Trying to achieve the perfect balance of form and function in interiors is challenging as both the larger design and the smaller details are imperative when creating a space. Whether you have a natural eye for design, have no idea what you’re doing, are a seasoned professional or just enjoy dabbling in interiors for fun, we’ve compiled our top 10 decorating secrets to inspire your next project.
1) Use Your Wall Space
Utilize wall space no matter their height. Use them as a canvas for murals, bold gallery walls, hanging oversized textiles or trying our a bold paint color or wallpaper pattern.
2) Go Bold In Small Spaces
Boldly patterned wallpaper and just about any paint color in any finish will look designer in a powder bath if you fully lean in. Smaller spaces are great places to experiment with your boldest ideas.
3)Anchor Your Room With a Classic
Even if you change your home’s interior with every emerging design trend, keeping one classic piece in each room will keep your home from ever feeling dated and will always provide a touch of warmth and charm.
4) High/Low is a Budgeters Friend
Mixing high and low furniture and accessories creates a layered, interesting design that will naturally have an organic sense of harmony. Save to buy one high-end piece a year and invest where it matters in forever pieces that anchor your room and buy everything else secondhand or from a budget-friendly store.
5) Play With Texture, Pattern and Color
This is really your time to shine and play around with your style while adding so much interest to a space. Try mixing metals or mirrors with soft fabrics like mohair, velvet, and wool, a chunky knit blanket over a leather couch is a classic, mixing and matching china patterns for a funky dining room, or create a bouquet of color with throw pillows, wallpaper or layered rugs. The options here really are endless.
6) Make Old Things New Again
Reupholster antique chairs in a modern fabric or paint a vintage credenza in a bold, high gloss paint color to breath new life into old pieces. The juxtaposition of old and new creates a sophisticated but playful aesthetic that works in any room.
7)Follow The Rule of Three
When arranging decor items such as vases, candles, plants or flower arrangements pair them in odd groups of three. The rule of three says that things arranged in odd numbers are more appealing, memorable, and effective than even-numbered groupings and is used in everything from interior design to graphic design to architecture.
8) Look to The Ceiling
Ceilings are possibly the most neglected part of a room but it’s an excellent opportunity to inject an added dose of style to a room. For a pop of glam try a patterned wallpaper with a mirrored effect to reflect light or shiplap ceilings are a classic way to add in some texture.
9) Don’t Follow Trends
There’s one thing every trend has in common with the next: it eventually dies. Follow your instinct, even if it means going against popular interior design advice. Nate Berkus says “Your home should tell the story of who you are, and be a collection of what you love.”
10) Edit, Edit, Edit
If you question it, you don’t love it. Simple as that. What you don;t love you shouldn’t keep. Editing interiors will look different if you’re a minimalist, maximalist or traditionalist, our point is to simply remove what doesn’t serve you and in what does.
