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Think a DIY interior design project is beyond your talents? Think again …

Have you become bored with some area of your home? Maybe your

living room looks outdated, or you’re just plain tired of that same old look. Hiring a professional interior designer is an expensive proposition and you can’t afford that remedy. You’ve never thought that you had any particular talent with redecorating, which is essentially what interior design is. Somehow that phrase, ‘interior design’ is intimidating, evoking thoughts of years of formal training and huge sums of money. Instead of simply repainting the walls and letting it go at that, do consider that a DIY interior design project is doable and can provide an inexpensive remake, personal satisfaction and be a lot of fun. You can do it!

To my way of thinking, many professional interior designers impose design elements which result in a somewhat stilted, museum like quality that lacks the personality of ordinary people. You may be told that a certain type of lighting or fabric is the latest in design trends. The client who lacks confidence in their preferred choices may just accept the interior designer’s choices and end up unhappy with the finished room. You know what you like and what makes a room comfortable and inviting to you. Go with your instincts and tackle that DIY interior design project with gusto!

For the novice designer, approaching a DIY interior design project requires little more than a desire and a plan. Take heart in knowing that your plan will take the project by steps, worked out on paper and with software, before you change a single furnishing or decoration in that room.

Here we take you through each step of a successful DIY interior design project.

You’ll want to first visit an art supply store and purchase a Pantone color wheel or fan. You can also find charts online, but it’s easier to work with something you can hold in your hand. Your purpose is to develop a color scheme that pleases you. Pale, neutral colors work best for large areas, such as walls and carpeting. If you don’t want to replace large existing pieces of furniture, you still have lots of latitude with colors for walls and carpeting. Experiment with your color wheel, placing that color against the sofa. Your eyes will immediately let you know if it will work or not.

Purchase a few magazines on home decorating and look them over for rooms with color matches that please you. You don’t need to like everything in the room. Look for pleasing wall and carpet combinations. Check out lamps and accent pieces, such as pillows, that suit your theme and personal taste. You’ll find that there are numbers of accent items in different colors and styles, will work with your scheme, to different effect. Look for styles of wall and side table decorations which you think will work in your overall DIY interior design plan. Cut out the pages with the various elements you like.

Professional interior designers typically assemble swatches of colors and textures, cutting the swatches to scale, in the proportions in which they’ll impact the room. You, as the DIY interior designer, can use this technique as well. Software makes this process easy. If you’re considering wallpaper, you can go online and save images of patterns you like. View your swatches and wallpapers side by side.

Your next step is to paint the walls and install carpeting, if you wish and can afford. Next, replace wall decorations as necessary. If you’ve decided on new drapes, that’s next. Your DIY interior design project falls into beautiful place in this step by step approach, building the finished look in a top down strategy, largest areas first. Knick knacks, lamps, pillows and other small accent pieces come last.

Remember too, that DIY stores have staff that can look over your ‘before’ photos and point out other possibilities and ideas you might want to explore. As you complete each phase, take new photos for further guidance.

With such an approach, anyone can execute a DIY interior design project with panache and a style you’ll be proud of and live happily with the results for years to come.

Tags: Design, DIY, Interior, Project

This entry was posted on Wednesday, November 10th, 2010 at 10:10 am and is filed under DIY Interior Design. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.