How To Design A Room
I thought it would be fun to show you the steps I take when tackling a project for a new client. The steps are virtually the same whether we are working online or in-person and you can use the same steps to tackle your own room design.
Step One - Gather Inspiration For Your Space.
I love Pinterest! It is my go-to for inspiration and when working with clients. I start almost all projects with a secret board where we can both add items and I can get an overall sense of what they are drawn to. Once you have gathered a good amount of inspiration photos look at them as a whole. Are they light and bright or dark and moody? Do they have pops of colour or soft and serene neutrals? This will give you a design direction.
Step Two- Evaluate How You Will Use Your Space
This is done with my questionnaire which I use for both local and online clients. This gives me details on how you want to use your space. For instance, for a living room design, is this a formal entertaining space or used mostly for you and your family to hang out and watch movies or both. Do you like to play board games here and need a coffee table that would be functional for that? What budget would you like to stick to for space? Do you know your preferred design style? If not you can take my design style quiz. You can do this same process for yourself by writing out everything you need for this space and what elements does it need to be functional for you.
Step Three- Measurements
This step is very important so don’t skip this one! You don’t have to know how to use AutoCAD to draw a floor plan, just sketch out your room in pencil and measure. From the floorplan you can get a sense of what will work in the space and once you find items you can sketch them to see if they will actually fit in your room. Don’t forget to keep in mind your door opening sizes so you don’t have a disaster of not being able to get your sofa in your room!
Step Four- Gathering Items
This is the fun part, you get to start shopping but not buying anything quite yet. Start pulling items that you think you would like to use in your space. I like to start with one main piece like the rug or if the client had a dark blue velvet sofa in mind or bold art, I would start with that. Then I begin pulling the other items that are needed in the space and place them on a mood board to see how they work together. I do this in Photoshop but you could just as easily do this with Canva which is free to use. Once you place items together on your board you can get a good sense of what is working and what isn’t. This is such a valuable tool to produce a cohesive design.
When I am creating a design for a client we go back a forth a couple of time once they give feedback or sometimes not at all when I nail it on the first time:) Once the concept stage is complete that can be the end of the design process and I send the client all links to items, the concept board and floor plan or if they have opted into the full-service package I create a 3D design of the space.
