5 Easy Design Steps: From Imagination to Reality

Hi there, friends!  Thanks for stopping by today!  I'd like to talk about how I go about decorating a room - somewhat of a step-by-step brain dump on what goes through my mind.    Maybe something I share here will be helpful to you as you put together YOUR space.  Or maybe you've got advice for me - I'm always eager to learn more!

(This post contains affiliate links)

First, a disclaimer.  I'm not a designer.  No way, uh-uh, no how.    I've got no formal training, or even informal training, on how to design a room.   Nope.    But!  I've been fooling around with home decor for my whole life.  I remember devouring my mother's Better Homes and Gardens magazines when I was a little girl. Before I was 10 years told, I would draw floor plans for imaginary houses on construction paper - for some reason they always featured a "sunken living room" - I think that was the Brady Bunch influence.  Then I would pore over the Sears & Roebuck catalog and pick out all the furniture that I would put in my made-up rooms, and I'd draw them into my imaginary floor plan, all the way down to the houseplants in the corners and lamps on the tables.

As I grew up, in every place I've lived, I've attempted to create a comfortable, somewhat well put together living space for our family and our guests to enjoy.   In the early years, I made some big mistakes with pattern, color, scale.  Honestly, I still make some mistakes like that!  I also made some bad impulse buys, and some bad investments in over-priced pieces I thought were "high quality", and bought too many cheaply made pieces because of the low price tag.   After 30 years of marriage and owning four different homes, I've kind of settled into a groove a little, and things are starting to come together better for me now.

So, I thought I'd share my thought process with you.  Maybe you're getting ready to move to a new place, or maybe you want to start to pull your decor into more of a cohesive look.   Follow along with me below, and let's get those creative juices flowing!

5 Easy Steps of Decorating:   From Imagination to Reality

Step 1: Gather Inspiration Photos

The first thing to do engage the Imagination!    Gather up all the inspiration photos you can find.   Back in the early days, I did this by cutting out magazine photos, catalog photos, newspaper photos, etc., and glueing them into a scrapbook or notebook.   I've had several "Home Decorating Look Books" over the years that I still pull out now and again.

Now we have Pinterest - the visual idea gathering wonder of the world, in my opinion!  Now I create a Pinterest board for my Living Room Ideas, and I pin all kinds of inspiration photos there.     I've got lots and lots of room ideas on my board, but here are a few representative examples:

This is Jennifer Lawrence's living room.  I love the soothing color palette, the comfortable chairs, the pretty accessories. 

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This is a movie set from the movie "Father of the Bride".  I've been a big fan of that house forever! I love the soft yellow walls, the white trim, the comfortable facing loveseats, the variety of wood tones, the soft accessories.

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This is an inspiration photo from an online design source.  I was searching "Colonial Revival" decor ideas, since that's the style of house we live in here in Harmony Hills.  I came across this photo and loved it - modern yet traditional, true to the age of the home yet definitely updated.  

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Gather a lot of inspiration photos:  Some because you like the particular furniture.  Some because you like the wall color.  Some because you like the general color scheme.  Some because of the texture of the pieces.  Etc.    What we're going for here is a "Look and Feel" kind of inspiration.  Your inspiration photos should be of rooms that capture the general look and feel that you're going for in your space.

Now, it's unlikely that you'll be able to exactly copy the photo in your own home.  First, your home is not the same as the home in the photo!  And you probably are starting with some pieces of furniture that don't match what you see.  And maybe (probably?) your check book will tell you that you can't afford the exact pieces in the inspiration photo.  But that's ok.

Dont forget - you can sketch your ideas too - you don't have to rely on something you find already published somewhere else.

Step 2: Create a Design Board

OK, you've got lots of inspirational ideas, now it's time to start making imaginary selections!

Now that we live in the digital age, it's easy-peasy to create a visual design board for your room.    I use the tool Olioboard to make mine.   There are lots of ways to do this - just search Pinterest for tons of examples.   I like to include at least:    Wall color sample, photo of the room, images of the furniture pieces I already own and will use, images of furniture pieces I'm considering purchasing, images of artwork that I own or that I'm considering purchasing, images of lamps or other accessories, etc.    If I can't find the exact image that matches my current furniture, I find something that is a close fit.  I usually try to arrange my elements on the board in some sort of relative position to how they might end up in the room.  

I repeat this process over and over and over, sometimes five, six, seven times, to hone in on the look and feel I'm aiming for.   If something doesn't feel right yet, I go back to my inspiration photos and study them to see just what it is that I love about them.  Then I go back to my design board and tweak something until it feels more like the inspiration.

Here are two of my design boards for my living room, one from very early on and one from a few months later after some purchase decisions had been made.

Another great thing to do is find color swatches that capture the feel of the room.    You can pull colors out of your inspiration photo using the "Snap It" button from Sherwin-Williams.  Or you can do a search for color palettes that you like. Or you can grab paint chips and put together your own swatch collection!   Here's the color palette I'm aiming for in my living room:

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You can already see that my design board colors blend - but don't match perfectly - with my color palette.  That's ok, in my book.    These things are both just guides to help you stay on track, not hard and fast prescriptions or limitations.

Step 3: Paint!

This is always the biggest bang-for-the-buck change that sets the room off in the right direction for me.   Things start to get REAL when you paint the walls!   Admittedly, sometimes the new paint color doesn't match the old furniture, especially if the room is taking a very different direction from what it was before.    Until you get the new furniture in the room, it can feel out of whack for a while.   When this happens, I use throws to cover upholstered pieces whose patterns don't match.  Or I buy an inexpensive slipcover to cover up the old furniture.  I've done that in my living room, as you'll see below.

Step 4: Purchase Major Elements One at a Time

OK, so now we're deep into making this room a reality.    We're buying stuff!    One word of caution from hard-learned lessons: don't buy a bunch of new items all at once, especially big ticket items.  I've made the mistake before of buying a lot of pieces for a room all at the same time, and then I get them home and they don't fit like I envisioned, or they don't look the way I thought they would in the space.   Now I usually get one thing and live with it for a while to make sure I'm still on the right track.  In our living room project, the first thing I bought was our new rugs.    After lived with them for a few weeks, then I felt good about choosing the pair of chairs by the fireplace.    It makes for slow going when you do it this way, but I've learned that I'm way less likely to regret my decisions when I do it this way.

Step 5: Update Accessories

This room is coming together!   Bit by bit, piece by piece, your imagination is becoming a reality!    As you bring in major furniture pieces, also update the accessories in the room.  A new lamp on a side table changes the feel of that corner.  Different vignettes on the corner desk give a fresh look to that part of the room.  New pillows on the sofa and chairs can totally update the look of the room.   Keep tweaking. Keep living in the space, getting a feel for how well it's coming along (or not).

That's It!

Now all you have to do is repeat these steps.   As you bring pieces into the room, revisit your design board and your inspiration photos.  Check in with your evolving imagination - Are you on track?  Did the new piece add to the look and feel that you're going for?  Don't be surprised if you change your mind during this process. You might find a piece of furniture that inspires you, or that takes you in an unexpected but awesome direction.   Let your creative juices flow as you enjoy putting your room together.

You might wonder - how long does this process take?   Well, it's true that what I've described can take some time... like, I've been in my house for just about a year now, and I'm still working on this room. Part of that is because of budget (finding available funds to pay for my purchases).  But an equal part of that is because I like to move slowly decorating a room now.   I used to try to pull a room together quickly, and that's when I made my mistakes.   Buying quickly because I was impatient led me to buy the wrong things.

I hope this information has been helpful to you as you go from Imagination to Reality in your own home decor!

Now I'd love to show you my Living Room in progress.   It's not done - but it's making some good headway toward the look and feel that I want to achieve.  

This view from the front foyer gives a good overview of the space.   The fireplace, the french doors, the front windows, and the archway to the foyer create a somewhat awkward floor plan for furniture arranging.  Because the room is so large, I chose to purchase two separate rugs rather than one huge one.

The chairs that flank the fireplace and the desk in the corner are all new purchases in the last few months.    I'm really happy with the look of these things compared to my inspiration photos.  The mantle decor is a never-ending struggle for me.  I'm not thrilled with this, but it's ok for now.

Our daughter is preparing to move out next week, and she will take this sofa with her.   So I'm in the market for a new sofa for this room.   The end tables you see here are thrift store find that I pained off-white. They don't quite work in this room for the long run, either in their coloring or in their size (see the left one is bumped out into the doorway?) These will be ok here while I imagine something better.  (That piece of art above the sofa is still bugging me - too small for its space - but the colors are just right.  Another thing that's chilling out where it is, ok for now.)

In front of the windows, I have a temporary set-up of old furniture pieces that no longer match my decor ideas.  These are 20-year-old chairs.  The one on the left is a swivel, and the one on the right has a temporary slipcover on it to hide the blue, green and yellow plaid fabric.   I LOVE these chairs - they're both really comfy and incredibly well made.  But the fabric?  not so much any more.    The swivel chair will be slip-covered with a white matelasse bedspread  and placed in a guest bedroom.  The plaid club chair will be slip-covered with a yet-to-be-chosen fabric and placed in a different guest bedroom.  Or maybe, placed where it is! Oh, and the round skirted table? Totally a 1989 design purchase, thats been through at least five different skirts.  Another design place holder.  

The room is slowly, slowly taking shape according to my design board vision.  I can see from these photos that I need to do more with accessories and plants.   

Here are a few of the sofas that I'm considering to replace the one that's leaving next week.   I"m leaning toward this first one:

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This one might be too boxy:

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Love this one, but not the price tag that goes with it.

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So, what do you think?  Do you have any suggestions for me for my sofa?  Or for my end tables? Or for the chairs near the window?  Check out my Pinterest board to see the options I've been considering, and help a girl out with some idea inspiration!  I'll meet you in the Comments section. :-)

Want to see more of Harmony Hills?    Take a tour of our house as it looked on move-in day.

Take a peek at our sunroom, that room that you see through the double doors in the living room.

Be sure to follow me on Facebook and Pinterest to get more tips and information about decorating in your home and garden. 

  

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Here's a source list for some of the items you see in this post. (some are affiliate links)

5-Light Drum Chandelier

8'x10' Rug

5'x8' Rug

Arm Chairs

Pier 1 Devon Drop Down Writing Desk

Small Coffee Table in Mahogany

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Linking to:

Home and Garden Thursday - A Delightsome Life
Creative Muster Party - Fluster Buster
Thoughts of Home - Poofing the Pillows

Metamorphosis Monday - Between Naps on the Porch
The Scoop - StoneGable
Make it Pretty Monday - The Dedicated House

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