homes you see online.
I know how challenging decorating a room from start to finish can be, which is why I—with help from interior designers Becki Owens and Nicole Davis—compiled some of the best decorating tips designers use in every room. If you’re stuck on how to make your design dreams a reality, these tricks will teach you how to decorate like a designer.
1. Start with organization
A beautifully designed space is an organized one, no matter the decorating style. So before you rush out to shop for new furniture and decor, start by clearing out any existing clutter. Go through your belongings with a fine-tooth comb, and if you don’t love it, donate or get rid of it. Starting fresh with a clean, organized space will open up new possibilities for design layouts and instantly make your home look more polished.
2. Pay attention to scale
Scale is one of the first things designers learn about in their training. It refers to the size of one element in relation to other elements or the overall design: for example, the size of your sofa compared to the coffee table or the room as a whole. When furnishing a room, make sure the scale of each piece is proportional to the surrounding furniture and the space itself. You don’t want to cram large, bulky furniture into a small room or pair pieces that feel mismatched in size next to each other.
3. Think about how you want to live in the space
Designers create spaces that are not only beautiful but also functional for their clients’ everyday lives. The whole point of decorating is not to create a museum-like space where everything feels too precious to touch. Instead, design should facilitate how you want to live. Before buying anything, think about how you want to use the space and which pieces might make that easier. For example, placing a lamp next to your sofa is great if you like to read there in the evenings, while incorporating plenty of accent seating will come in handy if you love to entertain.
4. Choose a focal point
Great design gives the eye opportunities to “rest.” To do that, you need to choose or create a focal point that draws your attention and gives you something to look at. This could be a natural feature of the room, such as a fireplace, a large window, or another unique architectural element. If your room doesn’t have any special features, the largest piece of furniture or a special piece of art could also be the focal point. Start there, then build your furniture arrangement and the rest of your design around it.
5. Use the rule of thirds
The rule of thirds is a trick designers use to achieve balance in their designs. It involves mentally dividing up the space (whether you’re looking at a whole room or a small area like a coffee table) into three columns and three rows, creating a nine-box grid. Visualizing this grid, check the balance from top to bottom and left to right. The visual weight of each box should be similar so the overall composition feels balanced.
6. Decorate with items that feel personal to you
Before they even start decorating, designers spend a lot of time getting to know their clients’ personalities and interests so they can create a space that feels personal to them. Follow this same strategy with your own home by filling it with items that reflect your personality, hobbies, and preferences. Curate accessories during your travels, scour flea markets for vintage finds, collect books about your interests, and layer in different textures you love. The goal is to create a space that feels like you, not something pulled straight from the internet.
7. Invest in furniture you love
When it comes to furnishing your home, it’s worth taking your time. Since furniture tends to be expensive and usually takes a while to arrive, finding the right pieces is more important than furnishing your space quickly. Furniture should be beautiful and functional for your everyday life—not something you buy just to fill the space. When you find the piece that perfectly suits your style and space, it’ll be worth the wait and price.
8. Trust your gut
Your initial feeling is usually right! When it’s time to make decorating decisions, such as what color to paint your walls or which accent chair looks best, it can be overwhelming because there are so many great ideas to choose from. But you will find it’s often your first inspiration that turns out to be the best choice, so trust your instincts. Over time, this will get easier as you hone your personal style and gain confidence in your decorating skills.
9. Bring the outside in
One thing you’ll almost always find in professionally designed spaces? Plants. Whether real or faux, greenery adds color and life to a space. No room is complete without some sort of organic, fresh element, so consider bringing in fresh herbs for the kitchen, a potted fiddle leaf fig tree to finish your living room, or a vase of greenery for the coffee table. Fresh flowers count, too!
10. Make lighting a top priority
Good lighting can dramatically change the feel of a room. In addition to adding personality and impact, it ensures the rest of the furniture and decor you’ve selected looks its best. When decorating a space, don’t just assume that the overhead lights your home came equipped with are good enough. Bring in additional light sources through table lamps, floor lamps, wall sconces, or other types of ceiling lights to customize your home’s lighting and highlight different areas. Keep in mind that a beautiful light fixture can stand alone as art and create just the right mood.
11. Don’t over-design
Pinterest can be both a blessing and a curse! Use social media as a resource to identify styles and colors you’re drawn to and find new decorating ideas, but don’t try to put every image or idea you find in one room. You want your home to feel curated and unique, not like you’re trying to do everything at once.
12. Add art
Art adds sophistication to any space and is a key component in almost any professionally designed room. Find pieces that move you (or create some yourself!) and then hang them at eye level—hanging art too high or too low is one of the most common decorating mistakes people make. Art pieces are a great expression of your personality and what speaks to you and can make your home instantly feel more intimate.
13. Edit, edit, edit
Designers know that less is usually more. When you choose a simple color palette and the right pieces for the foundation of a room, all you have to do is add a few details to finish it off. Accessorizing a little can go a long way, so if the room is starting to feel crowded or overly fussy, it probably means you should pare things down a bit.
14. Bring in an element of surprise
There are no hard and fast rules when it comes to design, only guidelines that can help you make decisions. So there’s no law that states all your furniture has to adhere to a single style or all the finishes in your home must match. In fact, adding in an element of surprise can make a room so much more interesting, whether it’s an unexpected dash of color in an otherwise neutral space or a fun piece of furniture or art that stands out amongst the rest of your decor. This is your home, where there should be a lot of fun and spontaneity—your design elements can feel the same.
MEET THE AUTHOR
Jessica Friedhoff, Senior Lifestyle Editor
Jessica Friedhoff is the Senior Lifestyle Editor at The Everygirl, where she oversees the Home & Living category of the site. She writes and edits stories across a broad range of topics including decorating, food, entertaining, travel, and more. With a pulse on the latest trends, she uses her eye for detail and design to create timely, inspiring content for our readers. Jessica also holds a certificate in interior design from the New York Institute of Art + Design.
