How do you know how to make your house nice?

[Newsenmum]

I know this is such a strange question but it’s something I really struggle with. My husband is no better. Our house is a real mess and basically everything needs redoing, so we try and do a room at a time when we can afford it. Honestly though, I have no knowledge of interior design. How do you decide how to decorate and what will look nice?
I can go to someone’s house and think ooh I like that, but that’s it. And the houses will look totally different. I have no sense of style. Help.

I agree. I tend to focus on one item and build it around that. Somehow once I have one thing, be it a sofa or table or cupboard I can get a feel and work around that. I find it quite easy to picture colours which work and to then pull out textures. I don’t have a lot of expensive stuff in my hole, sofas are DFS, cushions are dunelm but I can pull it together. I’ve got a few things I know always pull a room together and that’s good lighting and decent curtains and blinds. I currently have shutters which we in the house when we moved in but I always have curtains made to measure so they hang properly, I like Roman blinds as they work across all looks and I hate short curtains. It’s hard to describe but I can pull stuff out from anywhere from primark to somewhere fancy and make it come together. My sister is rh same. Her house looks like its interior designed but she rarely goes much more fancy than dunelm or TK Maxx

I feel like I've developed my style over the last few years and have really improved, the house looks much better so it is something you can learn and pick up tips.

Pinterest is useful for browsing and working out what you like and what you don't.

I start with the big, expensive items e.g. sofa in the living room or the bed, or the dining table and tend to go reasonably neutral if I'm going to be spending a lot of money on it as tastes and fashions change a lot.

Then get really decent storage so you can hide away things easily if needed.

I totally agree with sourcing things from charity shops, or I use Etsy a lot. So many houses look the same and I prefer a slightly eclectic look with my house filled with things I love. Paintings and artwork on the walls make a huge difference but make sure it's something that means something to you or that you adore.....not just some abstract art from IKEA or wherever because you need to fill a space.

Soft furnishings make a difference to the overall look of a room. So cushions on the sofa, blankets over the beds etc.

Lighting, lighting, lighting. Almost every room in my house has at least one lamp and often more and it feels so much nicer having a floor lamp and a table lamp on in the living room in the evening than "the big light" on.

Get a rug for your living room but make it much bigger than you think you need. Big enough that the front two feet of the sofa have to go over it. Nothing looks worse than a piddly little rug sitting in the middle of a room with lots of space around it (in my opinion.)

Don't go too matchy matchy. So rather than matching your duvet cover to your curtains or having the same cushions on each sofa for example don't exactly match them. Instead pick colours that go together, or even the same colour but play around with different tones and textures.

Be bold and be brave. If you don't like the paint colour you chose, you can change it. I have made loads of mistakes but it's only by trying things out you start to learn what you like.

Pinterest is your friend, OP.

Instagram is probably my main source. Start with the main interiors magazines. Pick out individual bloggers that you like the look of as you find them.

I also keep an eye on how local-ish houses in the same and slightly higher price bracket to mine are decorated on Rightmove, just to see how the market is developing and what a future buyer would expect. No plans to move in the near future, but I do like to think we could be ready if we wanted or needed to.

I'd echo what others have said in terms of collecting pictures of things you like on Pinterest. Once you've built up some images you might see a theme emerging.

I'd also give thought to how you want each room to feel, rather than look. Do you want it to feel warm and cosy? Then maybe darker colours, soft textures and rounded corners on furniture will help. If you want it to feel bright and cheerful, you might want paler walls, metallic accents and some brighter colours.

A low-commitment way to try out colours is to paint everything white and then buy accessories in the colours you like, especially cushions, blankets and throws etc. That might be enough by itself to give you the feeling you want but if you feel like you want a bigger dose of it then you can paint or wallpaper instead.

I also agree with the pp who mentioned functionality - I think this is the single most important thing. If the space isn't set up to be easy to use/walk through them it makes your life more difficult and really changes how you love your day to day life.

It might also be worth buying/borrowing from the library a few interior design books once you've identified a style you like. Those will give you a deeper dive into how and why that style works.

Hope this helps!

The thread needs photographs. Some people's idea of style might be other people's idea of bland or even tacky.

Rightmove can be useful.

Set up a search for a house as similar to yours as possible (eg 1930's semi, 3 bed, 1 bath, drive, garden, price band as similar to your own house as you can)
and then widen the search area to 50 mile.

You'll get to look at lots of similar sized rooms to yours and see what you like the look of.

I went for feelings, initially. The first thing for me was the bedroom needed to be clutter free, very peaceful, easy to dust, light and airy. So: built in wardrobe, it’s a decent size room, so I didn’t need to make it bigger by making the wardrobe doors mirrored. White walls, a huge painting of the sea on the wall opposite the bed. I don’t need pitch black to sleep, I have shutters in my bedroom (everywhere). I went for a plain bed frame, with solid back, I hate how the fabric one gets dirty where your head is, so just painted wood. Matching bed side tables at a decent height, matching lamps on either side. You spend a lot of time in your life in that room, the mattress is wool, with spring pockets, metal beds squeak, so no metal. I think fitted carpets are Petri dishes, so absolutely no carpets in the bedroom (anywhere in my house). And I hate the chairs of doom, where clothes get piled on, so I have a valet stand.

Sounds very clinical and cold, but I promise you, the first thing people say is how peaceful and cosy it is. I have a few plants, and the throw matches the cushions: emerald green, grey, and at Christmas I have red cushions and a white throw with red reindeers and Christmas trees on. Always white bedding. Sheepskin rugs on the floor in the winter.

Basically, functionality, storage, ease to clean, blank canvas and the rest you build up.

I think it's a case of training your eye. Make a Pinterest board of interiors you like and then study them and identify common themes. Think about colour/neutral, dark/light, texture, style (Houzz app is good. It categorises interiors photos by style, which will the. Help you narrow down what you like and what you don't), pattern or plain, materials you prefer etc.

Do you have any friends who are good at it? I seem to be good at interior design and can put things together well in a range of different styles/budgets. My two best friends often ask me for opinions or suggestions and I love doing it!

Maybe somebody in your friendship circle or family would help you?

Lots of people suggesting reducing clutter but it really depends on what your style is. I like lots of colours, patterns,textures,meaningful and practical things - and someone with minimalist taste would definitely find it a bit cluttered but it’s also very much its own look (example attached- to some people this would be much too cluttered but I love it). So spend some time working out what you like. I prefer mags to insta as I like to be able to scribble my own ideas down.

@KneesUnder Lovely! I'm coveting your ammonite.
Is your carpet seagrass and if so, how do you keep it stain-free?

Sad to say that’s just a picture of the style I like- it’s not my room, unfortunately 😆

Magazines are my favourite, but Pinterest and Instagram are really helpful too.

To start with, try to get together plenty of images you like of the rooms that you're currently wanting to work on - have a separate board/collection for bedrooms, kitchen, living room etc. Easier to do one at a time till you get your eye in.

Then try to work out the similarities between the images to help you figure out what you like best. Might be specific details like sofa shapes or colours that keep coming up, or an overarching 'look' like Scandi/rustic/Victorian/mid century, etc, but the more you look at the images, the more used you'll be to analysing exactly what elements appeal to you. It's helpful to have an idea of an overall style so you don't end up with a mish mash until you have more confidence putting things together.

Then start with one big thing and work from there. A fabric pattern or large piece of artwork you love are often a good starting point, as there are infinite paint shades so they should be easy to match.

I love all this and I know not everyone does. I'm on house number 14 now, mostly renovations, and all on a budget much smaller than I'd like, so AMA :)

My friend gave me a great tip around this - she told me to look round a show house on a new build estate etc. They are always beautifully decorated, with all sorts of colour schemes. We looked at a few and when we went in one that felt right and like somewhere we would live I just took a few photos and based our new interior around that. Made it so easy. Good luck.

I would Google an idea like "pink bedroom", "green kitchen" or "teen boy bedroom ideas" and look at the images tab. I take screenshots of what I like and what looks achievable and use those for inspiration.

Sounds silly, but close your eyes and think how you want the room to feel, and imagine colours which reflect that
Cool, warm, earthy dark, rich and decadent( with panelling and jewel colours, burnt oranges and terracotta to start with
I like cool and almost clinical so pale grey walls, slimline oak sideboard and coffee table. No rugs or cushions. But I'm probably a bit different to most!

People say our house is nice but it has never been designed. A collection of good quality furniture, none of which matches, warm colours, not cluttered but plenty of things around. Books, plants, art but also collections of things which mean something to us rather than just coming from a generic shop.

Maybe start with a couple of things you love such as a sofa and a rug and go from there. Make sure you include lots of personal things, bits you have collected, photos, heirloom items or whatever. Nothing is less interesting than a house where it looks as though the owners got a job lotl in Dunelm one afternoon.

The reality is this is something that takes time, energy and/or money. People who are good at it spend lots of time thinking about a room and how to make it work. Then the best rooms are a mix of designer, high street and second hand. But the kind of second hand that looks good either costs a lot or you need to be prepared to do a lot of work to it. You can shortcut this by spending money and getting an interior decorator.

Instagram and Pinterest- there's so much inspiration for interior decorating.

I think some people get it instinctively - I do although I am let down by being vv messy and disorganised. So I can make it look nice but then I can't maintain it, or I know what I want to do, but then I never get around to doing things like painting.

But you can also learn it, as there are principles of design.

I think the first thing to do is work out a colour scheme. This is a good overview with a starting point into everything. BTW your whole house doesn't need to be on one colour scheme, as this suggests - it's just one option.

https://www.heytherehome.com/how-to-create-a-whole-home-color-palette/

The only thing I feel like is missing from this is where to start - and I would always start with aspects of the room you can't easily change. So for example, if you have flooring in good condition you want to keep, and/or woodwork you don't want to paint - start there. If these are both changeable, then look at your furniture, e.g. do you have a lot of light wood? Or black clean lines? Or busy fabrics? Or just a piece of art/photo you absolutely love and don't want to change?

Start with the piece you can't or don't want to change and look at that - if it's wood, is it cool-toned or warm-toned, if it has a picture/pattern, is there a prominent colour or a more subtle one you can pull out? Then use that starting point to go through the steps in the article above.

Colour is useful to start with, because it can make such a significant difference and usually it's one or two things which are throwing the whole colour scheme off. If you can paint/change a rug/put a throw on a sofa/paint woodwork - then it can transform a room. So figure out what your colour scheme is, see what doesn't fit, and work out if you're going to change it or move it to another room, or if that's too much hassle, rethink the colour scheme.

Once you've got an idea of colour theory you'll probably want to look into making a room flow, which basically means thinking about the purpose of each room and making the space more focused on those things and that you can move easily between any different areas of the room and that the spaces are a bit separate.

The CRAP theory is good too. If a space looks too empty or cold, add more CRAP (Curtains, Rugs, Art and Plants).

And then you look into balance and negative space. If you keep adding too much it will look cluttered - it needs some empty space. Balancing is about spreading things out so that they look good - it's not about being symmetrical.

TBH, you can't go too far wrong with wandering around IKEA, snapping pictures of any of the fake rooms you like and then seeing if they could work for your space - if you look at the fake rooms, they often have a little plan at the edge telling you the dimensions and area. The genius part being that of course you can then buy that rug, that shelf, that set of matching tasteful boxes to hide all your junk etc. And if just starting out, try taking pics in ikea, then coming home and looking at what's different and what you can recreate with what you already have.

I find Pinterest good too. If you make an account on there then search "living room" or "bohemian living room" or "scandi decor" or "modern futuristic bedroom" or anything that appeals to you at all, it will show you loads of ideas and you can start to collate (pin) anything you like to a board called "Living room inspiration" or whatever you want.

Sometimes it's hard to explain what you want in words but the more you start to put ideas on there, the more it will get to learn what you like. I also find I can get "closer to" an idea e.g. I was trying to find a look with a kitchen where the bottom cupboards were black and the top cupboards were blue, so I kept pinning lots of different black kitchens, blue kitchens, and two-tone black and white kitchens and eventually the algorithm magically pulled these together and I did find a black and blue one to show DH the idea I had in my head.

Decluttering helps a lot too - this comes fairly naturally IME with the "defining a purpose of a room" step - but is useful to do alongside the whole process of learning design in general.

@BertieBotts
Such a great post, perfectly articulated.

The reality is this is something that takes time, energy and/or money. People who are good at it spend lots of time thinking about a room and how to make it work. Then the best rooms are a mix of designer, high street and second hand. But the kind of second hand that looks good either costs a lot or you need to be prepared to do a lot of work to it. You can shortcut this by spending money and getting an interior decorator.

Agree, my rooms take years to finish if they ever truly finish because sometimes it’s hard to find something particularly with budget constraints.

I agree. I have no “eye”, so I copy, make trawl Pinterest and houzz and mood boards. I’ll also use google images- for eg: “navy sofa” and see what looks good with it. Learn rules. I’ve learned that some colours complement each other, that* *everything the same or too matchy doesn’t look good, that throws cushions etc. need plumping.

I have very specific and not always mainstream taste, and mainly just go with what I like. I do find it helpful to either ask advice from people whose houses I like, or go on Pinterest, to try to picture the overall look of a room. I like the idea a pp mentioned of planning around one item. So if you love your sofa, or have an lovely inherited sideboard, building around that might be a good start.