No matter if it's your first home or not, moving into a new place can be a great new chapter in your life. A significant decision like this unfortunately goes hand in hand with uncertainty and stress. Numerous tasks must be completed, such as coming up with art decor ideas for your new home. Ideally, you want your home to feel like a home to you, your partner, your kids, and family and friends. But how do you accomplish this?
Picking your favorite couch and hurrying through the rest of the decorating process is not the best approach if you want your interior design to last more than two years. To make sure you are turning your new house into your ideal home, you need a solid plan. To help you with that, we’ve put together a list of all the important things that need to be taken into consideration when styling your home. We have also added some hanging artwork ideas as well as a few interior design tips to get you started.
Don’t rush to get your dream couch
Making a variety of things that you (and your partner) like work together to decorate your home is the goal. The last thing you need is a living room filled with mismatched furniture. Going for the couch that you saved on Pinterest two years ago isn’t the way to go.
When you first get the keys to your house, you might feel a sense of panic when you see it completely empty. To prevent you from making regretful decisions, the first thing you should do when you come around to interior design is measurements. Matching the scale of furniture to the scale of a room is critical. Having a large sofa can overpower a small living room, just like a dining table won’t look good if you don’t have room to maneuver around it. To easily prevent such issues, measure the entire space.
Create a layout
It's time to create a floor plan once the measurements are complete. You can easily get a general idea of the entire house from a decent floor plan. It’s important to be aware of the entire space before you start placing any type of furniture. There are two ways to draw a good floor plan: utilizing traditional methods like a pencil and ruler or using professional drafting software. We advise using software to do it because it gives you access to a more comprehensive floor layout.
Once the floor plan is complete, you can slowly start thinking of furniture placement. However, you need to make sure that the footprint of each furniture piece is scaled to match the size of the floor plan.
Imagine how you want to live
I once made the mistake of buying an expensive couch just because it looked fancy. A month later, I found out that I prefer having a couch that actually sits comfortably. The point I’m trying to make is that before you start your hunt for furniture, you need to ask yourself what you want. You need to start thinking about how you will spend your time in the house, what kind of lifestyle you live, and what your hobbies are. If you have big family dinners three times a week, you might want to have a bigger dining table and a kitchen island. If you’re a Netflix enthusiast, you should choose a comfy couch over a fancy-looking one.
Once you’ve determined how and with whom you will use the house, you can start decorating your home around that. Although it may seem ridiculous, this interior design advice will ultimately help you save money.
Social media is your friend
It makes total sense that you might not know how to style your home. To help with that, it can be very useful to get on social media and find some inspiration for your home. There are many social media accounts and platforms that share all the interior design tips or hanging artwork ideas you need. Think of platforms like Pinterest, Instagram, and TikTok. Many (aspiring) interior designers use these platforms to share some of the best and most useful items available. Consider each of these and decide which suits you and your family the best.
Create walls and artboards with these different styles and thoroughly study them. When you do this, you will become aware of certain details that can make all the difference in your home. Consider small touches like coordinating your doorknobs with your kitchen's knobs or experimenting with matching patterns while utilizing other prints.
Look at how and when colors can be used successfully or not, and when it’s the right time to be ‘bold’. These social media channels can serve as a source of inspiration for everything from choosing the ideal furniture for your personal needs to decorating your home in an artsy way.
How much can I spend?
Having a clear overview of your budget is a great way to prepare yourself before going furniture shopping. It may be tempting to spend $5000 on a sofa that you adore. But if there’s no room left in the budget to style the rest of the room it may have not been the best decision. You need to be strategic about how you plan to spend your money. Having a clear budget gives you some sort of guide as to how you can divide the costs of furniture and accessories between rooms. You might also make an exception if you find that perfect item that you simply cannot pass up. But when you do, consider other areas where you might be able to save something.
Find balance and add personality to your home
The most important thing to do when deciding how to style your home is to take your personal preferences into account. Many people consider how specific colors and furniture will be seen by others while decorating their houses. In the end, it's your family and you who will unwind on the couch or gather around the dinner table after work to discuss how your day went. Your house should be a reflection of who you are. Including some unique details that reflect your personality is a fantastic approach to do this.
When you try to personalize the room, try and create a balance. It’s important not to overwhelm everyone who visits you with personalized wall art and other types of decoration. Try to maintain a balance between orderly and cluttered. By doing this, you can still have a space for your body and mind to relax when you arrive home without feeling overwhelmed yourself.
Hanging artwork ideas
When it comes to incorporating personal touches while maintaining balance, I personally wouldn't choose a bright pink wall just because I enjoy that color. Personally, I’m more of a fan of adding touches here and there, and many experts agree with me. I have put together a list of hanging artwork ideas to aid with that, just to give you some more to think about.
Custom Soundwave Art
For us, there’s no better way to add personal touches to your home decor than to have some custom soundwave art on your wall. Having the ability to customize your own art, and having a way to relive those memories makes it more than just artwork. This is also a great creative gift idea for your family, friends, or significant other. If you haven’t tried it yet, we highly recommend trying out our customizer to create breathtaking custom soundwave art.
Framed mirrors
Mirrors are a must-have in your home, as it has many practical uses. If you think about it, there are a lot of mirrors in your house. Perhaps unintentionally, but this still means that it is an item that should be styled right for it to complement the rest of the interior. Mirrors provide you with a lot of options. But, using framed mirrors inside your home will bring the best combination of practicality and modernism.
Try an oversized mirror, or display several smaller pieces salon-style. Another excellent option to use this for decoration is to arrange smaller antique mirrors on a gallery wall or to use eclectic mirrors that nicely reflect the light. If not for personal grooming, mirrors are great to help make a smaller space feel bigger. For that reason, it’s a great art decor idea.
Create a gallery wall
A gallery wall is a stylish method of using frames to arrange photos and posters on your wall. They have become increasingly popular in the last few years as it is a great and fairly easy way to update your interior while adding personality and character to the space. We highly recommend using your photographs and art as decoration pieces for your gallery wall. If you prefer, you can also buy some curated art that you like instead.
When you have everything you want to add to the wall, make sure that you’ve thought of a certain theme. Look for a family theme, or go for memorable places that you’ve visited or still want to visit. If you choose art prints, make sure the colors complement one other and the rest of your room decor. When you hang them up, make sure that everything is measured up properly. don’t be afraid to line them up creatively. Doing it this way can add a very beautiful effect.
Paint a mural
In the past few years, we’ve seen a huge resurgence in bold patterns and colors, resulting in murals being more popular than ever. Whether it’s one large image or pattern, painted or not, it can bring a very fun dynamic to the room. Wall-to-wall murals create a sense of intimacy, and its size will impress those who see it for the first time. It is important to prevent the mural from being too overwhelming. To tone it down, add additional materials and features to the remaining space.
Use shelving
Decorating shelves is all about having a game plan. But if done right, it is one of the best items to add, mainly because it’s a great way of storing stuff as well. If you have the space, always go for more than one shelf. The top shelf should be mainly used for decorative items. You can add some height by incorporating plants or placing larger pictures on the shelf either horizontally or vertically.
On your bottom shelf, try and divide the space into two sections. You can still be creative with it, but having some sort of structure works well. For me, this bottom shelf is great to use for storing books or vases that I can’t put anywhere else. Finally, use colors that complement the other elements of the room.
Enjoy the process
Home styling is a challenging task. You need to consider each other's styles and strike a balance that benefits all parties. Taking your time is a very important thing here. Don’t rush the process, but instead, measure everything thoroughly, plan your budget properly, and look at multiple places before picking something up.
Make your home your own, with personal elements that are close to your heart. The ultimate goal is to come home and feel like you are in the right spot in life. Hopefully, our suggestions and interior design tips have helped you in getting there.
