Inspiration

5 things you need to remember when decorating your home

Article by Your Home and Garden

Good interior design is equal parts passion and knowledge. Alex Fulton shares five top things you need to create a great room

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5 things you need to remember when decorating your home

There’s nothing more exciting than getting your own space to design and plan for. Design is about what feels good for the person who lives in the space but, in saying that, there are a few things to remember.

1. Budget
This is numero uno. Having a set budget to work within is the most important first step and it’s always the first thing I ask my clients about. It is easier to work within a budget, especially when choosing products – for example, a sofa can cost anywhere between $1000 and $10,000.

2. Planning
Setting a budget goes hand in hand with good planning. Failing to plan each room can lead to inefficiencies with your design process. For example, it’s screamingly obvious who has planned and who hasn’t on The Block NZ!

3. Cohesion
Once you have a bunch of ideas, make sure you break them down and work on identifying a cohesive design thread. Using a visual platform such as PowerPoint can be a great way to create a digital moodboard of all your ideas. Consolidating them will help to clarify your vision.

4. Scale and proportion
Many design mistakes come down to inconsistent use of scale and proportion. The brain is hardwired to want order (in some form) and when these ratios are off, it can all feel very unbalanced.

5. Communication
Once you start to involve tradespeople and contractors, you really need to be able to convey ideas and make sure they are understood. So many good ideas get lost in translation or aren’t recalled or remembered by the right people. Write a ‘scope of work’ which itemises what needs to happen in each room so that all the specifications are there in black and white and nothing is left to chance.

Words by: Alex Fulton.