Okay, now that I’ve got you all with that title – the topic of this post is how to completely finish your rooms.
We all struggle with this, even us designers and decorators with our own homes.
However, the key is to keep making decisions and to focus on ONE ROOM AT A TIME!!!
So here’s a few key items to keep in mind when you are ready to start another project or to help you finish the one you’ve already started.
1. Make a plan – decide on how you will be using the room and what you need to do that properly. If it’s a family room and you will be using it to watch television and do crafts – then you need to have comfy seating for the television watching and a large table with appropriate flooring and lighting for craft time.
2. Plan your lighting – lighting is so important to a room. Just think how annoyed you are when you don’t have the proper lighting when you are trying to do something. Make sure there is ambient lighting (the general lighting for a room) and the appropriate task lighting (such as table lamps for reading or pot lights set over the craft table). Decorative lighting can be added as well for mood and ambience in the form of sconces, candles or a decorative floor or table lamp.
3. Style and colour – this goes along with #1 in that you need to have an idea of what style you would like. The best way to do this is with magazines - pull out pictures that you like and keep a file. I do this with all my magazines – they are a great source of inspiration. After you have a bunch in the file a clearer picture of your style will emerge and you can use them as your inspiration. Colour will also show up in these photos – however, I still feel that the colour of the walls will be determined at a later stage once you have the bigger pieces decided upon.
4. Large pieces – now is the time to invest in the larger more expensive pieces for the room. Such as a sofa, area rug, draperies and case goods. These are the items that you will be keeping for the long term and they form the base of your design. This is where you usually spend the bulk of your budget and because of this I usually stick with classics and neutrals for these items. You can however diverge from this tract, if for example you love red and fall in love with a red sofa. GO FOR IT! This is what will make your room, you
A note here about pattern – if the larger items that you have decided upon are all solids you may want to add some pattern either in the area rug or in a smaller upholstered chair or ottoman to give the room some pizzazz. Otherwise I would consider adding some wallpaper to the walls instead of a solid paint colour. The key with pattern is to ensure that the pattern sizes are not all the same – for example, if you have a large pattern on the area rug then have a smaller pattern on the ottoman.
5. Shopping – Okay now that you’ve decided on the larger items and you know how much they cost, you can form a budget. This will guide you as to where you can splurge and where you can save. A great room always has some of each in it – that is what makes it interesting. Remember to keep some money for paint and accessories (usually about 15-20% of the budget).
6. Paint colour – this is when I usually pick the paint colour I look at all the major items purchased and the rest of the home and then decide what would be the best colour choice. Since paint is one of the most inexpensive parts of the design process and there are so many paint colours this is the best way to go about it. Once I know the main colour of the walls, I can then go on to the next step, accessory shopping..
7. Accessory shopping – Now that the bigger items are in place – go accessory shopping. I do up a list of what I think I’ll need – such as: small round end table, gold framed rectangular mirror approximately 24”x12”. This is also when I check to see if there is an abundance of one shape or another in the room. If there are lots of square items, I then balance them out with some round smaller items and accessories. Most decorators and designers will pick up way more accessories while shopping so that they have a choice when doing the final placement. You just return the items that you don’t need.
8. Keep on track – Now is when you’ll usually get distracted by other items for another room in your home. Try and keep focused and only purchase for the one room – your budget will thank you and you’ll have one room done instead of all of them in progress.
9. Put everything in place – if you have managed to hold off now is the time to put everything in place. Of course, first off the room should be painted and then the larger items positioned in place. Then the smaller furniture pieces and accessories, such as artwork, mirrors and decorative pieces are added. And Voila!! a perfectly finished space that is just like you!!
I believe that every space can be comfortable, warm, elegant and beautiful. I would love to help you achieve your beautiful space!
Email me at lisa@lisagouletdesign.com or if in the Ottawa area call me at 613-762-0818.
Lisa
