Are you struggling to choose paint colors, pillows, artwork, and furniture for your room such that everything works together? Do you feel like you just keep buying more stuff in the hope that your room will finally look complete? You’re not alone! This is the number one complaint I hear most often from home owners, and it’s typically because people are making one of the following two mistakes.

1. Designing Backwards

So often, people choose their wall color first, and then try to find pillows, rugs, and artwork that will go with that paint color. I see this a lot when people have existing furniture, and just want to update their space. The problem with this approach, is that you end up limiting your remaining choices, trying to make everything work with the wall color.

You might be surprised to learn that when Iย designย a room, Iย choose paint colors last! Why? Because the wall color needs to compliment the furniture and decor in a room, not the other way around. If you are choosing paint colors first, you areย designing backwards!

interior design tip designing backwards

Your first step in theย designย process should be to choose a style and/or inspiration item to give yourย designย a direction. For example, look for a rug with colors that you love, or a piece of artwork that you just can’t stop looking at, or a patterned pillow fabric that you can’t live without. Use that item as yourย inspirationย for the rest of the items in yourย design.

Once you have all of your selections made, THEN choose a paint color that will compliment or intensify yourย design.

2. Designing As You Go

The second biggest mistake I see people make isย designing as they go. Most tasks or jobs have a defined process that you need to follow to do them well, and end up with a quality finished product, right? Interiorย designย is no different!

In order to make a room look complete, the design needs to be done upfront, and THEN items should be purchased to finish the design.

Very few homeowners ever follow the necessary steps to come up with theirย design first, and instead just purchase items they like when they see them. I can completely relate, because this is the way I used to do things in our home, before I became a designer and learned how to follow a process.

interior design tip design process

So, if you want a polished end result, you need to do someย designย work upfront. That means choosing furniture, rugs, accessories, artwork, pillows, window coverings, and paint colors upfront. Sounds like a lot of work, I know, but isn’t it worth investing a little time upfront to ensure you end up with a space that you love?

If you’ve been struggling with home decorating, and want to learn how to design and decorate rooms in your home like a pro, check out our collection of online courses and free resources. They can help you get started and learn how to create a home you love living in!

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