Content

• Steps
• Part 1 of 3: Determine Your Style
• Part 2 of 3: Consider the layout of the room
• Part 3 of 3: Bring ideas to life
• Tips

Designing a room is a fun and time-consuming creative process. For a person who does not have such experience or the author's view, such a task may seem daunting. First, define your individual style and desired room ambience to make things easier. Next, collect ideas for a specific room and create the final design. Finally, buy the materials and furnishings you need to bring your design to life!

Steps

Part 1 of 3: Determine Your Style

1. 1 Analyze your preferences. Each person has their own, individual idea of ​​how an ideal interior should look like. Some people like spaces with white walls, laconically furnished with modern furniture. Others have a passion for lavishly decorated rooms with chic furnishings, blackout curtains, and dark shades. It is important to understand what you like and what room you would like to live in, and then figure out how to implement such an idea in the existing room. There are many online tests that can help you determine your aesthetic preferences.First, evaluate how accurately the following examples describe your personal style:
   • Rustic coziness: You prefer a rustic design if you like rural landscapes and natural surfaces like warm wood, rich leather and stone.
   • Modern and Urban: You have a modern aesthetic if you like big cities, travel and craving for bold, clean lines, geometric shapes, as well as chrome and glass surfaces.
   • Informal: You have an informal approach to design if you like modern colors and textures, but flowing lines and laconic décor. This design includes natural surfaces, vibrant colors and a welcoming atmosphere.
2. 2 Create an idea board. If you are not sure which style of premises you like or where to start working on interior design, then pay attention to which elements and solutions attract you the most. Use a large corkboard, poster board, or even a board like Pinterest to map out your taste preferences and understand what unites all disparate ideas. It is better to attach the elements with buttons, rather than using glue, so that unnecessary parts can be removed if necessary.
   • Start collecting samples of fabrics and patterns, paint colors, photographs of rooms, atmospheric images that inspire you (nature, animals, cityscapes, children), photographs of furniture, household appliances, lighting fixtures or decorative elements.
   • At this stage, you should not worry about financial costs. Usually you can always find options that are close in style or color in different price categories.
3. 3 Use examples. There are different places to see amateur and professional ideas for any space. Cut, print, and photograph whatever solutions you like so you can post them on your idea board. Explore places like this:
   • Internet. Browse the pages of professional designers, DIY blogs, or TV show sites about renovation. Also use photo sites like Pinterest or keywords ("interior design", "modern bedroom").
   • Magazines and books. There are many magazines and books in your local library or bookstore that focus on design, decor, or more general categories. So, when creating a kitchen design, you can use photographs from culinary magazines with real interiors, appliances and utensils. You can spy on the design of a bedroom or living room in another themed magazine (women's magazine, magazine for hunters or new parents) using the example of inspiring illustrations.
   • Salons and shops. Search the net for furniture stores, design studios, and home furnishings stores nearby. Equip yourself with a camera and go for a walk to take pictures of your favorite design samples or specific interior items. You can also walk through hypermarkets looking for different ideas, including specific colors and textures, flooring types, lighting fixtures and appliances.
4. 4 Critically assess the homes of friends and loved ones. When visiting a friend or relative, evaluate how you feel. Do you find their homes overwhelmed, screaming, or too bold? Do some dwellings look too laconic? Evaluate how it feels in a real living space to determine the style you want for your home.
   • Where do you feel especially comfortable, where you can always relax and unwind? Which design elements do you like the most and which do you feel out of place?
   • If your tastes are the same, then ask a friend to help you with the design of the room. Use the advice even if your friend can only name the stores where he bought his furniture and other items.
5. 5 Consider the psychology of color. When planning a room, consider the effect of different colors, textures and arrangement of objects on your feelings.For example, colors have a particularly strong effect on mood. For example:
   • Red is associated with passion, anger and warmth. It also has a suppressive effect and can cause headaches. It's a good accent color for one wall, sofa, or other piece of furniture, but many people think that painting an entire room red isn't the best solution. What's more, the researchers concluded that red can reduce cognitive performance, so be careful with red in offices and classrooms.
   • Green is associated with calmness, relaxation and balance, so it is a good choice for a living room or bedroom. However, too much green can rob a room of energy, so combine it with red or orange splashes to counteract the calming effect.
   • Blue is the color of intelligence and calmness, which can look cold and inhospitable if you don't use warm shades (like aquamarine instead of real blue).
   • Yellow and yellow-green colors are considered the least pleasant, but green-yellow (which is dominated by green) is the dominant color, which promotes increased activity.

Part 2 of 3: Consider the layout of the room

1. 1 Choose a room. Bedroom, bathroom, kitchen, living room - each room has its own function and "target audience" (people who most often use such a room). Your decisions should reflect the target audience as much as possible in order for the room to retain its functionality.
   • Each room in your home should complement the individual characteristics of the person or people who most often use the space. So, the design of a living room or office for receiving clients will differ significantly from a bedroom or a children's room. Again, if only you will use the room, then when choosing a design, you can be guided only by your own ideas and not worry about the individual standards of other people.
2. 2 Measure the room. Find someone to help you get accurate measurements and write down all the results. Measure the length and height of each wall, as well as the fixed elements of the room (built-in wardrobes, fireplaces, bathtubs).
   • Remember to measure your window and door openings, including width and height.
3. 3 Determine your budget. Before creating a design, you need to understand what you will have to work with. If your budget is not limited, then you can skip this step! Otherwise, consider every aspect of the room design you want to change, as well as an acceptable cost level. This allows you to focus on the elements that you can afford. For example, right now you won't be able to replace the carpet, but you can easily buy a small rug by changing the look of the room.
   • The budget should be a list of major categories and a breakdown by category with amounts. The budget is made for a specific room, so it will be different for the living room, kitchen, bathroom, dining room or bedroom. The following aspects should be taken into account in the budget:
     • Walls: Do they need to be painted? Do you need repair, replacement or installation of additional elements such as skirting boards, moldings or panels? Will there be wallpaper on the walls?
     • Windows: Do you need to install new frames or can you keep the current ones? Old windows can be outdated, draughty, and difficult to clean. Frames can be tidied up and given a new look. What about curtains, curtains, curtains or other elements?
     • Gender: Need to replace the carpet? Do you want to make a wood or tiled floor? How appropriate is it to steam clean an existing floor or add a small carpet to the room?
     • Stationary items: Need to replace your chandelier or other lighting fixtures? Sockets and switches? Do you need to repair or replace your sink, faucet or bathtub? What is the condition of countertops, built-in wardrobes, household appliances?
     • Furniture (sofa, tables, chairs, shelves, bed, cabinets).
     • Decorations: These include everything from candlesticks and wall paintings to a rug on a sofa. In many cases, it is enough just to replace decorative elements in order to refresh the appearance of the room. Do you want to decorate walls or shelves with photos and paintings? How about figurines, tapestries, wall hangings, throw pillows or throws?
4. 4 Choose furniture for the room. Think from a practical point of view: what furniture is needed for the primary use of the room? A bed, chest of drawers or a sofa fits this description. Then think about which pieces of furniture will make the room more comfortable or bright - a beanbag chair, coffee table or decorative table.
   • When making a list of furniture, indicate all existing items and new ones that you need to buy.
5. 5 Use online room planning tools. Examples and design tips from professional decorators will give you new ideas.
   • Experiment with different furniture placement options on specialized space planning sites. Enter the search term "interactive interior design".
   • On such sites, you can create a virtual room design with all aspects from flooring to color of walls, furniture fronts and kitchen countertops.
6. 6 Gather the necessary tools and materials. List the required cleaning and painting supplies, tools and repair equipment. Find someone to help you move heavy or fragile furniture.

Part 3 of 3: Bring ideas to life

1. 1 Start from scratch. Redevelopment of a room differs from decoration, as it affects the entire space, including the fixed parts - windows, walls and floors. Before starting work, you need to remove all unnecessary things in order to see a bare box with which you will have to work.
   • First, you need to remove all furniture and decorative elements (including wall paintings) from the room. If possible, arrange items in another room so that you can later decide which items can be used and which items should be sold or given away.
   • Do a general cleaning. Clean walls, windows and floors, as well as stationary items such as lights, switches, built-in wardrobes and panels.
2. 2 Start with the walls. It is recommended that you finish painting the walls or wallpapering before laying the floor so as not to stain the new coating with paint or glue.
   • Before starting work, it is often necessary to remove old wallpaper, as well as baseboards and baguettes.
   • Prime the walls and then paint all surfaces.
   SPECIALIST'S ADVICE

   

   Katherine tlapa

   
   
   Interior designer Catherine Tlapa is an interior designer currently working as a Design Specialist at Modsy, a design bureau in San Francisco. He also runs his own DIY home design blog called My Eclectic Grace. She received her BA in Interior Architecture from Ohio University in 2016.

   Katherine tlapa
   Interior designer

   Repainting walls is easy enough. Interior designer Catherine Tlapa says: “Remove everything from the wall, then wipe it down with a mild detergent or even just water. If there are holes in the wall, seal them up. Cover the door frame with masking tape. You can put a protective film on the floor so as not to stain it. Then apply to the wall as many layers of paint as necessary to obtain the desired color. "

   
   
3. 3 Deal with the floor. If you are going to replace carpet, vinyl, tile, or wood flooring, then skip to this step, but remember to cover the new floor when you arrange the furniture.
   • Wait until the paint on the walls is completely dry so that dust from the floor does not settle on the walls.
   • When finished, vacuum or mop the floor and move on to the next step.
4. 4 Arrange the furniture. Start with the center of the room or the largest pieces of furniture. Then arrange small and decorative elements.
   • Don't be afraid of rearrangements.Size and location may not match original design.
   • Make sure that the seating position is so that it is comfortable for those present to chat and watch TV.
   • Do not block the aisles for ease of movement.
   • Determine if rugs or side tables and seats should divide the room into zones.
5. 5 Lighting. In almost every room, a different level of lighting allows you to create a different atmosphere or illuminate only part of the room.
   • Equip the main light with a dimmer and correctly position the lights.
   • Use suitable curtains, curtains, or shutters to control natural light.
6. 6 Finishing touches. Such items may seem secondary, but small decor items and souvenirs often shape the character of the room and create a cozy atmosphere. Be judicious and choose only those elements that match the theme and mood of the room, and also increase the level of comfort.
   • Hang paintings and other artwork on the walls to complement the furniture arrangement.
   • Place photographs, gift editions of books and albums on the shelves and tables.
   • Use secret drawers for blankets, coasters, and other items that you will rarely use.

Tips

• Keep seasonal decorations and decorations handy to change your room decor throughout the year.
• The new layout should create a sense of comfort. Otherwise, make changes.