How to decorate your home like an interior designer
Have you found yourself pinning beautiful images on Pinterest but turning around and not knowing how to make your home feel like your inspiration photos? Learning how to decorate your house like an interior designer elevates your home to the next level. While I believe you should decorate your home in a way that you love and reflect you, implementing these eight interior design ‘rules’ will help you create an even more beautiful space!
How to decorate your home like an interior designer
So, you are ready to have a Pinterest-worthy home? While the world tells us just to run out and buy everything from these different stores and throw it all together, I want to challenge you to wait and sit on your purchases for a while.
I also recommend that you work on one room at a time. This can feel limiting, but I promise it will help you bring your entire home together once it’s all said and done.
Create a color palette
This is hands down one of the most critical steps in giving your home a designer feel. Creating a color palette takes time, but it will help you with each designer tip I have below.
Interior designers call this the golden ratio. You have 60% of your primary color, 30% complementary, and 10% accent color. This doesn’t mean you must use the same colors, but staying in a color family will achieve this ratio.
Instead of saying, “I want white walls, black accent furniture, and white couches,” think about what undertones you are looking for. Do you want a creamy warm white or a cooler blue white? What wood tones would compliment that best? What are your metals going to be in the hardware around your house? Brass, nickel, black? Think about your cabinet color and your countertops. Even if you aren’t in love with your hard finishes – complimenting them will make them look much better.
Having a color palette will help you when you are out shopping. You can pull it up on your phone to see if something will fit in with your space.
I have a FREE color palette template that you can download from this link HERE. Drag and drop your inspiration photos and pull colors from the images you wish to use in your home.
PIN IT FOR LATER
Don’t buy everything from the same store
I know, I know. But rarely do you see beautifully styled homes with all matching furniture. Our minds crave the somewhat eclectic look of having different pieces.
Using different materials and styles will help to highlight each other. Contrast is a good thing in this instance! If you find a linen sofa you love, complement it with leather armchairs and a wooden coffee table. This will give you more interest and a designer look. Textures are our friends!!
A beautiful and well-curated home is made up of things collected over time. You want things to coordinate but not be too matchy-matchy.
Though shopping at different stores can take more effort and time, it is worth it in the long run.
Consider the scale of the room
Whatever you do – do not go to the furniture store without measuring your space first! You don’t want to purchase furniture that is too big or too small for your space. Not only will you potentially be wasting time but also wasting money purchasing furniture that you will end up regretting.
Too big furniture will swallow your space and make it feel small, even if it isn’t. Furniture that is too small will look awkward and out of place. Finding that middle ground can be tricky, but it is truly essential.
You can map out your space to determine the room’s scale in a few different ways. Good old-fashioned graph paper is my personal favorite. There are a few online options if using pen and paper isn’t your thing. Here is a great one from Pottery Barn! Or you could even use painter’s tape and tape out the size of whatever you purchase on the floor. This would give you a great way to see how the space works when it comes time to keep walkways open.
Coordinate wood tones
Wood tones help bring texture and warmth to a space. However, using the wrong wood tones can instantly date your space.
Medium-tone browns are timeless.
I like incorporating 2-3 different yet cohesive wood tones in my home. Try not to use too many; otherwise, that will have the opposite effect on your goal.
Wall art
We all love to hang art on our walls, whether family portraits, a beautiful landscape, or something more abstract. I am not here to tell you not to hang family portraits on the wall (because I love them!), but hanging your wall art at the right height will give you the designer feel.
A good rule of thumb is to hang the midpoint of your pieces around 56-58″ from the ground. This universal eye-level will keep your art from being hung too low or too high. When your art is hung too high, it will feel disconnected from your space.
Incorporate pillows
I know this sounds like an easy way out but you would be surprised how pillows can elevate your space. This is also a budget friendly way to keep your home styled.
I like to use down alternative pillow inserts and just switch out the pillow cases with the seasons. Velvets and heavier fabrics are wonderful for the fall and winter months, and lighter linens are perfect for spring and summer.
Down or down alternative pillows are honestly the best because you can fluff them to refresh them whenever needed. We all know of the karate chop pillow look but you can also just fluff your pillows for a more casual look.
I recommend using pillows of 3 different sizes, as this is the most pleasing to our eyes. Don’t be afraid to mix textures and colors either!
Window treatments
Window treatments are like the earrings to the outfit. They help tie everything in together. Even though I am a lover of natural light inside, I still think every window should have some sort of treatment.
Blinds or shades
Most homes have the typical white plastic blinds. While these are extremely practical and budget friendly – they don’t offer much aesthetically. I would opt for the 2″ faux wood blinds if you go in that direction. Plantation shutters are also a wonderful option but they can be a bit pricey!
I personally love shades. Between beautiful fabric roman shades or casual bamboo or woven wood shades – you can’t really go wrong. There are so many options with the way they pleat, valences, and you can even opt for black out liners. This is a huge plus if you have young children like me!
Drapes or curtains
Before I dove into the world of interior design I would hear the words drapes or curtains and think they were the same thing. In a way they are but they have two completely different purposes.
Drapes are fabric that are permanently open. They are used for their decorative aspects whereas curtains are essentially the same thing but they are meant to be opened or closed.
Regardless if you are using drapes or curtains remember to hang them high and wide. I try to take them as close to the ceiling as possible. This helps give the illusion that your ceilings are higher, even if they aren’t. Don’t cover any of your actual window with the fabric as this will make the window seem smaller.
Working in triangles
Would you be surprised if I told you that you could instantly change the look of your space by implementing this golden rule? When styling an area, whether it be a mantle, shelves, or your coffee table, think about creating triangles. This goes along the same lines of working in groupings of 3 but in a way that you don’t feel bound to only using 3 objects.
Triangles have 3 different points – so think about incorporating various size objects to create this look.
The reason groups of 3 works so well is because it isn’t too busy but it keeps the eye interested and moving.
How to decorate your home like an interior designer
Decorating your home like an interior designer is totally possible for you and I hope these tips and tricks helped! As I post this we are 9 days away from closing on our new home (fingers crossed!) so I will have so many things to share with you. Follow along on Instagram to see the real time progress.
Thanks so much for being here! Have a wonderful day!
