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3 fast (and easy to apply) design rules to decorating any room

You don’t have to be an expert in home decorations to create a beautiful and inviting home for yourself. You just need to follow a few tips and tricks that will help you to have that home you’ve always wanted to have, just like the ones you saw in that fancy magazine last month or when you last visited IKEA. Or at least achieve a result pretty close to those designs. 

To get started, it’s enough to decide you want to make a change and look for inspiration. Fear no more, you’re in the right place! Here are some ideas to inspire you and sparkle the creative process. You just need to follow some basic design rules and simple guidelines to decorate the house of your dreams.

Choose a focal point for the room

If you don’t know where to start when decorating a room, then you should start with the interest’s point (or the focal point) and build the rest of the room around it. Decide what part of the room you want to emphasize and build around it. It could be a wall, a painting, a big mirror, or even a fireplace. Here is how to create your focal point:

1). Choose a wall and paint it in a different, bold color, or save yourself the hassle and choose a wallpaper that not only will decorate your room but also create a room enlargement effect. You can pick one interesting model that . 

2). Use a large piece of furniture as the main focus point. It can be a hand-painted vintage dresser for a color spot. A unique piece of furniture, just like your little corner. 

3). Add a large piece of artwork with vibrant colors or choose a big mirror instead with a decorative golden frame. 

Layer the lighting in each room

Lighting is very important in design as it helps in creating distinct areas in the room. Each room should have ambient light, which is meant for general and even lighting, and accent or focus point light, meant to emphasize an object, like a painting on the wall for example. A combination of the two of them will create a flattering atmosphere and offer dimension to every room. Choose lighting fixtures that match the furniture and other decors in the room. There is also the task lighting, which is meant as the name suggests for a certain task. This could be the light in front of the bathroom mirror or your desk lamp. 

Use the rule of odd numbers

When it comes to design, odd numbers create visual interest and are pleasant to watch. That applies for number 3 in particular, as designers and stylists recommend us to use this number when decorating the room. Be it three prints on a wall, three vases or bowls, these will capture your gaze and make the room more comfortable and interesting. How can you incorporate that into your house? 

1). Align three objects on a surface and place them in some kind of hierarchy, or other variation like size or heigh. You can choose to place them on the interior window sill, and candles are the most used element to add interest to a room. 

2). Pick three items that share the same color, even if they have different heights, shapes or sizes. Use the 60/30/10 approach to put them to work to create that special effect. Because they share the same color, will draw the eyes’ attention. 

3). Pay attention to the way you group the furniture: one sofa and two armchairs will always look better than two front to front sofas. 

Bonus Idea: Consider decorating with negative space

What is the negative space? Is the area that surrounds objects within a room, no pictures, no decorations, no furniture: in short, is what they call: “Less is more”. Designing with negative space can be challenging, but if you want to achieve a more spatial look of your room, it’s worth the try. Here is how you can do this:

1). Give it a purpose. What is the intent of that negative space? It could serve a purpose such as to highlight an area nearby or the shape of the negative space offers an interesting design you would rather keep and lose it by placing a decor item.

2). Try to avoid clutter as much as possible. This is the best way to make room for the important furniture items and make the most of the negative space. Also, try to eliminate decors that are not necessary, the room might look better off them. 

3). Keep it simple. It’s important to not overwhelm the eyes with too many decorative items on the way. They can look pretty good, but simplicity is sometimes more effective than a loaded one.

With a little bit of inspiration and perseverance, anyone can style their house to reflect their style and preferences.

One Comment

  • Ivy

    The focal point idea is just brilliant!
    Thanks for posting this article, I got inspired by some of the posts and I made a list with decorations needed to complete my living room design.

    Ivy

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