What Are You Afraid Of?
6 of the Most Common Decorating Fears
When it comes to decorating your home, what are you afraid of?
What’s holding you back from creating your dream home?
And I don’t want to hear “My house is too small”, or “My house can never be what I want”.
There’s no reason for not having the home you dream about.
There are plenty of ways to work around a budget.
And, if the house you live in isn’t the home you imagined, then you’ve got some work to do to make it closer to that vision.
Here are some of the fears that I hear from clients –
Interior Decorating Fear #1
What if I choose artwork and I don’t like it?
That’s an easy one!
Only buy art that you love.
And –
Don’t buy artwork that you can’t return.
If you do buy art that can’t be returned, chances are that you have a different spot in the house that it’ll work in.
Because, you bought it because you love it, right?
If not, then why did you buy it?
Only buy artwork that you love, that speaks to you, that pulls out some emotion in you. You are going to be looking at it a lot. And, there are enough options out there that you don’t have to settle. Wait. Be patient until you see something that speaks to you.
Art is personal.
This piece sold for $137.5 million in 2006! Somebody loved it.
If you have more questions about art you can check out – https://www.detailsfullserviceinteriors.com/top-3-questions-hanging-art
I even did a video about it telling you exactly how to hang it and 10 things you can hang as art! –
https://www.detailsfullserviceinteriors.com/10-unexpected-things-you-can-hang-on-your-walls-today
Interior Decorating Fear #2
What if I make a hole in the wall and it’s in the wrong place?
Well, holes can be filled.
Odds are that the hole will be behind the art you’re going to hang anyway.
But, if not, a little spackle, or even toothpaste, will fill the hole in a few minutes.
Get crazy! Make the hole!
Hang the art!
Interior Decorating Fear #3
What if I buy a piece of furniture that’s the wrong size?
This one is a little harder to remedy.
But, unless it’s a custom piece, you can usually return it.
Most furniture stores have some kind of return policy.
My recommendation is to ask when you’re purchasing, what their return policy is. That way you know your options right then and there.
If the furniture is custom, you’re right, most custom pieces cannot be returned.
If you’re ordering custom, make absolutely sure that you’ve measured your space. I even take painter’s tape and tape it out, right on the floor, exactly the size of the furniture, exactly where it’s going.
Yes, there are rules about what size furniture to buy for what size room, but if you’ve been reading this blog for any amount of time you know how I feel about rules.
I’m not a huge fan of rules!
So, lay it out, measure it out, whatever you have to do to make sure that custom furniture is going to be perfect for that space BEFORE you order it.
Interior Decorating Fear #4
What will people think of my decorating?
Of course you want your friends and family to be impressed by your home, but, in the end, they’re not living there, you are.
So, you know what I’m going to say…
#DecorateWithWhatMakesYouHappy
It’s YOUR home.
You need it to function and be comfortable for YOU, and your family.
That’s all.
If it works for you and whoever else lives there, then GO FOR IT!
Interior Decorating Fear #5
I don’t know how to arrange the room the best way
Ok, confession time here – sometimes I don’t know either, not right off the top of my head.
Yes, sometimes I walk into a room and I can picture in my head exactly how the furniture should be arranged.
But, there are always those rooms that are challenging.
In that case I get out my furniture sliders and I start moving the furniture around.
I try out different arrangements and we decide what works best for the space and for the people that live in the space.
These furniture sliders are my savior.
Most of the time I’m alone at a job. I could never move furniture alone without them.
You can find them at Bed Bath & Beyond, or, of course, on Amazon.
So pop them under the legs of your furniture and create some conversation areas with your furniture.
You want the furniture close enough so you can easily talk with a person sitting on the other piece of furniture, but far enough apart so you can walk through.
For a few measurement rules, you can check out my Design by the Numbers post from a few weeks back. https://www.detailsfullserviceinteriors.com/decorating-by-the-numbers
You should also figure out what the focal point of the room is.
That way you know what you want the furniture facing toward, whether it’s the TV, or the fireplace, or a great view.
Get sliding!
Interior Decorating Fear #6
What if I pick the wrong paint color?
This is a really common fear that I hear all the time.
So, here’s what you do.
Look at the swatches in the room that you’re painting.
Paint colors look different in every room.
Narrow it down to a few options.
I’ve gone to homes that have 20 different colors painted on their wall.
No wonder they’re overwhelmed!
Go get samples of only those few options, 5 at the most.
Paint large pieces of poster board with the samples.
Hang the poster board on different walls in the room.
Look at them when it’s light out, dark out, sunny out and rainy out.
Colors look different all the time.
Make sure you like it in all of those situations.
You can always use an inspiration piece to pick your paint color from.
Do you have a comforter that you love the colors in?
Do you have a throw pillow that you love?
Pick a color from an item that you love.
Most paint companies with color match an item for you or they have app that you can use to do it yourself.
Use that to start choosing swatches and follow the directions above.
Then, go for it!
It’s only paint!
If you’re really nervous about the color –
If you’re doing the painting yourself, then paint one wall, and reassess.
Look at it again in every weather situation and during the day and at night.
If you decide you like it, keep going.
If not, take the paint back to where you bought it and have them tint it lighter or darker.
If you are having a professional do your painting you can ask them to stop after one wall so that you can look at it.
You don’t want to make them stop the job completely for any length of time, but you can make sure you’re there when they’re working on the first wall.
That way you can check it out before they continue on with the room.
Like I said, it’s only paint.
It can be adjusted and/or repainted.
Go for it!
When it comes to paint colors I wrote a book on it! Well, it’s an eGuide, but it’s helpful!
25 Foolproof Paint Colors – So You Can Avoid the Do-Over
You can get yours right on www.detailsfullserviceinteriors.com.
Just go to the Home page or the main Blog page and enter your email address for instant delivery!
There’s also a Book 2 – 15 MORE Foolproof Paint Colors – So You Can Avoid the Do-Over.
That one will be available April 12, 2017 under the Shop tab on the website.
When you’re ready for some professional help dealing with your decorating fears give me a call or send me an email details-interiors@hotmail.com
Please feel free to Comment below. I LOVE to hear your feedback!
And, for more conversation head over to the Details Facebook page – www.facebook.com/detailsfullserviceinteriors
Making a Home Picture Perfect
This is really helpful, thanks.
I’m so glad you found it helpful! Thanks for commenting!