Photos By: Marsha Kotlyar

If they eliminate regular annoyances like not having enough hot water for the whole family or rooms that aren’t bright enough, then it will provide a lot more value. Here are three tips for redecorating your residence that seem small but make a big difference.

Living Room Decoration and Floor Plan

The organisation of the living room and any redecoration of it should consider the seating arrangement. In a home that has several occupants who like to relax in the living room and converse or where guests come in frequently for a chit-chat, then armchairs and sofas should be arranged to face each other. Doing so avoids people having to crane their neck around to look at the person they’re talking to. Also, adding a rug that covers the entire seating area and individual lighting makes it clearer that this is a place for relaxation, thinking and in-depth conversation.

Use Neutral Colours for the Walls

Whether you’ve been living in your home for a few years or it’s a recent purchase, the walls might not be to your liking. The general idea with interior walls is that they don’t stand out for all the wrong reasons. They should have lighter, neutral colours. Think white, peach, pale blue, etc.

The reason for lighter colours is so that sunlight (and artificial light sources) gets reflected off the walls ensuring each room is as bright as possible. It does a far better job of keeping the corners of each room illuminated too. When using darker colours, the mood is generally as dim as the shade used. It tends to be a bad idea and makes the home difficult to sell if you ever put it on the market a few years down the line.

Fixing Hot Water Systems, Finally

In a home that you’re busy redecorating, it’s a good idea to think about the hot water system that the home currently has. The older it is, the more wasteful it will be both from an energy and water resources standpoint. Given the volume of water that the average homeowners use in a month, that’s not something that should be ignored.

Have a professional look at the plumbing including the hot water pipes to see if anything needs to be done about water distribution before redecorating starts. This way, any necessary changes can be completed before painting the walls and making other final touches. Getting the appropriate water capacity for your home is important, otherwise you’ll be fighting a running battle with hot water resources. However, the good news is that to find a 250 litre hot water system is not that hard. Just be sure to pick a quality brand and a reliable company to fit it for you.

Aim to redecorate strategically by making the changes that will have the most impact in your living experience. They don’t have to be the flashiest or visually impressive to do that.

Photo: Alvarez Homes

You’ve just purchased a fresh home, and now you’re ready to tackle the insides and create your interior design dream. You’ve watched countless HGTV reality shows and can’t wait to pick out backsplash tiles for the kitchen, discuss accent pieces for the living room or choose a chandelier for the front entry. Before you get too ahead of yourself, it is essential to understand the phases of an interior design project and what you can expect from a design agency.

Step #1: Consultation And Programming

Initially, you’ll meet with your interior designer and discuss your needs, goals, must-have items, favorite colors and so on. This is the same phase that will address the budget. If you’ve just purchased your home, remember to break out that mortgage calculator again and factor in the payments you’ll be making on your home. You don’t want to stretch yourself too thin in the design process and have trouble making mortgage payments!

Photo: Christina Karras

Step #2: Schematic Design

Once the consultation is done, a budget is talked about, and a plan is set in motion, your designer will come back to you with a schematic design. This will help you picture how furniture will be arranged, what renovations (if any) need to be made, how the flow of the house will function and more. Your designer may have some initial furniture/design options to suggest, but these are very preliminary and usually just designed to show you what the space could look like. Clients and designers will often negotiate on the schematic design for a bit.

Photo: Salcito Custom Homes

Step #3: Design Begins

This is the phase that they highlight in your favorite home design shows. This is where colors, fabrics, finishes, materials and other considerations are chosen. And, it is where you begin looking at furniture, accents, appliances and other physical objects to fill the space(s) with. Estimates are drawn up to determine what the cost of all of the design elements will be. Again, there will be lots of back and forth negotiating between client and designer before a final design is agreed upon.

Step #4: Construction Considerations

Even if you aren’t making any major renovations, you still have to consider looking at who is going to install new light fixtures, apply paint or put down new flooring. In this phase, you and your designer will look at possible contractors for the job. Some designers have contractors in-house to handle this work. Otherwise, you may have to shop around and accept bids/estimates from many different contractors. This phase is more tedious if there is a lot of contracting to be done.

Photo: Houzz

Step #5: Final Finishes

This is the last day or last couple days of the interior design process. The final few appliances are installed, construction wraps up, the new floors are swept, furniture moved in and so on. This is the day you’ve been waiting for because you can finally see all the fruits of your labor and planning paid off.

Conclusions

With the interior design process completed, there is nothing left to do but put your feet up in your brand new layout and enjoy your fresh surroundings, before calling all your friends to show off your new pad, of course.

Many think that tackling a decorating project will be a huge challenge that takes weeks or even months to get your furniture and colors right. Even when you’re finished, it may not look just right. Clashing colors, démodé furniture, and the feeling as if your room is missing something are some of the regular challenges homeowners face. It’s easy for you to get that designer decorated look by following some of our simple pointers to get your started:

Photo: Elle Espana

Pick your colors first. Once you have a color palette in mind, you’ll be able to pick out decor, furniture, paint, and accessories to pull off the look. For 2017 we are seeing tons of earthy, warm, and natural hues like harvest-influenced yellow, warm red, as well as cement grey and snow white. It’s an interesting combination and I’m excited to see how designers will put together rooms using this palate.

Photo: The Every Girl

Make your walls seem taller with oversized mirrors. I am obsessed with huge mirrors and what a dramatic difference they can make for a room. They reflect light and make a space look bigger and brighter, as well as visually enlarge a room making it look twice the size!

[perfectpullquote align=”full” cite=”” link=”” color=”#ff0073″ class=”” size=””]BDB Tip: You can even choose one of those huge mirrors that are too large to be hung on the wall and instead are meant to be leaned against the wall. These provide a really pretty and glamorous feel to a space and give your room that designer seal of approval.[/perfectpullquote]

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Don’t forget to use coupons. Even professional designers look for the best deals they can get on furniture and accessories. You can save bundles shopping at great retailers such as Bed Bath and Beyond or BensonsForBeds. Pick the decor you love, enter the coupon code, and watch your savings pile up. This is a great way to save some extra cash on something that may be out of your budget like a beautiful Persian rug or some gorgeous designer sofas.

Remember to mix up your textures. If your room is filled with neutral colored decor, add visual interest by integrating different textures. For instance, in a room filled with cream woven baskets and brown bamboo shades, hot fuchsia raw silk throw pillows would break up the color and rough texture throughout the space.

Photo: Home and Fabulous

[otw_shortcode_quote border_style=”bordered” background_color_class=”otw-pink-background” color=”#ffffff”]Suzy’s Tips: I have seen designers use hot pink pillows to pick up bland looking rooms all the time. There is something about fuchsia that brings a sense of energy and youthfulness that other colors just simply cannot. I am not a fan of decorating with pink, but when using it in limited quantities like a small flower arrangement or a splash of pink in a painting, really makes this color a dramatic statement.[/otw_shortcode_quote]

If you have a room that’s small and doesn’t get much natural light, remember that painting the walls a dark color will make the space feel more closed in. If you want to avoid this, go with a lighter shade. Painting your whole home dove grey seems boring, but this color can look very luxurious if done right. The right light grey opens up a home and makes it look huge! Installing wall moldings throughout and decorating with opulent furniture can make this color look very, very, classy.

Photo: Fifi Cheek Blogspot