For some people creating a home environment they love and in which they live comfortably seems effortless.  For others it seems to be a painful and never ending process.  I can’t tell you how many times people have said things to me like:

Frustrated by decorating dilemmas?

• “I’ve tried arranging the furniture in this room in every way possible and nothing works.”
• “My house is too ____ (insert “big” or “small” – I’ve heard them both!) to look good.”
• “Even when I buy something I love, when I get it home is just doesn’t look as great as I expected.” 
• “I don’t have a clue where to start to make my house look better.” 
• “I love my house, I love my furniture but they don’t look good together.”
• “I want a beautiful home but I’ve got kids and we have to live in the house, not just look at it.”

Making It Work

I’m here to tell you there is a way to arrange your furniture and decorate with things you already own so that your home (whether big or small) looks good, reflects your personal style and is a comfortable, welcoming place for you, your family and guests.

I’ve done redesigning for clients – redecorating with furniture and accessories they already own – and at the end of every project they’ve said something like, “I can’t believe this is my house”, “I never would have thought of doing that”,or  ”It’s my stuff but it looks so different.”

You can count on one hand the steps it will take to make your home look good and work for you – literally, one hand.  I’ll take you through five key steps, one for each finger on your hand, that you can use to make your home decorating work for you.  Starting next Friday I’ll introduce the first of these key steps to you.  At the end of five consecutive Fridays you’ll have the information you need to transform your home so your furniture and accessories look better and work better for you than they do today.

You can count on one hand the steps for redesigning a room. Photo flickr.com

Before We Start

There are a couple of things you can do now, before we officially start the redesign, that will help speed your process along and make it more successful.  After picking the room you want to redesign do the following:

1.  Take photos of the room you will be working on.  Yes, this is your “Before” documentation.  “Before and After” photos will show you how successfully your redesign process worked.  How you see things now may not be how the camera sees them.  You may also think you’ll be able to remember the room as it is now, but trust me, during the process you’ll be so engrossed in moving things and trying new ideas that by the time you get to the end you won’t remember what the starting point really looked like.  Take a minute and capture it now.  Stand in the middle of the room and shoot toward each wall and stand in each corner of the room  and shoot diagonally to the opposite corner of the room too. 

Take pictures of your room before starting the redesign. Photo flickr.com

2.  Clear the clutter.  Before we start redesigning your room take the time now to remove any of the stuff that’s migrated into the space and really belongs elsewhere.  This might be kids’ toys, books, office papers or mail, shoes, or any number of things that got left behind and belong elsewhere.  Also, get rid of old newspapers and magazines, even if they’re neatly stored.

3.  If you want to paint the room pick a color now and buy the paint and supplies so you’ll be ready at the appropriate time.  Take a look back at Terrie’s color series and reread my post on painting a room.  Pick a color, test it and be prepared to paint between step 1 and 2 or between step 2 and 3 of the redesign.  Don’t wait until after the redesign to paint because you’ll just have to mess up all your hard work by taking down art and moving things out of the way in order to paint.  First paint – then redesign.

If you plan to paint your room do it before your redesign. Photo flickr.com

Next Friday

I’ll introduce the first of the five key steps for your room redesign next Friday.  Be sure to check back or, better yet, sign up for free updates by email (just complete the email and name information near the top of the right hand column and then click “Subscribe”) and you’ll receive the latest posted articles in your email Monday through Friday.

If you have specific problems or issues you’d like to see addressed in this series, leave a note by clicking on the Comment link below or email your question or input to me at solutions@yourdecoratinghotline.com.

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