Today I’m sharing 6 decorating tips that everyone needs to know.  Whether you’re just starting to venture into decorating or you’re a veteran in this field, these tips will help ensure that your home has a cohesive, intentional look to it, regardless of your decorating style.

 

 

1. Have a Plan

I’m starting off with this tip because it’s probably the most important.  Decorating requires a road map just like any other endeavor you take on in your life.  Now this doesn’t mean it has to be a formal, written plan that you follow every step of the way.  No!  Decorating and design is a bit of a fluid process, so you have to be flexible, but if you want to end up in the right place, you need to know your destination before you begin.

TIDBITS&TWINE French style master bedroom. Decorating tips

The Problem

It’s easy to spot something you love, buy it and bring it home and hope everything all works out.  The problem is that if you don’t have a plan in mind, you’re just buying a bunch of different things that you hope all coordinate when you’re done!

The Solution

Before starting a project, map it out.  Know what you want to space to ultimately look and feel like.  Think about how it will coordinate with what you already own and what’s going on in the adjacent spaces.  Another benefit to having a plan is that you won’t get overwhelmed by the options because you’ll know what you want!

To learn step-by-step how to create a plan, read {this post}.

how to decorate a room in 4 easy steps

 

 

 

2. Move Away from the Walls

For many people, the natural instinct is to look at the walls of a room to decide where the furniture should go; however, depending on the size of the space, the walls are not the best determiner of furniture position!

French Farmhouse Family Room with EKTORP sectional. Decorating tips

The Problem

When all of the furniture is backed against the walls, the groupings tend to look rigid and uninviting.  It’s like a police line-up in your living room!  And following the lines of a room doesn’t add any dimension or interest to the space so when your eye scans the room, it just sees a box.  Also, if the room is large, the conversation groupings end up too far away from one another to allow for a relaxed conversation.

The Solution

If you have the space, pull the furniture away from the walls into smaller, intimate groupings.  An area rug can help you define the space so that you don’t feel as if your furniture is floating in the middle of the room.  Pulling the furniture away from the walls will also create a traffic flow behind the furniture, so that people entering and exiting the room don’t have to walk through the conversation area but rather, can walk around it.

 

3. Hang Art at Eye Level

Newer homes feature tall ceilings, which are great for creating a sense of grandeur and openness, but not so great for those that think the taller the wall, the higher the art.

French Farmhouse Gallery Wall around a TV

 

The Problem

When art is hung too high, it just looks “off”.  For one thing, art hung above eye level means you have to crook your neck to see it.  The other issue is that it often looks disconnected from whatever is below it, so it seems that it’s floating on the wall.

The Solution

For most art, the general guideline is to hang it 60-65 inches from the floor to the center of the art, so that it hangs at about eye level for most people.  If hanging above a sofa or similar piece of furniture, the art should fill about 50%-60% of the space.  Allow for about 8″ to 10″ between the top of the couch to the bottom of the art so that it feels connected.

For taller walls that you feel need to be filled higher, consider using bigger art or art groupings.  If using a grouping, allow 1 1/2″ to 2″ of spacing between the images.

 

For more tips on rule-of-thumb measurements, visit {this post}.

25 Need to Know Measurements

 

4. Keep Scale in Mind

Scale doesn’t just refer to measurements, but also the visual weight of objects.  So when we talk about scale, we’re referring to how the eye reads the size of an object, not necessarily its actual size.

Blue red and green guest bedroom with twin beds
This hutch is smaller in scale, so I selected headboards whose size coordinated so as not to overpower the hutch.

 

The Problem

Bigger is always better, right?  Wrong!  Sometimes, it’s easy to get carried away and buy a piece of furniture, for example, that is big and comfy and fills the space.  Well, unless your existing furniture is equal in scale, your room will become unbalanced.  When the scale of various furniture pieces is mismatched, it looks as if the room wasn’t planned or intentional.

The Solution

Use a uniform scale among all of your furniture to provide balance and give differing pieces something in common.  For example, a large, overstuffed sofa will dwarf a small Victorian chair, but a smaller-scale, sleeker sofa will tie in perfectly.  Even if you’re purchasing items at different points in time, by selecting the appropriate scale, your space will feel balance and intentional and your pieces will coordinate.

 

5. Keep Things Interesting

One of the goals of decorating is to entertain the eye.  You want to keep a space interesting so that the eye naturally wants to move around the room to take everything in!  Now, this encompasses several different things, so you can interpret it in any way you want that works for your decorating style.  Read on the find out how…

A little splash of the unexpected in my master bedroom

 

The Problem

A space that doesn’t incorporate variety becomes boring.  It’s that simple.

The Solution

As mentioned above, there are many interpretations to how to keep a room interesting.  One is to include color.  Or maybe pattern is your thing and you like to mix it up!  Maybe you’re like me and you keep your home neutral, in that case, use texture to keep things interesting.  Perhaps it’s a dash of the unexpected.  Or maybe you use a variety of furniture styles, or even a variety of metal finishes!  How you achieve variety is really up to you, but keep things interesting so that your eye is entertained!

 

6. Incorporate Something Organic

You don’t have to have a green thumb for this one!

French Spring Dining Room

 

The Problem

A space without a living item can feel too manufactured and stiff.

The Solution

Adding something organic to soften the space and bring a bit of the outdoors in.  Even if you don’t have a green thumb, you can still add natural items like tall willow branches in a vase, pinecones in a decorative dish, a dried flower display, or even a layer of pebbles in the fireplace.  The idea is to create a natural feeling space that has some organic movement.

If you’re like me and have trouble keeping plants alive, check out the ZeeZee plant and the Pothos.  They are virtually indestructible!

The Zee Zee (or ZZ) plant requires minimal watering and can thrive in low light!

Or you can view some of my favorite faux plants and flower stems below.

Shop these Fabulous Faux Stems!

 

 

Do you have another tip you think I should add for a future post?  Let me know!

 

 

 

 

 

 

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