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August 8, 2022

Decorating Your New House When You Feel Overwhelmed

A new house can give you a clean slate to express your personality and make your home your own. However, staring at blank walls can be overwhelming. Here are some nonintimidating ways to start decorating your new home after your household move.

Before the Move

If you can access the home before your furniture arrives, you can change the colors of the walls and trim. Choose a piece of furniture or artwork you love to move to the new home. Take the artwork or fabric samples into the paint store and choose three colors. Put one of the colors on the walls and use the other two for trim and furnishings.

After the Move

Remember that decorating your new home is an ongoing project. You don’t have to complete everything in the first week, first month, or even the first year.

Create a Budget

Decide how much you can spend. Then, keep track of your expenses and receipts once you start decorating.

Take It One Room at a Time

Choose one room to start with. Perhaps you want to start with the room where you spend most of your time. Or, maybe you want to start with the one that bothers you the most. The idea is to choose one to focus on, decorate it to your satisfaction, and let the momentum from that success encourage you to move on to the next room.

Make a List of Essentials

List those things you feel are necessary for you to enjoy the room. Another approach is to identify all the problems the room has currently and decide what could fix them. Then prioritize.

As you conceptualize the room, create a Pinterest board for that room and pin things to the board you like when you come across them. Use the Pin description to write what you want about each post. Then, look back at your posts to see overarching themes. Once you feel stuck for other ideas to pin, the time has come for you to begin decorating.

If you’re not a computer person, start a looseleaf binder and clip photos from magazines or catalogs to place in the binder. Write a few words about what you like about each image, and look for common themes.

Find An Inspiration Piece

One way to start is to find one item, a rug, blanket, or piece of art, that can serve as inspiration for the whole room. The inspiration piece will help you create a vision for the room.

Believe in Yourself

Don’t be afraid to try new things. You’re in a new home and starting a new adventure. Now is the perfect time to try something different.

Also, realize that you probably will make some mistakes at first. Professionals learned to decorate by making mistakes and trying different combinations. Don’t be too hard on yourself if you try something that doesn’t work. Nothing is permanent.