The Keys to Decorating Your Home {when you move}

Decorating your home doesn’t have to be a struggle or overwhelming. You can start right where you are with these 4 keys to creating the space you love!

I remember the feeling of decorating my first home. Coach and I were newly married. It was actually 5 months into our marriage when we first moved into our “real” home. We gutted and renovated his bachelor pad house while living in a nearby apartment.

I couldn’t wait to paint every room a different color and add my favorite pops of color with accessories: turquoise, red and yellow. Haha.

Obviously my style has changed a bit over the years. I still love turquoise in my home, but now I love it with pops of pink, grays and whites and other neutral colors.

I picked out a new floor plan, a bright red couch from IKEA, all new appliances and the finishes in the kitchen. The only problem was that I didn’t have a clue how to create a cohesive look throughout my home.

Y’all! I truly was a decorating newby. And to add to the newness, we were coming off the great home decor receiving event of young adulthood: our wedding.

The decor items in our home had been chosen in a rushed afternoon at Bed Bath and Beyond and I had no idea what I wanted, or where to start. I just remember scanning stuff until my brain was numb and the sales lady had to come over and basically help me finish my registry because I had made too many choices for one day.

Do you think this made for a home that felt warm and cozy? Or a home that felt like a department store had thrown up in it?

It definitely felt more “matchy matchy store display” than what I wanted it to feel, which was sentimental, cozy and ours.

Moving into a new home has a similar effect on people. I know the feeling of wanting to have a home all put together really quickly and have everything in its place. But for me, I need to take my time and let the things we already have figure out where they want to live in our space.

It takes time to live in a space and learn how you use it and how you want it to function. Also, as years go by and your family’s needs change, your home will function differently too.

My dining room is the perfect example of figuring out how we use a space. It’s been a dining room, and office and now it’s a play room that can be quickly converted into a dining room if needed.

So, what do you do if you’re about to move into a new home or you aren’t moving and feel the need to give your current home a makeover?

Here are some little nuggets I’ve learned over the course of the past 4 years we’ve lived in our current home. I feel like I’ve gotten it mostly right this time around!

The Keys to Decorating Your Home {starting right where you are}

1. It all starts with defining the feel that you want in your home. How do you want to feel when you walk into your home? Do you want things to feel colorful and energetic, then bring in pops of your favorite colors? Do you want to feel relaxing and cozy? Then bring in blues and warm textures. Discover the feeling that you desire first and then go from there!

2. Use what you have. Bring your existing pieces into your home and find places where they will work. Decide if they play nicely with the feeling you want. Or not. Some pieces may fill a space for a time while you save the money to replace them. A specific table may have suited your old home perfectly, but it doesn’t have a perfect place in the new home. Feel free to sell it and wait until the next perfect piece comes along!

I found that I have used some items for a while and then traded them out for something I loved more. Others, I discarded almost immediately, like the too small queen bed in our new master bedroom. We traded it in for a king-sized bed!

And then others I’ve held on to and plan to keep for the indefinite future, like my husband’s leather club chair. It fits perfectly into this corner of the living room and it’s a wonderful piece of furniture.

3. Take your time. Don’t feel like you have to have everything set up at once! It takes a lot of money to furnish and custom a new home to your liking. Like I said, we’ve lived in this home for over 4 years, and there are still spaces that I haven’t touched. Live in your home for a while and do a little at a time.

4. Create a whole-home color palette. I confess that I didn’t do this when we first moved in, but I wish I had. The weekend that we closed on our new house, I went to Lowe’s and bought lots of paint. I had most of the colors in my home picked out before we bought the house, but I should have waited and created my whole home palette before purchasing the first paint can.

 

You can see my whole home palette here.

I ended up selling a few gallons instead of using them. Others I’ve lived with and some rooms I just now painted.

Thankfully, I got smart before I painted all of the open space and I tested out several colors before I committed to the right one. And I nailed it! I still love the color and use this proven method anytime I need to paint a new room.

Check out more of my decorating posts:

How to Start a Room Makeover

Budget Farmhouse Lighting (and why I resisted the farmhouse look ….)

How to Decorate a Mantel

Pairing Paint Colors with Revere Pewter

Decorating and Being Sentimental