How To Get Started - 12 Point Checklist

Here's a How To 12 point checklist to help you get started on your Home Decorating project journey -

1. Look through home decorating magazines and books and see what inspires you and what things you respond to and resonate with you. Collect ideas you like about color combinations, furniture and fabrics.

Develop your style, your eye, your taste - If you don't think you’re clear just quite yet, or you feel you haven’t developed your own style, your eye, your taste, start going about learning and looking around you.

2. Go to the color swatch display area of your paint store or hardware store and look through colors and color ranges, and note what you gravitate towards and what pleases you the most.

3. What colors do you love?

• If you love pastel tones, then mix and match their delicate palette hues in overlays of their wonderful soothing, relaxing, merging colors.

• If you love earthy colors, surround yourself with the earth tones and textures of nature, the autumnal colors, the greens, olives, burnished browns, oranges and yellows.

• If you are bold, use bold colors and accessories – in reds, dark blues, greens, purples, browns and blacks – try the wonderful decorator color aubergine.

4. Think of textures you love – grainy, coarse, robust, or smooth and velvety. Take note of these things about your preferences.

5. Note what clothes you wear – they can be inspiration to your home decorating - your favorite clothes or accessories can be anchors or features for your home decorating.

6. What are you passionate about? Home decorating can be a story of how your passions can transform your home … It may be artifacts and collectibles from your travels, or whatever takes your fancy ...

7. Your hobby or hobbies – do your hobbies lend themselves to being expressed in your home decorating? As talking pieces, or blended into the environment. Whether you love art, music, sports, movie memorabilia, cartoons, comic books, collecting seashells and coral, pets, and other things ...

8. Your Collectibles can play a featuring role in your home decorating, with great style and panache.

Surround yourself with the beautiful things you love. Honor your home by decorating it as a way to express who you are from your inner core.

9. Go and visit home decorating stores - even if you can't afford to shop at the best stores, go there to see what it's all about. Don't slavishly follow everything, but develop your sense of what looks good.

10. Are there any Home Decorating styles that you like, or that you tend to gravitate towards that can give you a general direction? Perhaps its Contemporary or Modern, or Country, or perhaps Classical or Traditional, or Tuscan or Mediterranean, Mexican, Asian, or Rustic, or a combination of a number of styles? Which do you or would you feel most comfortable with every day?

Now, I’m certainly not advocating that you slavishly follow a particular style. Remember, the focus here at my website is helping you develop your own individual style and your intuitive knowingness and confidence about what is you and what is right for you. This is about you and only you. We’ve spent quite a bit of focus on the importance of developing your own style – one that really expresses who you are.

Now that may be based on one or more or a combination of the styles, that is your choice. The most important thing is that it is you and expresses who you are and your loves and creative expression!

If you would like to go with one of the styles then do so. It’s your choice. Research it. Plan it out. It’s what inspires you to move forward that’s important here.

11. Avoid following the latest 'hottest' trends or fads – It’s best to steer clear of predictions about what’s 'hot' or the next 'big trend', unless you’re OK with finding yourself in the position of having to change your home decorating every year or two, or as often as you change your wardrobe.

Most importantly, the more your home decorating reflects who you are and the things you love, the longer you will be happy with it for an extended period of time, and the longer it will last and you'll get great mileage out of it and truly enjoy it.

Remember that the more understated and elegant the interior the longer it will stand the test of time and last.

12. Be Multi Sensory - Go for it!
Home decorating is not only about designing and arranging your home. It’s also about stimulating your mind and 'physical' experience of your surroundings. And, beyond that, its also about feeding your inner self, your soul ...

Create an atmosphere – Lighting is a fabulous mood creator. Create a focus with a lamp in a corner, or particular spot for accent. Light scented candles, light up your fireplace for an incredible effect and surround your room with further candles. WOW, what an atmosphere you'll create ...

Listen to music you love, use soaps that are creamy, luxurious, lathery and smell great. Go for the multi sensory approach.

For more information, go to http://www.home-decorating-ideas-for-you.com/

Happy Home Decorating!

Kathy Baker
http://www.home-decorating-ideas-for-you.com

Clearing the Way is a Great Way to Start! ...

If you haven’t already, it’s a great idea to start with De-Cluttering your home or the room you're planning to decorate –

With Home Decorating, the saying - 'Less is Best ... Less is More' certainly applies and is a good principle to follow.

Your home should soothe your soul. It should relax, replenish and invigorate you - not weigh you down.

Think for a moment - How does your Home make you feel?

Clutter is a home atmosphere and home decorating 'downer'.

When you commence a home decorating project, it’s best that you start with as blank a canvas as you can. That’s not always possible. Be ruthless and get rid of anything that doesn’t seem to fit in your room, your home, or that doesn’t excite you or make you feel good.

Cleaning out the clutter and decorating to soothe your soul and stimulate you five senses will bring you closer to the invigorating, energizing and/or peaceful Home Haven you crave. It will actually help you reduce your stress.

An important golden rule – subtracting is often adding. This can be very difficult because furniture is often a very emotional thing for us. You may need to look around for some help with that.

When you eliminate an item from your Home, you not only free up space, but you actually free up energy and make room for new energy to come in. It makes your home actually appear to shine and sparkle.

Often, we can get so comfortable in our surroundings and attached to ‘things’ that we don’t realize that it would actually be less stressful if we got rid of them. It’s not easy to break out of our comfort zone – you’re not alone there. Sometimes it can feel like it would be easier to just leave things as they are and not tackle the task.

Clearing the way and de-cluttering allows for space for good new positive things/items to come in and fill that space.

Here’s a Vital Tip - Get rid of furniture, items, pieces, ‘knick-knacks’ that don’t excite you, that don’t mirror who you are, or don’t reflect your Soul. Get rid of the clutter – move yourself and your home to the next level.

You could donate furniture or other bits and pieces to charities to help others. One person’s throw-outs is another person’s treasure. Hold a garage sale to get rid of items. Pack them up and donate them to your local school fete or bazaar. You could even sell them on E-bay.

Happy Home Decorating!

Kathy Baker
http://www.home-decorating-ideas-for-you.com

Welcome to my Home Decorating Blog!

Do you want to create the Home of your 'wildest' dreams?

A beautiful, restful and rejuvenating home that you just love being in. One that reflects who you are, and enriches your soul, and of those around you, and anyone who comes to visit. A home that also uplifts you as you feel your way through the home decorating process and the energy that you’re creating ...

This Blog is aimed at giving you lots of home decorating ideas and tips to inspire you – to help you take a first step, or a few further steps forward, or help you take a fresh look, add a zesty new spark, or take some new direction.

This Blog is all about helping you develop your 'eye', your home decorating 'sense', or to help you develop it further, or even help you reinvent your approach, if that's what you're looking for.

Come on a journey with me and I'll show you how to create the 'home of your dreams'.

I will be updating content here regularly, so check back and visit often.

Happy Home Decorating!

Kathy Baker
Home Decorating Ideas For You
http://www.home-decorating-ideas-for-you.com