Decorating Guides
5 Jumping-Off Points for Decorating a Blank Space
Get your design mojo going by building your entire decor scheme off a single favorite piece
Many homeowners struggle with developing a decorating theme in a room. For example, you might love the color blue but aren’t sure how much to use and on what pieces. Maybe you prefer traditional style but aren’t confident enough to really nail the look you’re going for.
Of course, this is where a designer can help you tremendously, but if you’re set on doing it alone, there are a handful of great jumping-off points. Inspiration is subjective — in other words, different for everyone. But the key is to quiet the noise in your head, focus your attention on one favorite piece and build from that. Here are five of my favorite ways to kick-start a decor scheme for any room.
Of course, this is where a designer can help you tremendously, but if you’re set on doing it alone, there are a handful of great jumping-off points. Inspiration is subjective — in other words, different for everyone. But the key is to quiet the noise in your head, focus your attention on one favorite piece and build from that. Here are five of my favorite ways to kick-start a decor scheme for any room.
By creating a design sympathetic to the style and mood of an art piece, your room will begin to take shape. You can choose colors from your artwork to use in accents, but try to look beyond color. Look for inherent qualities. Does it depict objects, ideas, movement? Is it a pastoral scene or perhaps an urban scene, or simply a lyrical play of color and texture?
All of this is very subjective, so you get to interpret however you choose. Paul Klee, for example, best known for his work at Bauhaus, painted works that to him visually depicted music. Rhythm and repetition are evident in his work. Interior designers use rhythm and repetition, too.
All of this is very subjective, so you get to interpret however you choose. Paul Klee, for example, best known for his work at Bauhaus, painted works that to him visually depicted music. Rhythm and repetition are evident in his work. Interior designers use rhythm and repetition, too.
Softness in the painting here is complemented by soft textiles and curved forms. You can set out to create a blended result, or you can introduce tension. A metal-framed glass-topped table would be equally beautiful with this painting.
An Area Rug
A suitable-size area rug with colors you love can introduce a color and style direction for the rest of the room. As with artwork, sometimes we start with a central inspiration piece. At other times the added flourish makes the look come together. It doesn’t matter which way you approach it. Just don’t hesitate to add personality through your choices.
If you love a beautiful rug like this, try letting it get all the attention by keeping the other furnishings quiet and light. However, you could also layer in textiles and artwork to build on the central piece. Upholstered chairs in a pattern would work well. (I’d go with a stripe pattern, but that’s me.) Just be sure to vary the scale of the patterns so they don’t compete.
A suitable-size area rug with colors you love can introduce a color and style direction for the rest of the room. As with artwork, sometimes we start with a central inspiration piece. At other times the added flourish makes the look come together. It doesn’t matter which way you approach it. Just don’t hesitate to add personality through your choices.
If you love a beautiful rug like this, try letting it get all the attention by keeping the other furnishings quiet and light. However, you could also layer in textiles and artwork to build on the central piece. Upholstered chairs in a pattern would work well. (I’d go with a stripe pattern, but that’s me.) Just be sure to vary the scale of the patterns so they don’t compete.
A stylized carpet pattern in neutral hues sets the style direction in this classic bedroom. Build on the color notes in small ways, as was done with the headboard and drapes here. Staying within a soft value range (degree of lightness or darkness) keeps the room calm.
11 Area Rug Rules and How to Break Them
11 Area Rug Rules and How to Break Them
A Textile
Pattern introduces a lively color palette here. Find a textile you love and use its colors as a central theme. You may find a fabric you love on drapes, toss pillows or upholstery, as shown here. Build on that.
Pattern introduces a lively color palette here. Find a textile you love and use its colors as a central theme. You may find a fabric you love on drapes, toss pillows or upholstery, as shown here. Build on that.
A Collection
A display of vintage collectibles like this can inspire a starting point for your decor. I would look for primary and secondary colors and simple geometric shapes to furnish this room. A balance of natural grained wood to add warmth plus midcentury pieces would work nicely, too. A collection sometimes fits best in a “collected” room, so this approach works great if you have a lot of flea market pieces.
A display of vintage collectibles like this can inspire a starting point for your decor. I would look for primary and secondary colors and simple geometric shapes to furnish this room. A balance of natural grained wood to add warmth plus midcentury pieces would work nicely, too. A collection sometimes fits best in a “collected” room, so this approach works great if you have a lot of flea market pieces.
A beloved collection of vintage textiles gets priority placement against this soft teal upholstery. If you have a collection that speaks to a specific time period, support that look. Furniture reminiscent of that time, and especially lighting, can punctuate a look.
Marine-life prints form the basis of a soft, classic palette that creates a restful room here.
A set of heirloom china gets visual backup from the dining chairs here. Color, again, is a great unifier that tells a story well.
Wallpaper
Wallpaper can take you in so many directions. Notice how this designer picked up the playfulness of the wallpaper in the black and white patterned throw. This builds a nice connection between the two rooms. Bright accents of yellow suit the playful mood, too.
Wallpaper can take you in so many directions. Notice how this designer picked up the playfulness of the wallpaper in the black and white patterned throw. This builds a nice connection between the two rooms. Bright accents of yellow suit the playful mood, too.
A nautical motif here introduces elements from a mariner’s palette — porthole mirror, fisherman’s lights, nautical stripes — all in a classic color combo of crisp white and navy.
More: How to Decorate When You’re Starting Out or Starting Over
More: How to Decorate When You’re Starting Out or Starting Over
If you have a piece of art you love and know you want to incorporate into your room no matter what, begin there. In professionally designed rooms, you often can’t tell which came first — the artwork or the furnishings — but the space shown here is a great example of the two working together beautifully. And that’s your goal.
Pick elements from the style of your art piece, such as the palette, medium or technique, to start your design. Try looking for features such as similarity to a particular period in art history to direct the context you create.
In this example, complex, warm colors and curvilinear lines in the artwork are echoed in the furniture.