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How To Decorate An Empty Room

For anyone who loves home design, the chance to run free with interior decorating ideas is a home décor dream come true. But despite having a treasured file crammed with interior design ideas, it can feel a little overwhelming when it comes to a completely empty space. This is because successful room décor is more than the fun part of choosing a colour. The question of how to decorate a room is much more layered if you want it to be easy to use, meet all your needs and feel design polished. So before the paint colour charts make an appearance, start with the fundamentals to create a design that you’ll be happy to call home.

Light living room with cream patterned roller blinds on windows

Setting a budget

Making a realistic financial plan is key. Not just to stop the scheme from running over budget but also to help you prioritise.

Interior design on a budget (whatever the size of that budget) allows you to proportion your funds based on what you believe should be the core focus.

Interior design services usually start by trying to understand your priorities for a room, be they practical or atmospheric.

If you want a light and bright place to start your morning routine, does that mean sanding back floors and adding in fully retractable roller blinds?

Will you need to add in extra lighting? An electrician, plastering, and paint or papering skills will also need to be taken into consideration; the actual lighting fitting (and switches) will also need to be budgeted for. These can easily be underestimated or completely missed when drawing up a scheme.

If you set a budget, you can quickly see which design options are out of reach or will take up the majority of your costs.

Teal roller blinds on a window?

Confidence Tricks

Before you commit to anything, there are lots of ways to ensure your vision will translate well into a real-life interior design success.

Our inspiration tool (pictured) can show you the qualities and effects of some of our most popular products and how the colours and transparencies differ.

Interior design ideas for small houses often require lots of built-in elements to make the most of every inch, so also try virtual room designer apps that create floor plans to ensure you’re being realistic.

If you need to experience a real-life flow rather than an on-screen look; try putting squares of paper on the floor to show how much room furniture takes up in a very literal way; it’s amazing how wishful thinking about a generous L-shaped sofa be quickly adjusted when the reality of the space can be clearly appreciated with this simple trick.

Light dining room with blue patterned roller blinds on windows

Firm Focus

Home interior design law is very clear on this; any design scheme must have a focal point.

So when you start, work out which architectural feature or statement piece of furniture that may be.

In a period sitting room this may be a fireplace, but artwork or a bold rug can work as the focus. If you have a great view or pretty garden you may want to orientate the room around it.

A home design idea that works especially well for large windows, is to change the mood of a room through fabric density and surprise colours. For example, a stylish roller blind can fully recede to give a full view to a sunny day, but can make a wall of graphic pattern and colour that warms up a room as the evening closes in).

And remember, a lot of room ideas fall apart when the colour scheme and room design ideas are carefully executed and then real life arrives. Suddenly all the items that were stored away whilst decorating are unpacked.

And the overall scheme loses its cohesion. When you decorate a room take an honest audit of what you have.

Review your belongings and group them by shape or colour, a classic interior designer trick. If you have a mismatched collection of periods and styles, look for a colour that brings them together as a backdrop.

Modern kitchen with blue patterned Plissé blinds on standard windows

Practically Perfect

A successful home interior design scheme that is a joy to look at but also to live in is the ultimate design scheme win.

Room design ideas that address practical concerns such as the real height plug heights are needed (not just in skirting boards); flat ones in floors are great for freestanding desks, and mid-wall level for appliances, such as in a kitchen or for wall mounted entertainment systems.

Simple interior design ideas such as enough plug sockets where you actually need them (not leaving it to the electrician to decide) or wall-mounted reading lights for early evening in a treasured reading nook or an LED light under a bookshelf can transform a room’s efficiency. If planned ahead they are simple to execute as part of the redecoration. but add a polish that far exceeds the cost.

And consider future-proofing; incorporating home automation that turns on lights, lowers blinds, and gently warms your home for your evening return could make the end of a long day even more delightful.

A home that gives back; sounds like the ultimate in good living.

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