How To Shop with a Designer’s Eye

How To Shop with a Designer’s Eye

Avoid creating blindly in your space!

Building a new home in the New Year? Remodeling your current space? Renovating an investment property? Staging a home for a short-term rental or to sell? Redecorating a room in your house? Any of these projects, whether they might seem big or small at first, can easily become overwhelming, and without mindful planning, quickly surpass an allotted budget, become unintentionally cluttered, or lose style integrity. Working with an interior designer is the easiest way to avoid these heartaches, but if your plan is to go it alone, we believe these tips will assist you immensely on your creative journey!

Know Your Size

You know that frustrating feeling when you order a blouse online in the same size you usually order, but when it arrives, it doesn’t fit properly at all? Wandering out into a furniture store, home decor shop, or shopping online without the measurements of your space can often feel like this. It happens to the best of us - we think to ourselves, “I’m just gathering ideas today,” but soon enough we fall in love with a piece or two, and swoop them into our shopping carts without another thought. Nothing is more frustrating than unpacking your shopping lot, and realizing the size is not ideal.

As designers, measurements are always our very first step. We recommend keeping a note in your phone for each of the rooms you’re working on, with an abundance of measurements listed. Even if you think, “the height of the room won’t matter,” trust us: the height of a floor lamp, the posts on a bed frame, or even the size of a piece of art can benefit from knowing this information!

Select a Theme

This may seem like a no-brainer, but we’ve worked with many clients who think they have one mainstream style, and as time passes, realize there are several vibes that resonate with them. Whether your favorite pieces are always farmhouse, modern, eclectic, or traditional, it’s important to identify the theme early in the process in order to ensure that the items you select work together to achieve the look you want!

Build your space off of this key design style. Select a color scheme, furniture pieces, and accessories that all compliment the theme. Although we love and encourage the less matchy-matchy trend, there is still a necessary element of cohesiveness that needs to happen to ensure the room and home flow in a way that makes sense.

Choose 1-3 Focal Pieces

This is where you’ll want to begin making a game plan for your budget. We like to splurge on a couple of main items or elements in the room that fit the selected design style, and hunt down other, more affordable, pieces that work well in the room. When a greater portion of your investment goes into more long-term design selections (think: wallpaper, dining tables, sofas, curtains, rugs, credenzas etc.) there is flexibility to switch out smaller pieces (such as candlesticks, trays, lamps, side tables, pillows, etc.) seasonally, or when the room is in need of a refresh.

Once your theme has been determined, and your favorite focal items have been selected, it’s time to get creative. Build upon the color scheme and style by adding textures, layers, and patterns in the form of rugs, throws, lighting, and reflections. Mirrors can play a major role in the design of a room, as they add extra light and the illusion of more space! Typically, this stage of design is where the individuality and uniqueness of a person’s style can truly shine. We love seeing sentimental or personal items spread throughout a space.

Shopping for the layering and building pieces, while also staying on theme and under budget can be tricky. Our Under $50 Collection and Under $100 Collection in our online store were created for this exact purpose: we know how frustrating it can be to remain under budget after finding those favorite focal points, but we believe a desired look can still be achieved without cheapening the space altogether.

If the idea of tackling the project begins to feel overwhelming, our design team has several options that just might be the ticket to creating a space you love. Our newest offer, Think About It Thursdays, was created specifically for this reason. Chat for 30 minutes with one of our designers, and walk away with a custom shopping board that fits your style and links to items you can purchase online that will ship straight to your door!