A new bed set can make a new room.
According to Theo Stephan Williams, author of "The Interior Designer's Guide to Pricing, Estimating, and Budgeting," an interior designer can charge as much as $250 an hour for her services. For most of us, that figure is prohibitive. However, there are many simple ways to improve the appearance and function of your home for a fraction of that cost.
Make It Your Own
There are no limits to the choices available when designing the interior of your home. What's really important loves the items you choose. Always keep what you love in terms of styles and color in the front of your mind. Think long and hard about how you and your family use your home. If you spend most of your time in the kitchen, family room, bedrooms or home office make sure those areas are designed to maximize your enjoyment and use of each space.
A great way to begin your design process is to buy a stack of decorating magazines and pull out sample pages of spaces that you like. After a while you'll see some patterns repeat, and you should have a good idea of what really attracts you. For instance, if all of your samples have bold colors, or Mexican pavers, or crown molding, be sure to include those elements in your design.
Bold colors make a strong statement.
The most beautiful homes have sophisticated color schemes involving three or more colors. It can be difficult for a novice to work with multiple colors, but there's an easy way to cheat. Simply find a fabric or object that uses a color scheme you love and copy it. Look at your paintings, clothing, dishes and jewelry for ideas, or visit a fabric store to collect swatches. A professional paint store can help you create a paint-color palette from your object.
When thinking about paint and fabric choices, remember one of the cardinal rules of design: Dark colors make spaces look smaller and lighter colors make them look larger. One exception to this rule is decorating a tiny space such as a powder room, as a bold, darker color can have such an impact in a small space that it makes it seem, if not larger, then more significant---a little room, but a big statement.
Take Your Time
1. An interior designer spends a great deal of time becoming aware of what's available in the marketplace and stays current with all the latest styles. It's tempting to visit a big-box store and make all your design choices, but you would be missing out on so many extraordinary design resources. Visit at least three or four brick-and-mortar or online sources for each of your design needs, including: paint, flooring, countertops, appliances, plumbing fixtures, furnishings and accessories. Also, visit stores you believe are too expensive. It's great to see the best of everything and then think of creative ways to copy those styles for less. Sometimes you might even get lucky with a sale or a discontinued item.
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