5 Components of Successful DIY Interior Design

5 Components of Successful DIY Interior Design

We spend our entire lives living in homes, condominiums and apartments, and that’s a whole lot of years of looking at interiors. So with all these years of observation notched on their belts it’s no wonder that more people today are taking a shot at doing their own DIY interior design work.

You’ll benefit in two ways. First of all there’s the money you’ll save, and if you haven’t checked yet, qualified interior designers don’t come cheap. Then secondly you’ll be getting it done your way. Yes there will be some mistakes along the way but you’ll learn from them, and they’re your mistakes not somebody else’s.

Interior Design

#1 Learn About Materials

Learning about materials, products and systems is the first step to successful DIY interior design. It would be like trying to cook if you’ve never seen eggs, flour, cooking oil or sugar. So it’s simple. That is that as you look in magazines, homes and showroom floors you need to know what you’re looking at, what it’s made from and how it went together.

So spend some time browsing down the aisles at your local warehouse hardware store. Don’t bother looking at paint colors and eye-catching more familiar products either. Instead look for the ‘unfamiliar’. Go check out all the adhesives for instance, and then make a nuisance of yourself by having a floor attendant explain to you how they all work and the benefits and shortcomings of each type.

DIY Interior Design Ideas

#2 Borrow From Others Ideas

The Beatles didn’t invent rock ‘n roll, so everything that they did was taken from somebody who had done it before. Still through it all, they were recognized as innovators and their artistic integrity was never in question. So it’s simple. Don’t try to reinvent the wheel when there are already so many variations of them out there.

After you gain a good understanding of all the common materials that go into successful DIY interior design then start ‘looking around’ for ideas. When you see something that you like, with your knowledge of materials you can then see how it all came together. Choose from the best ideas you can find and then figure out how to do it yourself in your own home.

DIY Interior Design – Borrow from other Ideas

#3 Appreciate and Understand Surface Treatments

A mistake that far too many beginners make is not having an appreciation for a good surface treatment. They approach the whole thing like it’s some type of demolition job where everything has to be removed in some type of cleansing and renewal process before they can start in with their DIY interior design work.

Take a look around your home and what do you see? All you’ll see is surfaces for the most part. Walls, floors, ceilings, etc. So look for clever surface treatments like decorative painting techniques that use marbling or sponged on layered colors to give a whole new look to an older service without a lot of time or money invested.

Interior Design Decorative Painting

#4 Invest in Good Tools and Equipment

Acquiring good tools equipment is crucial to successful DIY interior design. Don’t wait until you end up with paint splatter’s on your floor to understand the importance of having good quality tarps on hand to cover them. You’ll also need a small toolbox with basic hand tools like screwdrivers and pliers for removing things like cover plates before you paint.

Then if you’re going to get into like decorative carpentry, such as trim work and crown molding you’ll for sure need it least one air powered brad gun, which also means you’ll need a compressor and hoses. A long extension ladder and a mid sized foldout A-frame ladder also both come in real handy on any DIY interior design job.

Interior Design Tools

#5 Learn to Track Trends

Just like clothing and fashion accessories most people don’t understand or track interior design trends, rather they just follow them. When you’re doing your own DIY interior design work it’s imperative that you pay attention to trends, where they were, where they are now and where they’re going. Fail to do this and you can end up with work that’s dated before your project is even done.

One problem that too many people have is the time frame that falls between when they notice something that they like and when they finally get around to doing it. So you may have something right now in your head that you’ve been wanting to do for years, and been so focused on it that you’ve failed to even notice that it’s on its way out of style.

Interior Design Trends

The Bottom Line:

Simply because a person enjoys good food does not qualify them as a chef. Likewise, the fact that a person has purchased and now drives a luxury vehicle does not qualify them to design and build one.

Because you’ve been observing and living around good interior design does not in and of itself qualify you to do it. You must first study and understand what goes into it before you start in if you expect any measure of success.

5 Components of Successful DIY Interior Design