Designing your own interior space – If you love being creative and want to be the decorator of your own home, making use of your own style, you don’t necessarily need an interior designer to guide you with all your design elements or decisions. We have outlined key steps to guide you in designing your space and making use of your own individual style.

You are sure to be proud of the space in your home because YOU designed it yourself. You will also be saving the costs of using an Interior Designer.

If you feel the need and have the passion to do it yourself, here the basic steps to design your own interior space.

1. Draft a floorplan of the space

You do not have to be a professional artist or architect to draw a basic floorplan. The most important thing when drafting a floorplan is to ensure the measurements of the exterior walls, doors and windows are correct. This will give you the room layout when making design decisions on sizes when procuring your décor elements.

2. Get inspired

Firstly, determine the purpose of the room and the needs of the person using the specific room. Once you understand the purpose, you continue with the most exciting step, which is to define your design style and what décor elements inspire you. To do this, you could complete an online quiz that will guide you to identify your personal design style. Design styles are endless and vary from contemporary to traditional, just to name a few. Once you understand your personal design style, start gathering pictures or photos of design elements and décor that inspire you. You can get your inspiration from pictures from magazines and design websites.

3. Colour scheme

Now that you have a good idea of your design style, you need to select a suitable colour scheme. Colour is personal and can be used to create different moods. If you find it challenging to select a colour scheme, a good place to start is with the pictures you have gathered for inspiration. Identify at least three prominent colours from your inspirational pictures. Why three colours? You will need a main colour for walls and wallpaper, one accent colour for tables, couches and chairs, and a third colour for smaller décor elements such as scatter cushions, flowers, rugs and art pieces.

When designing your room, remember to keep in mind all the other rooms within the home, as you would like to use a similar colour scheme and theme throughout the home and not design your new room in a completely different colour scheme.

4. Create a storyboard and budget

When designing your own personal space, it is important to make sure that the design choices you make reflect who you are.

The next step is for you to include all the décor elements, paint and fabric swatches into a storyboard that represents your personality and build a budget from each item on the storyboard. You can identify the quantity of the elements needed for the space and define the estimated costs for each of these items in a product list.

A storyboard is the visual representation of your design space. The storyboard assists to interpret your design style and finish off the decor elements for your space. The storyboard will be your roadmap for achieving a finished design and will give you all the components of a proposed room scheme.

5. Remember to add texture

When you view your finished storyboard and just know something is missing or your design still feels a bit incomplete, you only need to add one more element, texture. Even Interior Designers sometime treat texture as a second thought, but adding this element to your design will really make your space pop. It brings a perfectly fine design up to a desirable and exceptional design. Texture adds dimension and attracts the senses, ensuring a more attention-grabbing design.

Design elements that can be used to add texture to your space include scatters, rugs, walls or wallpaper.

6. Use a signature piece

A great rule of thumb for selecting a signature piece within your design is to decide on a piece that is talking to you. This will be a piece that represents your personality, is practically useful, have sentimental value to you or is just beautifully suited to your space.

If you can’t find any signature pieces, select something that simply talks to your heart, creates excitement and puts a smile on your face. Always remember to keep the size of the signature piece and the size of your room in mind.

7. Add a focal point

You may use different design principles, from colourful artwork, accent walls, patterned wallpaper or a textured fireplace, to create a focal point within your design. Colour is always the easiest element to use for a focal point. You can do this by keeping the general colour scheme of the rugs, sofa and walls in a neutral colour palette, such as soft brown or grey colours. Then select bolder colours for the focal point, using an accent colour for wallpaper, paint or art.

Your focal point will the first thing you will see when entering the room. Therefore, ensure that you select the right element and accent colour for your focal point, as this will set the tone and mood for your design space.

8. Don’t forget the lights

Once you have positioned all the design elements, lighting can be used to accentuate all your decor. Your design may consist of any combination of the four types of lighting: natural, ambient, task and accent lighting. When you want to add artificial lighting to your design, you will need to consider the amount of natural light your space has and find the perfect balance between functionality and aesthetics.

Task lighting will be used for areas you work in or areas where you spend most of your time. You can also use standing lamps as task lighting, especially if you have a large room with more open spaces.

Ambient lighting is the most common type of artificial lighting in a home & sets the mood within your design, but this type of lighting will also depend on the purpose of the room.

Accent Lighting is directional light that draws attention to décor elements such as art, architectural detail, or other focal points within in your design.

9. Add décor accessories

The décor accessories you use will depend on the design style you have selected. For example, you could add woven baskets, rugs, live plants and natural items if you have a rustic design style. The décor accessories you use can add to that final touch to your design.