Don’t let yourself into the pressure of wishing you had a designer home which fits into a glossy magazine. Here are a few tips which will help you fall in love with your home again.

Think whether each room is being used to its full potential, bearing in mind your lifestyle and the present state of your room. After sometime, so many things tend to change in our lives, for that it is better to change our home to accommodate the changes.

Re-plan and reorganise your room layout so that you get the most from it. You may be planning a family for which a playroom may be needed for your little growing baby, or you may have teenagers who could be needing a den for listening to music or watching TV. Seldom do people have a spare bedroom or room for all this.

You could put the dining table in the kitchen and use the dining room for something else (if your kitchen has space to take in the table) or if you seldom use a spare bedroom, you could use it as an office wherein you can have a sofa bed to accommodate a guest or two. If you have never used your garage to put the car, you could consider converting part or all of it for extra living space.

Start the process

Declutter and clear out each room and get rid of all the junk. I promise, you will free your mind to concentrate better on what really matters and you will feel “on top of things”. Filling up and treasuring things which you’ve never used, brings in more negativity in our lives. If you can springclean your house yourself or get someone to do it for you, it will make you feel great about your squeaky-clean home. Make life smoother by having everything at hand. Store things where you can use them, so that it’s quick and easy to both, get them and put them away. I would not like to enter a kitchen where tea bags are in one corner, kettle in another and the fridge in another — wherein making a quick upper involves a lot of walking. The same applies in the bathroom, bedroom or even the garage.

You can fancy a makeover by scouting around the house and in the loft for accessories such as rugs, pictures, lamps and vases to see if you can use those to create a new look without spending any cash. You could swap accessories around, from room to room or even invest in new ones in a bold and different colour, to give your room a completely new look.

Good planning

Organise your possessions in a way that when you tidy up, you know exactly where that item is going to go to be put away, rather than putting it on yet another pile for attention later. There should be a place for everything in its place. Move one thing at a time. Once you have picked it up, don’t put it down until it is in place — otherwise you will just be creating even more work for yourself and the mess will still be there offending your eye. Let’s accept this — kids and perfect homes don’t mix! Make it as easy as possible for children to keep their stuff tidy and organised. Install some hooks and racks right near the front door for things like school bags and shoes, so it is minimum effort for their gear to be put away tidily as soon as they get home. Be sure to involve your children in the planning. Start with any favourite activity or toy or even character of the child’s interest.

Remember that many items of interest to children are topics that will change with time. So try to take advantage of these interests and favourites with accessories and changes that will be easy to replace in the future with their changing interests and needs. When choosing your colour plan or scheme, keep in mind that interior design for children offers you unique opportunities to use bold or bright colours that would usually not be ideal for use in adult surroundings.

Kids in mind

Along the same lines, certain areas of the room would be more ergonomic to use as focal points than in an adult’s atmosphere. For example, a chalkboard or toy box might capture a child’s attention more than a table or seating arrangement.

Always remember when planning interior design for children, that a child changes attitudes, opinions and behaviour around every three years. Permanent changes of any type are a big no–no and practical, but cost effective ones are ideal. A good furniture tip to remember when designing for children is to buy reasonably priced, sound furniture that doesn’t break the bank. Children are even harder on furniture than they are on clothes. And most importantly to take into consideration when working with interior design for children — of course, HAVE FUN!
Change your house with the seasons. You could have a different set of accessories for different seasons — even two sets of curtains, one for summer and one for winter and swap them over when the weather changes. Cozy and warm colours and fabrics as winter draws in — light and bright ones as spring is sprung, will get you in the mood and help you feel good about life.

Designing for couples is one of the hottest, most popular types of design these days. In the past, men have not taken the initiative to actually be involved in interior design of their homes, often resulting in very female oriented, elegant designs that are beautiful, though not exactly appealing to the opposite sex. But beware! This battle of the sexes can cause trouble too.

Take both sides into careful consideration before doing any planning. Colour and furniture are normally the main items that are disagreed upon in interior design for couples.

So agree to go in for a leather sofa your husband is interested in, which can look very classic and comfortable and put in your colour preference onto it. This way the couple gets what each one of them wants.
A secret tool to marvellous rooms created using cheap interior design ideas is good decision making. By purchasing some slightly more expensive key items in a room’s furniture and cost cutting on the smaller items or accessories, you can save big bucks and still achieve the same look that is achieved in other more expensive name brand rooms.

The author is an interior designer and can be contacted at 9845070824 or email: modcconinterior@rediffmail.com