Today's post was prompted by the premier online marketplace for all things art & decor, Invaluable. Through their extensive site, you can purchase furniture, decorative, fine art and more from some of the most famous names in home decor & interior architecture. If you're looking to add a great vintage or antique piece to your home, or just something you can't find at a mass-retailer, than Invaluable is the site for you!
For those without a lot of experience in decorating, it can be overwhelming to figure out where to start when approaching a space from scratch, or what to put together to make a cohesive scheme. As an interior design and architecture student, I am no stranger to pulling inspiration out of anything for project after project. I wish I could tell you there was an exact formula for becoming inspired for a new space, but there isn't. Each time I start a new project, I am inspired by something different! That's what makes it exciting. But today I'm going to give a few tips that will help you decorate any room in your house from scratch, so let's begin!
I find it's very hard to start with just a "style" when decorating a space. "Contemporary," "Traditional" or "Eclectic" are all very broad ideas, and can lead into a ton of different design schemes. AKA more overwhelming for you! My first tip when beginning to decorate a space from scratch is to make a trip to your favorite home store. For me, that's Home Goods or Marshall's, but you might find it to be a furniture store like Ethan Allen. Here, you'll get to see lots of different colors, styles, and start to think about the direction you want to go. Pinterest is another great source, as well as antique stores or sites like Invaluable. You'll know you've found a direction when you find an item that really speaks to you, and you can picture it in your space.
Once you have in hand (or plans to purchase) your starter item, then you can go forward with your design. There are a couple things to consider when taking the next step in the design:
1. Is there anything staying in your space that you need to factor in, such as existing flooring? These things can help start identifying a color scheme. For example, if you have dark wood floors that aren't changing, and your starter item has grey in it, then you can start to pick other colors around those. Tan would be a no, but a cornflower blue would be dazzling.
2. What matters most to you in your space? This can help identify where to go next: if it's comfort, perhaps pillows and a lush couch are next. If your doing an office, maybe it's a nice desk and chair. The first things you pick for a space should be the things that matter most to you.
From there, it's all about piecing the parts together! The fun part is seeing your space come together, piece by piece. A key factor in good design is balance, so that is something that will guide your decor choices. If you've got an amazing patterned chair that you are obsessed with, coordinating patterned pillows on the adjacent couch, and an eclectic piece of art, you should probably stick with solid curtains and low-key accents. Otherwise, you'd be looking at an explosion of pattern and color and that's probably not the look you want for your space!
I did my own version of this for fun, to give y'all an example. I started by finding an amazing bed from Invaluable's extensive site, an American Eastlake Carved Mahogany Bed circa 1900. I was immediately drawn to the beautiful variation in the wood headboard and footboard, and the solid structured nature of it. You can just feel the history exuding from it! So that was my starter item. From there, I knew the next mission would be to find side tables or nightstands. I wanted something that would reflect the same design principles (hard, linear lines) but that would be more lightweight to add contrast to the bulky bed. Enter these gold nesting tables! They mimic the rectilinear structure of the bed but the negative space adds a lightness this bedroom will need. Up next was lighting, and these gilded lamps bring some curves into the mix, while keeping up with the gold and semi-traditional look that's going on in the space so far. After that, I went to the bedding and art. I picked this canvas because in it I saw the various tones of the aged wood, and I knew it would bring the bed, tables, lamp, and bedding all together.
{Side note & tip here: Art is a great way to make it all go together. Whether you've got a couple different colors that you need to all look cohesive, or you're trying to match styles like I was here, art is the way to do that! One piece can usually solve all problems... A picture really does say a thousand words!}
So there you go; hopefully I made starting to decorate a place from scratch seem less intimidating.
It really is a fun process!
Shop This Post: Bed via Invaluable / Pottery Barn Side Tables / Pier 1 Lamp / Kirkland's Art / Pottery Barn Bedding / Kirkland's "Relax" Pillow / Kirkland's Aqua Pillow
--Caroline
