Starting home decorating can be full of so many emotions. On one hand, you can’t wait to get started and on the other, you can. There is a lot of work to be done and all of it is before you. Sometimes, there is no way of knowing where to start or what to do or even how to decorate.

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Still, you are at the starting gate and soon you will have all your questions answered. Before you actually begin decorating your home, I would recommend looking through home design magazines and browsing through some wonderful sites; starting with freshome.com if I can be so modest.

That being said, it is important to take all those ideas that you love and make a little scrapbook with them. Don’t worry, everyone does this and it ensures that you won’t forget an idea or accidentally toss out the magazine.

Once you have some ideas as to what you would like and colors you would enjoy using, it is time to get down to business. Now most people will tell you to start with a notebook and sketch out your room and write down all of your ideas but before you do that, put that notebook to a different use.

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First, before anything else, you will need to look at a budget. As much as we would all love to have an endless supply of funds to decorate with, that just isn’t realistic. You will have a cap on your decorating budget so actually look at what it is now before you shoot for a design that is just out of your price range. Once you have your budget, add a few hundred dollars on top of that for mistakes or finds that you just couldn’t pass by.

Now that you have your budget, start making a list of rooms in your home that needs to be decorated. Obviously, if your budget is limited, you are not going to be able to do all of them over the course of a few months so you will need to prioritize your rooms. Generally, the first rooms that you will want to focus on are the high traffic rooms. These are, after all, the rooms that most guests see when they come over so you will want to have them looking their best.

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The other rooms can be decorated at a later time and as money allows so don’t stress if you can’t get them done right away. I have heard stories of homes taking several years to get from point A to finished.

Okay, so you have your budget, your ideas and your priority list. Now it is time to get decorating. The first thing that you will want to do is decide on a design for your home decor. Generally, when you design your decor you will keep the same design throughout the home especially in rooms where you can’t close the door to the theme. The last thing that you will want to do is have a country-style kitchen with an Asian themed dining room. There are several different types of design styles and really it is a matter of personal choice. Lately, there has been a real shift to eclectic and modern decor and you can add elements of both into just about any style.

Once you have decided on your style, you can pull out that notebook once more and start sketching out the room. Make a few notes on what furniture are a must have for the room and also identify which items must be brand new and which items can be refurbished pieces. Both can make wonderful statements to a room but you can find some wonderful quality pieces through garage sales, auctions and flea markets for only a fraction of the cost to buy new. Trust me, when it comes to meeting a budget, used can be your best friend.

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Color is one of the most important areas for launching your decor and it should be one of the first steps that you take when starting to decorate your home. Many people feel that your starting place should be your floors and walls but it isn’t the only rule for creating your color palette. Instead, you can start with an accent piece and work out from there, choosing your colors for your flooring and walls after you have pulled out the colors from the accent. The end result is really what you are going for so it doesn’t matter how you started the journey.

After you are finished with the walls, it is time to start decorating the space. Hopefully, by this point you have been going to auctions and flea markets and you have the furniture bought and refurbished the way that you want it. You can set up the room, and then add the accessories. Remember that you don’t need to go with traditional accents or furniture. An old chest can work well as a table, and an old door can be refurbished into a headboard. Feel free to experiment and find some great articles on using unusual pieces in your decor for inspiration.

So now that you have your budget, your idea and your style theme, there shouldn’t be anything stopping you from starting your home decor…except, of course, finding the time to do it all.

Modern design and interior decorating is all about using the existing space to the hilt with creative and innovative thinking along with street-smart solutions that help make your home more beautiful and less crowded. So, how about learning a few simple tips that will help you maximize your home’s available space? Here are 10 such pointers that should help you get rid of the mess…

1. Make use of floor space by reducing litter

When you are already working with limited space, one thing you surely cannot afford is a reduction in the existing floor space. That is exactly why usage of furniture with less leg space – that can be finely fitted on to the walls,  is a very good option. The result? Free movement across your home instead of a congested space.

2. Concentrate and plan around a central focal point

Just like we need a heart to function, every room needs to have its own heart. Once you figure out the focal point of your room, you can expand outward with your decorating. This will make your interiors look spacious and larger than they really are. Planning is the obvious key here.

3. Donate, sell or discard stuff that is not useful

An already small space cannot afford the luxury of acting as a home to unwanted furniture. Therefore get rid of everything you won’t be using anymore, because there’s no point of stuffing it in a storage space or a cabinet.

4. Storage space below the roof?

It’s a common practice in many houses.  Just use the air space “above your head” and create a pretty large storage space for your stuff. It may cost you to renovate the attic but it’s worth it.

5. Modern plastic furniture and folding shelves

Modern furniture makers like IKEA always have a handy model that will help create an extra storage space on corridors or hallways. They look attractive, stylish, and sleek and no one will ever know that you are actually storing all kinds of crap in them. Smart and easy to install, there are many such options available in the market today. All you need to do is go out and look.

6. Multi-purpose furniture and multi-functional designs

If you are willing to invest a tad bit more than the usual amount, then stuff such as couches that double up as beds, beds that fold up into closets and even dining tables that can be pulled out of cupboards, are available in the market. There is absolutely no reason why you cannot adapt the same solutions to your interiors whenever and wherever they fit in appropriately.

7. Even the walls offer storage options

What most individuals tend to overlook is the fact that even the walls offer a great way of expanding their storage options. They are real handy alternatives when it comes to stacking things up, and that’s mostly true when it comes to kitchen. You can hang cabinets, hooks and even some stick-ons that will make your room look cool.

8. Add extra shelves in closets of bedrooms and create specialized spaces

Instead of having one giant long cabinet in the bedroom, you can split it up into smaller sections. This also helps out in designating and using these areas for specified tasks. Once you categorize stuff and organize it that way, you will realize that things become a lot less complicated and messy.

9. Make your bathroom more ergonomic and stylish at the same time

When it comes to re-decorating their interiors in an attempt to eek out more out of what is on offer, it’s amazing how most people just forget about the bathroom as a separate and important entity. Add curtains, a stylish and compact bathtub, a few shelves and you will realize that you have very easily transformed it into a modern hub that offers plenty of storage space.

10. Bring in the stacking stands, racks and bulletin boards

If you wish to clean up your home of all the mess then you need a place where you can keep the stuff that you are bound to use occasionally. This is where stuff like stacking stands and racks come in. You can place a few of these in the corridors and they will look both cool and ergonomic. A bulletin board can help you get rid of the many papers flying around and let’s face it; even the eco-conscious will love it!.

Maximizing space is something that depends purely on the creativity and the imagination of those who live in a particular home. The same available area can be used differently by differently individuals. All you need to do is find the right way to cut down on the unnecessary without compromising on your basic needs. Start to think out of the box and you will find many more such simple solutions.

Different people have different ways and methods of leading their life, but most of them will often agree on a few basic things that are a must. And everyone believes that home design, at some level, is a must. Of course, the degree of sophistication, interest shown in it and success achieved vary from individual to individual. Yet, once in a while someone asks you why home design is actually required? If I happen to be comfortable in the mess I live in, then what is the need for order? Well, we have some pretty good reasons for why you need to set your home straight and design it right.

Design makes your home comfortable for you

This is as simple as it gets. If everything in your home is in order, then your life becomes  easier. If you need explanation on this one, how about letting some five year olds run your home for a few hours. Once you come back, it will take more than a few more hours to search where exactly your bed is under that pile of trash. Since much of your time is spent at home, the design makes it easy and comfortable for you to live peacefully.

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By using colors you love, you can regulate your moods

One of the basics of home design is using beautiful and suitable shades to create visual harmony around you. The soothing colors or the bright shades that you picked out will help with your mood and the positive thinking. Just try it out once – redecorate your apartment, and you will see the difference in no time.

Your home tells people who and what you are

Unless you are obnoxious, weird, homeless or Santa Claus living at the North Pole, it is common to have guests and people over at your place. A beautifully designed home not only helps lift your image in your own social circle, but it will also make them feel comfortable in the new surroundings. This can go a long way in helping you move forward in both personal and professional life. How would you feel if your date ran away after taking one look at your home? Not nice, uh?

Well-designed home enables easy movement

Unlike a randomly organized home a well-designed place will make your movement through your home energy-efficient, easy and convenient. This in turn translates to less wastage of time and effort.

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Correct home design caters to the specific needs of the residents

A properly designed home will keep in mind the needs and the exact priorities of people usnig it. For example, a home that is designed for a newly wed couple will be private, a touch romantic in its nature and far more sleek and sophisticated compared to a family with young kids. The design of the house is always based on the requirements of its users and this only makes life easier for those in it.

By now you would have got a fair idea of why home design matters and why a well-designed home beats one without any thought put behind it hands down. So in case you are just starting to move into a new place, then now is the time to seriously think about giving your home a meaningful shape and purpose.