Here’s How to Decorate Your Home From Scratch (It’s Easier Than You Think)

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Moving to a new home and starting over? Before you start decorating your new home, be sure to change your address with the USPS. Don’t be overwhelmed! Here are six new home decorating tips for when you’re starting from scratch. You will see that decorating your new home is fun. and much easier than you think.

1. Discover your decorating style

If you can pin down the design style you want for your home interior, you’re already halfway there! An easy rule of thumb is to use the same style for the interior as the exterior of the house. With a homey architectural style like ranch or craftsmanRich, dark wood pieces, clean-lined furnishings, and lots of earth tones work well.

Here are four of the most popular home decor styles to consider:

Transitional

A transitional style goes with most architectural styles of homes. The look is a hybrid of modern and traditional, perfect for updating older home styles like Colonial or Victorian, or for heating a newly built home. The transitional home decor style involves the use of dark woods, stone, neutral colors, and earthy reds, sage, and olive green as accent colors. The furniture is quite streamlined but has more ornamentation and softer, curved lines.

Modern

A modern decorating style is well adapted and features clean lines. Wood and earth tones add a softer feel to clean straight lines. Mid-century modern sofas or items are popular. Country houses, Art Deco era homes, and homes built during and after the 1950s tend to do best with modern decor.

Contemporary

Contemporary design is the rarest and most minimalist of design styles. Few pieces are used in each room. Color selection is typically reduced to black, white, or gray with primary color accents. Metals and glass are featured, rather than wood. When decorating from scratch, a contemporary style is a good idea when you are working with smaller spaces and / or want to highlight the natural features of the home, such as large, bright windows or architectural details.

Cottage

Farmhouse is very popular nowadays thanks to designers like Joanna gaines. The style adds fun, cozy comfort, and a bit of whimsy to your new home. To decorate from scratch in the style of a country house, the most important thing is practical, cozy and attractive. Sofas should be soft for comfort and with covers for less maintenance. The wooden tables are earthy and casual. The colors and accent pieces have an antique or vintage store feel.

New Home Decor Pro Tip: Determine the exterior style of your home and do some research. Get inspired by the elements of that style and add your own touch to the look.

2. Divide your new home decor plan by room

The quickest way to get overwhelmed by an empty new house is to try to decorate the whole house at once. Prioritize which rooms are most important to you and make a decorating plan, one room at a time! You may want to start with your bedroom, living room, and laundry room. Pick two or three rooms at most and plan to decorate them one at a time.

Combining all the rooms in the house is a design myth. If you decide you want a transitional bedroom but a modern living room, go for it! Your home will have a lot more personality when you decorate it from scratch, one room at a time. Just be sure to add a unifying element to all the rooms to make them flow, such as a certain color or decor element in the architectural design style of the house.

Professional decorating tip: Not sure which rooms to start with? Think about the rooms in which you spend most of your time. You will want to do those first. You can always do the guest room later – close the guest room door and forget about it for a while.

3. Start with the largest piece in the room first.

Now that you’ve divided your decorating plan one room at a time, take the same concept and focus on finding the most important piece in the room.

The largest piece in the room is usually the most important and the most expensive. That’s why it’s important to start with that piece and work from there. In a dining room, start with the dining room table. For your living room, choose your sofa or sectional first. In your bedroom, the bed is the most important piece in the room.

Professional decorating tip: The largest piece in the room is likely to be where you will spend the most money. It is usually used to the maximum in the room, so quality is important. You can probably save some money on accessories, buy second-hand nightstands, or find a cheap coffee table, but never skimp on your sofa!

4. Take advantage of the experts

Many stores offer free (or inexpensive) design services to their customers. Most employ design professionals to help them make the right decision, the first time. Their advice can save you a lot of time and money. Here are some stores that offer free or low-cost design consultations:

Professional decorating tip: This list is not exhaustive. Do your research and find out if a store you like to shop at offers design consultation or service.

5. Paint is your new best friend

One of the easiest and cheapest ways to transform a blank canvas is by painting it. Repaint each room in a color of your choice. Now is not the time to be sure – choose a vibrant, bold, or rich color. Even a neutral mocha shade or light gray can have more impact than plain white. And the best part is that if you don’t like it, you can always repaint it.

Professional decorating tip: Paint the wall you want to draw attention to in a color that may be too bold for your taste. Once you do, you will have created a focal wall. Use that shade on smaller accessories like pillows, vases, or rugs to tie the room together.

6. Layer each room, over time

Decorating your new home is a marathon, not a sprint. As you spend more time in your new home, you will get to know it better. You may have new ideas about how you want a room to look and function in a few months, so don’t rush to do it all at once! These are the elements you will want to address over time:

• Accent color pops
• Floors / Carpets
• Storage / organization
• Decorative tables
• Turning on
• Textiles like pillows and blankets
• mural
• Window treatments

Now that you see how simple new home decor can be from scratch, decide on your style, prioritize your rooms, and get started. Your new home will look perfectly assembled in no time!

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