Do you want a space that looks like it fell right off the pages of a magazine? Do you often find yourself staring at photos on Pinterest wishing you had that beautiful space in your own home or maybe you’ve even tried to create your own design but somehow something went wrong and you failed?
First, Don’t worry you’re not alone, I have totally been there, more times than I can count actually but today I’m going to tell you how this one decorating trick will change the way you decorate forever!
When we regular folk see fabulous interiors that look like they came straight out of a magazine we often just look at the surface and don’t dig deep enough to figure out why it looks like it does. We may think that the space looks amazing but ultimately believe its unattainable for us. We never truly “look” at the space to dissect what materials were used, what tones are present, whether it’s moody or light and bright.
Truly being able to understand interior design and how it works in the home is something that we all overthink way too often.
When the appropriate steps are followed the sky is the limit with what can be done in a simple everyday home. After years of decorating, redecorating and looking at every single interior image I can get my hands on, there is one simple thing that I’ve noticed.
Decorating Trick: This one thing is normally so subtle that we don’t always notice it yet can stand out like a sore thumb when done incorrectly and that’s……COLOR!
Think about it, color, in general, can make you feel happy, make you feel relaxed and even make you feel empowered! Now when I say color I don’t just mean the rainbow, I also mean wood tones, natural tones, and tones that are already present in an existing home.
Color is the one thing that can literally make or break a space!
Take this dining room, for example, this space is made up of white walls, natural colored tile flooring (which we will be changing down the road), and the design elements are made up of neutrals colors, whites, and wood tones.
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Yes, this space is pretty basic but were fixing to remodel the entire area to make the best use of the layout to ensure it works for our family but I wanted you to see how all of these elements work together and think about what would happen if I suddenly added in five or six more colors… It could quickly turn into a mess, right?
Now just imagine if we threw in a pink rug, brown curtains, and blue artwork. It would be hard to look at the space as one beautiful specimen when your eyes are darting from one color to the next.
Often when I am asked by clients or readers to look at what is wrong with a particular space the number of colors and tones used throughout the design is the very first thing that always jumps out at me.
Sometimes we do this knowingly and the style can turn out beautiful but other times someone is going for a modern farmhouse look and they just happened to use five or six colors of the rainbow and the tones are all wrong for the space.
The number one thing that has turned my decorating around and given me the ability to decorate like a professional is my understanding of color and my refusal to get off course once a plan has been put in place.
Obviously, plans change sometimes and there have been numerous times I’ve had to switch out pieces or artwork because they just didn’t work well in the space but the truth is the more you plan in the beginning the less you will run into issues and by sticking to the same color palette you don’t run the risk of any jarring mistakes.
Control the color = Control the design
Remembering that every single color you use will have a profound effect on the overall design is one of the most important things you can do when decorating your home.
Choosing four to five colors for your whole home color palette and sticking to an overall design plan will keep you from having to spend countless amounts of money and hours trying to fix an issue that only exists because the colors are all wrong.
Decorating Trick To Getting It Right The First Time
- Spend time planning out the entire space. For help knowing where to start and how to decorate like a pro, check out my post here. These are the fail-proof steps I use with each space that I create.
- Plan all design finishes and choose wood tones if using natural elements, if you’re not you should be.
- Create a whole home color palette and use variations of that palette in each room throughout your home. For help creating a whole home color palette see my post here.
- Once the plan and palette are finished do you best to stick to the plan only veering off course if absolutely necessary due to placement or something not working as well as you thought.
- So the next time you’re perusing Pinterest and come across a space your totally in love with try dissecting the design, working backward to determine what the overall color palette is and what natural tones and finishes are present and exactly how they were used in a space.
(This side of the fireplace isn’t done yet, we still have to add the reclaimed wood mantle)
Taking the extra time to plan and execute a decorating plan is the most beneficial thing you can do to ensure you end up with a well-designed home.
I think those of us that weren’t born knowing how to decorate or having a wildly creative gene often try to overthink what it takes to decorate a space and we convince ourselves that there is some magical power that we just don’t have but it truly isn’t that hard and anyone can learn you just have to be willing.
Once I officially started taking these exact steps the entire decorating game changed for me and I will never decorate flying by the seat of my pants again, I will never walk into a store and purchase something outside of my color palette because I already know it won’t work with our design and will no doubt be a total waste of money, trust me I’ve tried and it never works out well.
Having the right knowledge of your space and being able to determine what works for your plan and what doesn’t takes all of the guesswork and what I believe most beginners fear right out of the process, in the end making things easy and changing the way we approach decorating forever!
Black Dining Chairs || Tufted Dining Chairs || Comparable Dining Table || Macrame Table Runner || Mudcloth Pillow I || Mudcloth Pillow II || Black Modern Ceiling Fan || Highland Bull Framed Print || Tobacco Basket I || Tobacco Basket II || Tobacco Basket III || Barcelona Vase 12″ || Faux Eucalyptus || Faux Eucalyptus II ||
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Xenia says
Dear Ashley, thank you very much for the great ideas and very structured explanations. It helps me very much planning the decorating of my house. I would like to ask you on your opinion how many wall galeries are ok in a house? I have a big wall in the living room with the dining table, 2 closed stairways (walls on both sides) and a hall between the stairways. Do you think it would be ok to decorate these walls with fotos? I would be very gratefull if you could tell me your opinion on this. Thank you!
Ashley says
Aww thank you so much Xenia! I think it’s all about sight lines and if you can see the stairwell gallery wall from the living room it could be too much but if not then I say test it out and if you love it then do it! You can change the frame size or the shape of the gallery wall to keep things from looking so uniform. Also I love the way even old vintage rugs looked framed and hanging in a space. There are tons of options, the sky is truly the limit. Hope this helps 😊
Teresa H Pridgen says
I recently purchased a leather sofa and loveseat in the dark brown. What are some ways I could neutralize this room without looking dark and dreary. My walls are an off white with wainscoting and tan on bottom part. I want to do something to make the room look bright and airy with a little color. I had thought about the soft ocean blue/green but I hesitate because I know I have no idea how to pull this together.
Ashley says
This exact same thing happened to us… We bought big bulky dark brown furniture as soon as we bought our home and I built our entire house around all of this furniture that I hated. Our house felt like a dungeon and after months of trying to make it work, I couldn’t take it anymore and put all of it up for sale. Yes, we lost money but not much and I was able to save and add to it so we could purchase things we loved vs continue to build around stuff we didn’t. First things first, Do you like the furniture? Is it something you plan to keep long-term or are you eyeing something different?
If you plan on keeping it I would brighten every single thing that you can. The walls being off-white and tan is likely not helping things feel brighter so that would be where I would probably start with a fresh coat of white paint on the top/ or bottom and you can either do a color on the other area or you could just paint it all white. Keep the paint color a warm toned white that will blend well with the warmer tone of the sofa and if you choose to use color on the walls I would make sure it isn’t something too bold that you may tire of quickly. A good way to bring in color and still keep it toned down is to go with muted colors and tones when choosing paint colors. Also, I would go lighter on decor pieces like rugs, lighter tones woven shades vs blinds, and light-colored throw pillows. I found several examples that I am going to link below for you. You should be able to get a good base then add in the blue-green color in small doses to see if you are going to like it before going committing to it. Personally, I think color looks nicer with a few pops here and there.
For the rug I would go with something light or you could use a vintage-inspired rug that has multiple colors throughout. ” target=”_blank” rel=”nofollow”>This one is in our living room and could really be used almost anywhere and still look great. Hope this helps!
https://www.housetweaking.com/2014/07/02/the-living-room/
https://www.hgtv.com/design/rooms/living-and-dining-rooms/21-ways-to-brighten-up-your-living-room-pictures
https://ispydiy.com/diy-duplex-thrifted-room-makeover-diy-faux-beadboard/
https://www.mydomaine.com/how-to-clean-leather-couch-5095651