Here is some advice on where to begin if you are trying to tackle a design project of your own. Whether you plan to furnish a new home or update your kitchen, or even just need some inspiration to help you refresh your rental space, here are some top tips to help you tweak your decor.

Determine Your Overall Style

How will you want your interior space to feel? This is a trick to help you get to know your style: look inside your closet. Do you prefer tailored pieces, or do you have looser, more comfortable items? Do you find that you gravitate towards certain colours and patterns? One more way to help determine style is to think of any keywords that define how you want the space to feel. Formal or elegant? Playful? Monochromatic?

Write down these design inspirations and use them as a starting point to help yourself choose elements of your interior redesign or to help you look for images online that can help get the ball rolling. You can even think about a time you stayed at a hotel or visited a restaurant whose decor you really liked.

Think About What You Don’t Like

It can be a lot easier for people to understand what they don’t like. By making a list of things you don’t like, you can eliminate some choices and help hone in on others. For example, some design elements, like a certain type of wallpaper, might not sit well with you or bring back memories that you would rather forget that you wouldn’t want to see in your own space. Certain colours might make you feel like you’re stuck in an old trend that you don’t want to repeat. These memories and reactions are personal, but they help to define your tastes.

Use Spatial Planning

Building around your space is another essential part of redesigning it. Don’t go for furniture that is too large or too small for the space that it will be in. Instead, try to build around some furniture that you have space for and think about its balance in the room. If you’re furnishing a larger room, think about making zones for different activities like a seating area, or television watching area. Think about the visual weight of each piece, and having proportion and scale is key to any successful design.

Get Paint Samples

Before committing to painting entire walls, get paint samples instead. Paint selection is an important and cost-effective decision when it comes to a redesign. Proper paint choices can help you connect spaces together, so consider the entire house or apartment as a whole. If you start by painting each room at a time, you will risk creating disjointed rooms. Make sure to think about how colours will affect your mood. Some colours make people feel calm or happy, or even agitated. Sample the paint colours that you are interested in on each wall when considering your options. Then observe them during the hours of the day and at night.