The Beginner’s Guide to Decorating Your Home

Home Decorating for Beginners in Six Easy Steps

Step 1: Know Your Decor Style

The first thing you’ll have to decide before you start on your interior decorating project is what your personal style is. There are a number of different ways to pick an interior design style. 

One thing you can do is start looking at interior design blogs. Find the ones that resonate with you and start collecting images of rooms and decor that you love. You can save them on your computer, post them on Pinterest, or even print them out to create your own physical style board. 

Maybe you like Coastal interior design. Or maybe you’re more into a look that’s Minimalist or Maximalist, Mid-century, Farmhouse, or anything else! Don’t be afraid to take your time deciding what style will best reflect your personality. Settling on a design style before you begin will help you make more successful design choices down the line. 

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Step 2: Define the Function of Each Space

Each space in your home should serve a different function: entertaining, dining, relaxing, and so on. Your decor should reflect those functions. 

Substance and style go hand in hand, and this should be reflected in your home. Don’t start buying furniture and decor before you have a plan for the purpose of each room and space. If you start buying furniture pieces before you know where they’ll go, you’ll be more likely to face problems where you have things that don’t quite fit. Save yourself the headache by determining a basic plan for each room before you start to decorate. 

One helpful tip: area rugs are a great tool for helping determine individual spaces, especially in popular, modern open concept homes.

This Four Seasons Outdoor Sisal Rug in the Laguna Dune color helps define the outdoor seating area on this home’s balcony.

Step 3: Pick Your Palette

After the style comes the color palette. You’re still going to want the colors you choose to vibe with your overall style. For example, it’ll be difficult to decorate your home with a coastal vibe if you keep choosing decor that’s dark crimson. If you’re into mid-century modern, you’ll be better suited to warm tones with pops of orange. 

Before you can settle on a color scheme, make sure you spend time in the room at various times of day. The natural light coming through the windows during the day could make paint colors look much different than how they appear at night when the only source of light is a table lamp. This will help ensure you’re happy with how your room looks all day long! 

Whatever palette you choose, you want it to be cohesive and true to you. If you’re unsure where you want to go, you can always start with neutrals and go from there. Otherwise, you can check out this list of our favorite interior design color palettes to get you started.

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Step 4: Make a Furniture Plan 

You’ll want to be sure you know what furniture can go in each of the rooms in your home. To do that, you should first take stock of the available space and layout of each room. Measure the dimensions of the rooms and consider any architectural features, such as windows, doors, and built-in elements like fireplaces or nooks. This will help you determine the appropriate size and scale of furniture that will fit harmoniously within each space.

Be sure to leave enough room for easy movement and to avoid a cluttered appearance. If you have a smaller living room, you may not be able to fit a full size coffee table. Instead, you might consider side tables with a slightly larger surface area. 

Once you have a plan for furniture, you can start to plan out what will go under and around the furniture. Where you hang art, add area rugs, and add other decorative elements will all depend on the placement of your furniture. 

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Step 5: Set Your Focal Point

When a room has a focal point, it's easier to decorate. That's because a focal point gives you a central "feature" to decorate around. It’s like the gravity in the center of a room, bringing everything together. A focal point can be a number of different things: an architectural feature, a painting, an accent wall, fireplace, antique cabinet, or something else entirely. Remember: a focal point can be any type of object. The only requirements are that something about it is noticeable and that all other decor choices you make for a room relate back to it in some way.

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Thanks to creative lighting and furniture arrangements, this space’s focal point is the fireplace and mantle.

Step 5: Use the Rule of Odd Numbers

Decorations in odd groupings are more pleasing to the eye than those that are in even numbers. This idea works best when applied to small decor items like candles, throw pillows, and trinkets, but it also works for larger scale design elements like a gallery wall. 

Another important thing to consider when creating visually appealing designs is the variation in shape, size, and height. You want to create a space that feels dynamic without becoming cluttered and overwhelming. The rule of odd numbers will help you do exactly that.

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Varied height and sizes help these natural home decor elements stand out.

Discover More Home Decor Tips

There you have it. Decorating your home starts with knowing your own design style and ends with making sure your decor is varied and dynamic. If you’re just starting out with your home decor, follow the steps above to make sure your decor is cohesive, stylish, and functional. 

For more home decor advice that will help transform your house from bleak to beautiful, check out some of our best DIY tutorials. Not sure which area rug will fit with your home decor and help you define your space? Use our Try Before You Buy program to get free, curated rug samples.