How I Went From Playing ‘Design Home’ to Actually Designing My Home
I shifted houses five months ago. And believe me when I say I was ecstatic, though the process makes many tire out just thinking of moving all the boxes and unpacking. For me, however, from the time I packed my things to the final day of fixing all the wall decor in my new home, a tiny smile was hidden deep inside my struggles.
When we started looking for a new apartment, I had my mind set to design our new home’s interior. Although my parents hesitated, unable to trust their 19-year-old who has no experience in interior design. I could totally understand where they were coming from and though I didn’t trust myself too back then, I was simply joyful towards designing an actual house.
Here are a few tips I’ve gathered from all the struggles over designing my home.
1. Theme
The first thing I did was decide the theme of my house. It wasn’t possible to just pick a tri-colour scheme for the whole house as it would be quite challenging to find furniture that played well with the same colour scheme, but I knew I would definitely choose baby pink, grey and white if I could.
LIVING ROOM
For the living room, I wanted to go with royal colours, like maroon and gold, or navy blue in combination with off white, but the colours were too exotic for my Desi parents. So instead, I chose two, more subtle colours, dark brown and beige. However, that was limited to the furniture. For every decor item in the living room, be it a pot or wall frame, I made sure to stick with golden accents.
ENTRANCE
We were blessed to find a sufficient entrance which although carrying multiple benefits, made selecting a theme especially hard. Aesthetic was the look and feel I was going for. In other words, I wanted to internally scream, with love, every time I entered my sweet new home, which is why it was important for me to choose an apt theme. I went with light wood and tan colours because I wanted many plants in the entrance, and wood accents to go along with plants is the best combination.
KITCHEN
Our kitchen had bright white walls and it was already artistic enough with tanned square tiles and dark cabinets, so I decided to pick a simple, and the most plain yet fascinating monochrome theme – white. That’s it. The snack drawer, table and chairs, plant pots, even the rack for spoons and forks are the same shade of white. Although it may seem very simple, I find it visually pleasing, considering the green plants stand out against the white shades coating the space. Besides, kitchens are the messiest rooms in the house, so keeping it basic is an efficient option.
MASTER BEDROOM
My parents had no interest in choosing the colour scheme for their own bedroom. They picked any decor they liked, be it a green vase with a maroon frame, a colour-combo I was very unsettled by. The master bedroom had ample sunlight gracing every corner of the room, so I thought, ‘dark colours would be perfect to balance the blinding sun rays’. The colours grey and black seemed apt for the theme, but since they are both dark colours, I was worried the dark furniture would be overpowering. Curating a balanced palette was key. To give the room a lighter tone, yet still stick to the original plan to incorporate dark colours, we bought white furniture, grey curtains and black wallpaper.
MY BEDROOM
Of course, my bedroom had to house my preferred colours. Baby pink with white has always been my favourite combination. I contemplated selecting light grey and baby pink, but since I wanted brighter space to motivate me to work efficiently, I settled on white instead of grey.
2. Mirror mirror on the wall everywhere!
Mirrors are hands down the best accessory, as they make the house look more spacious and elegant. I personally wanted mirrors everywhere, and I mean it. I’ve currently placed them in our living room, corridor, the entrance, and in all our bedrooms.
3. Plants
Not only do indoor plants improve the general exterior of a room, but they have been proven to enhance attitudes, surge creativeness, decrease stress and eliminate air contaminants. Indoor floras don’t just look lovely, they make us feel lovely too!
4. Wallpaper
Although wallpapers may not be in-trend these days, they definitely make a room more aesthetically appealing. I personally had a hard time finding the perfect wallpapers for the living room and my bedroom. Nevertheless, after a week of intense research through various shops, I finally found the perfect ones in a Korean-branded store called Jeil Wallpapers. What I noticed after setting up the wallpapers is that the character of my house completely changed for the better. The walls conveyed a story of their own, with fragile flower patterns and royal touches. Moreover, the furniture lined against the walls stood out.
5. Budget list
This was something hard for me to follow. I mean, when you love any and every décor, you’re bound to go around shopping saying, “Oh! This would look good near the entrance!”, or, “No, no, no, wait! I need to get this throw for the living room couch”, or, “This is so cute, I’m not going home without buying this plant!”
This was the one, major mistake I made throughout the decorating process – buying anything and everything just because it looked good. If it’s pretty, I’ll take it *proceeds to think about male leads in K-Dramas*. But the first thing I suggest before you buy or start on your plans for a home makeover is to make sure you have a budget prepared along with a list of items you want need.
