5 Smart tips to beat stress and overwhelm when decorating and save your sanity!

 

 

Few things in life are as daunting as decorating your first home  or moving to a new country like London (if you are interested in following my journey as an expat living in London you can check out my Week 1 journey here)

 

When you are decorating for the first time or starting over it can be quiet overwhelming if your not sure what you need to do!   You tend to retreat to the familiar and start feeling stressed out and disappointed because you have not made any progress in creating that beautiful living room that you saw in the pages of House Beautiful.

 

You start crowd sourcing paint color ideas, asking if you should do this or that first, and what fabric would go with my  sofa that I just bought and can’t return.

 

This all leads to more confusion and more overwhelm because there are too many choices and too many ideas that you can’t grasp at the moment!

Whether you are just starting out or starting over my 5 smart tips will help you beat overwhelm and save your sanity when you start decorating!

 

5 Smart Tips Will Help You Beat Overwhelm And Save Your Sanity When You Start Decorating!

 

 

Tip #  1 –  Tackle One Space At A Time!

Decide which space you want to start first! If you tackle the whole house in one time it will drive you mad!  You will need a lot of time, patience and be decorating full time if you want to tackle the whole house!

The easiest is to start with one space first and then move on to the rest of the house.  The best place to start is the Living Room! The Living room is the nucleus of the home, it’s the first thing that you and your guest see when you step into the house, it’s where everyone gathers around to relax, watch t.v., spend quality time and have fun!

 

How you decorate your Living Room will also set the tone for the house.  So  make sure you know how you want to feel and know what colors makes you happy before you even start buying sofa, and painting the walls!

 

Tip # 2 – Do Your Homework First – Start Collecting Inspirations For Your Space On Pinterest!  But Don’t Go Crazy Doing It!

 

Creating a moodboard or inspiration board will allow you to see what styles you like or dislike.  You will also find out what colors, patterns, and shapes you are most attracted to, and you can use this as a starting point to create your dream home!

 

Another reason for creating an inspiration board is it will keep you in check and keep you from getting overwhelmed from all the things that are out there.  It will keep you focus on what you want, and avoid the “happy shiny object syndrome”

Tip # 3 –  Find Out What You Like And Dislike About Your Current Space!

 

This will help make your decorating life easier because it will enable you to see your space with a new set of eyes and find ways to tackle what is not working and enhance what is working in your space.

When you know what you like and dislike about your space you can find ways to improve it.

For example if you are decorating your living room the ceilings are too low and there is not enough light coming in we can find ways to improve this.  You can create vertical lines in the space to bring the eyes up to make the space feel higher  and there are many other ways to do so.  You can check out my post here about how to make ceiling look higher.

And in terms of lighting – you can find ways in which you can add table lamps or sconces to add more lighting in the space.

Tip # 4 – Have A Plan – Figure Out What Your Priority Is First In The Room!

Ask yourself  what is the one change that you want to see in the space that will make you absolutely happy?

Is it the wall color?  The hand me down sofa? The window treatment?  The furniture placement?

For example:  I had someone come to be with a design dilemma. She lived in her house for more than 18 years, and she decided it was finally time to turn her house into her home.  She decided to start with her living room first.

And the one thing that bothered her all the time is the furniture arrangement!

Somehow her furniture placement never felt right in the living room, there was always something missing. She never felt comfortable in her living room.  Not enough seating, furniture that were too big for the space, too many windows and openings.  She never quiet got the right furniture arrangement in her space.

So her first priority and the one thing that would make her absolutely happy was to tackle the furniture placement.

Having the right placement is 50% of what makes a home comfortable and relaxing!

Once the furniture arrangement is set you can start with the other items like choosing furniture, colors, fabrics etc!

So think about the one thing that you would want to change that would make you absolutely  happy in your space and start with that first!

Tip # 5 – Have Patience!!

 

This is the most important  one!  Having a home that reflects who you are and makes you  happy doesn’t happen overnight.

Creating your dream home is an exercise in patience and it takes time, because you want to make sure that every piece that you bring into your home is a piece that you absolutely love and makes you smile every time you lay eyes on it!

 

Patience is a virtue, especially in creating your dream home!

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“Helping you fall and stay in love with your home so that you live a life of pure bliss and infinite passion!”

*Founder of Happy at Home Decorating Ideas Club 

*Creator of Design Your Happy Home  – Helping you step by step to create your dream home with confidence that makes you happy!