If you're planning on trying your hand at some interior design at home, maybe for the first time, then here are a few handy tips to help you out.
Consider your budget: always make sure you have a good idea of how much you want to spend and that you account for all the items you'll need before you start purchasing. You don’t want to run out of money and be left with a half-finished project on your hands. If you need to reduce the costs, then where can you cut new purchases out? Stick with your old mattresses for example, or repaint some of your existing furniture.
Know your capabilities: don’t decide to knock down walls and install custom furniture unless you have the skills to do the job. Getting professionals in to rectify a botched job could cost more than paying them to do the work in the first place.
Think about style: if this is your first go at home decorating, then pick out something easy in terms of colors and patterns. This probably isn't the time for making a great statement which could go horribly wrong! If you need some help, ask in a local décor, furniture, or home goods store about what goes together or enlist the help of a friend whose home décor you admire.
Practical versus Pretty: don’t forget about the
Sarah Van Arsdale - We’ve all been there: a dinner party is imminent, and yet the house looks like hell. The table is still piled with books, dishes, mail, and maybe the stray hockey stick. The portable CD player is still on the floor, where you put it only as a temporary measure six months ago when you lent the side table to your sister.
And then the phone rings, with the news that two out-of-town guests have made it after all, and the guest list has suddenly expanded from six to eight. You don’t even want to think about the mess that is your linen drawer, because you know you don’t have eight matching anything in there. Panic is setting in. How can you create a fabulous design under these conditions?
Plus, you’re up to your elbows in hummus, with a group of artists, writers, and scientists arriving in mere hours.
This was the situation on an April evening in the seaside split-level owned by a culinary whiz.