How to Start Designing a Room
When designing a room, I like to start from the ground and work our way up. Before buying anything, define the room's aesthetic and function and when you’re ready to begin the design process - start measuring! Space planning is an essential part of the process because it sets the parameters and outlines the goal. Once you have your measurements, draw out a floor plan so you can play around with what’s going to work best in the space. I will even go as far as getting grid paper, outlining the space, and even making cutouts of the core furniture and playing around with layout that way.
A good rule is to start with the rug, the bigger the better. This sets the foundation for the room. Rugs are the biggest piece of art you’ll invest in and they have a place in every single room. They all serve a different purpose and not all need to be a hero. A good rule of thumb when it comes to finding the right size rug is you want it to span under your furniture. Your focal furniture (i.e. couch or bed) should at least have its front feet on the rug, but if you afford to have all the legs on the rug then that’ll make the room look even bigger.
Once you have the rug, define what furniture pieces you need for the space. Start with the piece that you’ll be utilizing the most, usually the couch or bed, these are also typically the biggest focals. Then move onto the accent furniture such as chairs and side tables. And keep in mind that your accent furniture doesn’t always have to match, but does make for a more cohesive space.
This would be a good time to start testing different paint swatches in the space to see which one goes best with the furniture items you’ve already purchased. Before moving on to tying everything together with decor, finish painting the walls and start to see the space transform.
Now that you have the main ingredients for the space and a fresh coat of paint, let’s move onto the decorative details which can be anything from pillows, throws, candlesticks, vases, curtains, baskets, trays, and of course bringing in art and plants can breathe so much life into the space. There are so many accessory items that add so much depth to a space but you by no means need every single accessory. Only buy accessories that make sense for you and bring you joy when you look at them. After all is said and done, this is your space and you have to live with it so trust your gut and do what works best for you.