Designing the interiors of your home on your own can be a very satisfying and gratifying exercise. Obviously, you know what you want better than anyone else. You understand your style too. Or do you? Interior designing is not merely about selecting furniture, the colour palette and picking up accessories that you fancy. It involves a complex set of processes where the actual task can easily overwhelm you. So you should evaluate whether you have understood all that it involves and are up to it. And more importantly, are you able to define your style and work towards expressing it.
Whether you have a bare shell of a home in front of you, or interiors that are not designed to your taste, if you want to transform them to reflect your sensibilities and lifestyle, there are some aspects to keep in mind.
Most importantly, interior designing is not just about creativity, it requires knowledge of the technicalities, practical and functional aspects of design. There are multiple dimensions to the interior designing process. You will be dealing with contractors, electricians, plumbers, painters and an array of vendors and other third party players. And, it requires careful budgeting from the start so that you don’t end up spending more than you intend to on the project.
If all these factors overwhelm you, it is a good idea to get a consultation with a trained interior designer. Not only will they give you a good hearing, understand your requirements, they will also showcase your dream design through 3D renderings even before they start work on the interiors. So you have an idea of how the spaces are going to shape up. They will also offer innumerable value additions and budget-friendly options. They will evaluate the plans you have in mind holistically and let you know if they are feasible within the existing layout or if you need to make any structural changes. Interior designing on your own can be a daunting task especially with larger properties, like farmhouse design. So, it is better to take into consideration all aspects of doing up the interiors before taking the plunge.
Founder and Principal Designer of MADS Creations, Meenu Agarwal, one of the top interior designers in Gurgaon, has thought out the factors that you may be faced with and offers advice on how to tackle them.
1. Think of the Style
Often, when you are looking at doing up your interiors, you may not know what style you want to employ. It may be a bit of this and a bit of that. Sometimes there are many things that you want which may all belong to different styles making it all the more confusing to you. So try to think of what style defines you the most. A mix of styles is what most people go for, so it is not a problem. But getting a fix on the style is something that will make it easier for you to go ahead with your interior designing project. If you are still not sure, it is a good idea to consult with an interior designer so that they can make things clear to you. This will also help you gauge whether all the features you are planning for your interiors are going to fit into the space available or not.
2. Jot Down all your Needs
When you start putting down all your requirements and aspirations for your new home on paper, you begin to see clearly what is doable and what is not, what is practical and what is not. You can ascertain where you can splurge and where you can save money. Based on this list, you can loosely budget the whole interior design project. This also gives you a chance to list out all the design features and custom furniture you want to include in the project, and whether you can do that within the constraints of space, time and budget. Most importantly, it gives you an idea whether you can manage the entire task on your own or you need an interior designer to help you achieve it.
Also Read – DIY Ideas – How To Design A Room Like An Interior Designer?
3. Collect Pictures
One way to understand your own style and come to a conclusion on what look you want is by collecting interior pictures that most appeal to you. Gather pictures from magazines and the Internet and analyse how they represent your style. This helps you steal some ideas from diverse interiors and put together a look book of your own. These pictures will also help you articulate your requirements to your interior designer, should you wish to hire one. Even if you are sure of what you want, images make it easy for you to visualize what your spaces are going to look like post the transformation.
4. Create Mood Boards
You want a certain colour combination or a mix of patterns in a space, but not sure how they will look together? That is why you need mood boards. They will help you understand in a jiffy whether things work together or not. You need to create one for each area so that you make no mistakes while layering colours, textures and prints. They will illustrate what kind of textiles, wallpapers and panelings to employ in your space. Each of the juxtapositions and contrasts needs to captivate your mind. You can blend interesting inexpensive materials with luxe ones to achieve an overall rich look. Add a dash of artisanal elements to the mix to evoke warmth and an inviting vibe.
5. Make a Fail-Proof Plan
Once all the groundwork is done, make a fail-proof plan to kick-start your interior designing process. Starting from space layout to furniture arrangement, wall treatments to flooring and ceiling details, lighting plan, everything should be on point so that you can start the work in a step-by-step manner. A consultant interior designer can in fact create a full-fledged plan for you so that you can simply follow it to achieve the desired results. Best still, simply hand over the project to an experienced interior designer and be invited into a beautifully finished home.