5 Things to Consider Before an Interior Design Makeover

Color For Mood Enhancement
You may love neon green or hot pink in an outfit but painting an entire room or even a wall will probably make you feel like your surroundings are vibrating. If this is an active room in your home, such as a children’s play area, it may be appropriate. If you’re considering it for your bedroom or a bathroom you may have a difficult time sleeping or getting ready for the day in the morning with such a jarring color as your background. The colors you use in your interior design will influence the perceptions of your home. Blues and greens are typically soothing, yellow is energizing, red is bold and invigorating, brown is substantial and reliable, black is dramatic (and can be harsh), white is crisp but can be stark. Purple is tied to royalty so may be more formal but lighter shades of lavender can be soothing. Choose a color for your home based on the message you want the rooms to convey. If there are dramatic colors you love and want to use, incorporate them as accents in smaller items that can be switched out if you tire of them or find a new favorite hue.

Setting a Mood with Lighting
The color and quality of the light in a room affects everything about your perception of the design. Harsh florescent lighting is rarely, if ever, appropriate in a home. It casts a stark, unflattering light and turns colors into flat, dull parodies of themselves. Traditional incandescent lights add a yellowish cast to colors while the newer white light bulbs provide the purest light for the most accurate and vivid colors.

Brightness is also an important factor to consider. Task lighting, which is bright light focused on a particular area, is necessary for detail work and reading but is too intense for overall room light. Lighting a room with a single central light fixture will create unflattering shadows. A torchiere-style lamp casts its light toward the ceiling creating a soft, indirect light throughout the room. The best solution includes a mix of general, indirect and task lighting.

Care & Maintenance
Last, but certainly not least, consider the amount of time you have and are willing to spend on care and maintenance of your interior design. A glass-top coffee table or a mirrored nightstand is great for reflecting light around the room and adding a bit of sparkle but only if they are kept free from smudges and fingerprints. Ornate carvings in the wood of a dining room table and chairs are gorgeous when they’re polished and free of spills. If you’re willing to put in the time to keep the furnishings looking their best, by all means use them in your design. Be honest with yourself. If you love the mirrored chest but own a dog or cat or have small children, are you really going to have the time or desire to clean it daily to keep it looking its best?

While it can be a lot of fun to play with paint chips and daydream about luxe furnishings, you’ll be happier with your interior design if you take some time to think about the practical considerations before you let emotions and spontaneity carry you away. Once you’ve examined your likes, dislikes and have a realistic expectation of time you’re willing to invest in upkeep you’re ready to start brainstorming ideas for the look of your home. Try out one of the top-rated interior design software programs that we’ve reviewed to help you make those daydreams a reality. At TopTenREVIEWS We Do the Research So You Don’t Have To.™