Home Interior Projects Can be Daunting – Get the Most From a Design in the Shortest Amount of Time

Redoing a room or more, an entire home, is a big job - and that’s not even mentioning the labor. The act of creating a cohesive design for a living area is a highly personal choice, yes, and many have very specific ideas of the furnishings, colorways, and themes they want.

However, bringing together disparate concepts of style and functionality can leave an unbalanced space - be it a stark, under-decorated utilitarian room or an overstuffed, overwrought room that’s more pastiche than peace.

Adding to this incongruence is the sheer amount of information available to would-be DIYers: From adaptive reuse to wild ideas, the internet (and especially social media) has no shortage of would-be design experts espousing their thoughts on current trends.

Some are clever and some may seem ridiculous, but they might end up on a potential mood board nonetheless, creating more traffic in what could be a smooth, cohesive design. So, then, how to cut through the noise and clutter and get to an amazing interior redesign that is both beautiful and long-lastingly functional? Start from the ground up.

Get The Idea Right, Right Away
Like a series bible in showrunning, start your design with a “room bible” for your redesign. Identify what it is you can’t live without, what your overall look and feel amounts to, and your total desired budget for the design (it also never hurts to keep a couple of “wishlist” dollars in your coffers for something special you didn’t know you couldn’t live without).

The most important factor, of course, is cohesion - the overall continuity of the design and its connection to the general look and feel of the room, the home, and even the surrounding neighborhood or natural environment. After all, a home should be a place of sanctuary and balance, and creating massive cognitive dissonance can be anything but.

If this already seems overwhelming, you’re not alone. This is why it can be incredibly helpful to:

Seek Out a Pro
Interior design is an art form. The ability to envision a space from a blank canvas, or even more challengingly, from an already-implemented design, is as much about a mastery of this art as it is individual style. Furthermore, a professional interior designer is well-versed in navigating personal style, oftentimes able to glean what a client wants when the client does not even know. Of course, interior designers don’t just have to be an individual who comes in to assess the space and make recommendations. Many higher- end retailers, even in fields that you would not expect, have in-house design consultants who can aid in a project from conception to execution.

Many furniture sellers and brands, home centers, appliance manufacturers and even some suppliers of home components like plumbing and lighting offer design services. In many cases, they have the advantage of connectivity - that is, access to materials, colorways or options that the general public may not even be aware of. Whether you choose an individual or a design firm to help, it’s a huge advantage having a knowledgeable partner working alongside you and your desires to create the home you always wanted.

Let Live; Live Well
But there’s another huge benefit to a professional design - an experienced designer or design house can keep a project realistic, on schedule and on budget. Even during small projects, it’s easy to get starry-eyed about end results and endless possibilities. The consummate designer won’t just offer fancy furnishings or fittings, they’ll be able to add realism and utility to a design to truly create a space for living, rather than a mishmash of desires.

After all, no matter how beautiful a home is for living, every great interior design project will have comfort, sanctuary, and a humanistic touch overall. -

Alan LaGuardia