9 Techniques to Decorate Your Home Like an Expert

Matching furniture, colors and upholstery can be confusing if you don't use some techniques to decorate your home.
9 Techniques to Decorate Your Home Like an Expert

Written by Jonatan Menguez

Last update: 08 March, 2023

There are two main reasons for changing the visual appearance of home spaces. On the one hand, there’s moving to a new space. On the other, there’s the desire to renew the aesthetics of the room. In both situations, there are different techniques to decorate your home and find your own style without being too overwhelmed by the task.

Home decoration requires thinking about many details that, in turn, must achieve harmony with each other. Designing a room involves achieving a balance between visual aesthetics, functionality, and personal tastes associated with colors, sizes, and patterns. To do an organized job and be satisfied with the space, it’s a good idea to know a series of tips.

Discover these 9 techniques to decorate your home

Giving your home a visual aesthetic format that follows a decorative line is not a simple task. However, with a few steps and recommendations, it can become a fun and passionate job. The best part? The end result: a room or the entire house with a renewed look.

By taking into account the following details, it’s possible to achieve an environment at the height of an interior designer, but with a personal touch. Take the measurements and distances of each corner, discover your favorite colors, and identify the designs that catch your attention. Let’s get to work!

1. Know the space

The first step to achieving the interior design of your dreams is to know the room well. This involves several issues; for example, taking measurements. With just a couple of basic tools, it’s possible to discover all the specific measurements of your home.

With this data, the choice and distribution of furniture becomes easier and adapted to the real dimensions. It’s not only about having a visually pleasing living room, but also functional for everyday actions.

Decoración casa
One of the techniques to decorate your home like an expert is to know the precise dimensions of each space.

2. Visualize obstacles and measure the distances

When taking the measurements, you can follow some standard criteria of distance, such as leaving an estimated 10 centimeters between the sofa and the table. Also, it’s best to hang pictures at an average of one and a half meters from the floor. As long as you decorate according to the space, the result will be more accurate and efficient.

However, depending on the distribution of immovable structures in the space, such as columns or radiators, it’s possible to adjust the design to every centimeter. The entrance of the telephone cable and the position of radiators or fireplaces will also condition the placement of the furniture.

3. Know your budget

Although the techniques to decorate your house don’t suggest acquiring numerous new and expensive objects, it’s likely that you will need to invest in furniture or decoration elements. Therefore, it’s a good idea to set up a budget before selecting furniture and designs that will be difficult to obtain later.

With an estimated number to spend on each detail, you can set up an environment adjusted to your possibilities. You should always leave a margin for spending, as there may be a very special piece of furniture that’s worth going overboard for.

For both removals and renovations, it’s a good idea to have a list of the furniture and current objects that are going to be kept. The purpose is to deduct them from the budget and take them into account when measuring the space.

4. Find your own style

Decorating almost expertly requires knowing your personal preferences to adapt them to the room. If you have a well-defined favorite style, then you should opt for that color palette, that type of decorations, and those textiles.

However, it’s common not to know where to start. For inspiration in the search for designs, there are portals like Pinterest or decorating magazines that can help you get ideas.

Your personal touch should always be considered, and this includes some of the functions that the room will serve. For example, think about hosting gatherings of friends, preparing a craft space for crafts, or containing pet bedding.

5. Natural and artificial lighting

One of the most important aspects of decorating is the amount, intensity, and distribution of lighting. Of course, there’s nothing like natural light, but this is subject to the architectural design of your space.

It’s important to take advantage of the income through windows or vents and not cover them with furniture and thick curtains.

For the evening, it’s best to consider all available lighting resources to achieve a cheerful atmosphere. For example, table lamps or floor lamps. In general, do not exceed a quantity of three light resources per room.

Another maxim suggests that warm light is more appropriate for relaxing places such as the living room, while cold light fits better in the bathroom or kitchen.

6. Decorating your home: Wall color

The other key to the design is the harmonious use of color. Some people paint first and then choose the furniture, while others choose to do it the other way around. The important thing is that the range of shades is logical throughout the room. This doesn’t mean that everything is monotonous.

It’s possible to use different colors to look for different sensations, such as blue for a more active environment or a beige palette for a calmer one. A good trick is to paint all the walls in one color and only highlight the main wall with another color (the one that stands out first because of its position).

You can also decorate with wallpaper, mirrors, or original paintings. The level of avant-garde depends on personal taste. Many prefer a classic style, while others opt for a Nordic or minimalist look.

7. Textiles and upholstery

The colors of the walls and the natural light should be in tune with the furniture and its manufacturing materials. Everything in the home says something. In the living room, the sofa upholstery becomes a central surface. In general, plain options are easier to match, as are light colors.

White, gray, or beige are not going to present major challenges in matching them to walls, cushions, and trim. Stronger colors, such as red, green, or blue should be used with care, as they can affect the logic of the design.

As for textiles, natural ones, such as leather, silk, or wool tend to be more common and durable. Anyway, synthetics, such as microfiber, polyester, and vinyl offer good resistance.

8. Decorate your home: Place indoor plants

It’s difficult to think of an interior design without the presence of plants. They provide a natural component to the ambiance in addition to oxygenating the spaces. Of course, they work as a decorative element, depending on the size and location. Some ideal species are the jade tree, potus, or ficuses.

Decorar con plantas
Choosing plants will always be a wise decision when decorating the home.

9. Logically arrange the decorations

The last instance to decorate your home like an expert is the placement of decorations. It’s not necessary to overload the spaces, but you should decorate each piece of furniture with at least one object.

Floor lamps, vases, pictures on the wall, mirrors, books on the shelves, and travel souvenirs add the finishing touches to the design of the space.

In some areas, you can carry out a symmetrical arrangement of furniture and decorations. This means installing, for example, pictures of equal size on both sides of the sofa. Or placing the same lamp on both bedside tables and the same cushions on the bed in the room.

Colorful textiles are one of the best techniques to decorate your home

There are many designs, colors, sizes, and textiles that can be combined within a space. One of the main tricks is to look for an overall theme within the whole structure, even if it’s in a minor detail. For example, you can unite the whole room by choosing a main color.

That color should be present in small objects, such as ornaments on the central table, cushions, and mirror frames. The rest of the furniture should follow the range that integrates that tonality. In this way, no object will be out of place or isolated.


All cited sources were thoroughly reviewed by our team to ensure their quality, reliability, currency, and validity. The bibliography of this article was considered reliable and of academic or scientific accuracy.


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This text is provided for informational purposes only and does not replace consultation with a professional. If in doubt, consult your specialist.