I don’t know about you but sometimes decorating your home can be a little scary. I know that’s how I felt when I started out a long time ago. Knew what style we liked but wasn’t too sure on how to make it all come together cohesively throughout our home. Problem solved! I have teamed up with a group of awesome bloggers to gather 16 Best Decorating Tips for you to implement around your home. No matter what your style is. 

Expert Bloggers 16 Best Decorating Tips

My Question:

When styling a room do you try and use what you already have and maybe add some new items or do you start from scratch and go with all new decor and what would you call your own personal style?

Let’s take a peek at these super helpful answers from 16 fabulous bloggers from all over the world! Giving their best advice to answer and help you decorate your home!

Nicole Corr – Green Isle Landscapes

When styling a room we try and use what we already have and will leave gaps if we haven’t got what we think we need. The only area we start from scratch is outside if we are updating an area, like garden or paving. Outdoor decor can get hammered by the weather or even destroyed. In that case, we will completely update and start new, but this process can be difficult as we are not always able to get the quality or the style we want. Our personal style in our home is classic with an eccentric twist. I found substance and peace in my neighbours from an early age, he was a professor of water. He collected clocks and his whole house was eccentric. I loved going in and sitting in there or watching him create things in his garden.
My passion for creating drama by adding eccentric pieces was inspired by him. I am in the process of setting up museum style cabinets which include some of his mothers and fathers beautiful things he has given me. Things like gloves, original still in their box nylon stockings, stiff collars, hair clips and keys.

Susanne Stewart – Life on Pearl Street

My own personal style is eclectic. I have a mishmash of decor accessories, but they all tell a story and go together. When styling a room I would love to start from scratch and go buy all new, but most times that is not in the budget. I enjoy shopping my own home and moving things around to make a space look new and fresh. Small items are easy to move around like end tables, smalls, and textiles. I work next to an antique store that gets in some amazing items so I will occasionally (well more often than that) buy a great item and add it to my spaces. I believe that a design style is curated over time, one piece at a time.

Jessica Devlin – Jessica Devlin Designs

I’m going to answer this as if money was not an issue. Taking cost out of the decision I would go with mainly new piece that fit that particular space well. Often we move and try to make furniture that fit perfectly in our old home fit in a much bigger or smaller space. That won’t always work and start to look really weird. So long as the piece works in that new space I see no reason not to re-use it, it’s just not a given in my books.

Sarah Foote – The Project Pile

Whenever I have to plan out a room, the very first thing that I do is look for an inspiration piece to build my entire design around. I always check the project pile out in the garage to see if I can find the perfect item out there. If I can’t find anything, then it’s time to go shopping! I have a few select places that I shop at for my inspiration pieces, antique shops, thrift stores and a few of my favourite local boutiques. After I have my inspiration piece, I check my paint inventory to see if I have something close to the colour that I have in my mind. If I have it, or if I can mix it up myself, I do, and if I don’t, then I’ll just buy it. Since I am always collecting ahead of time, I can usually find what I need for furnishings out in the project pile. A lot of times I will paint or refinish several different pieces of furniture to make it all look like a set. The last thing that I like to do is accessorise! I love mixing old-world antiques with new-world décor, and I would definitely describe my style as eclectically rustic!

Kimm Bose – Reinvented

I definitely start with what I have; looking to see if existing items can be painted or made over in some way to fit the new look or function of the room. Next, I shop my house, trying to look with fresh eyes at pieces that are in different rooms but might work in the new design. If I must admit that I need something “new”, I’ll check the Facebook Marketplace, Craigs List, and local thrift stores and flea markets for pieces with character and a history that would add to our home and style. Only as a last resort do I venture to the store. 😉 Our rustic modern farmhouse style lends well to my philosophy; it is best expressed with vintage finds and upcycled junk. 🙂

Christy Harper – The Harper House

Since I am so frugal, I always use things I already have when designing a space. Now that I am older, I try to limit myself on all the little accessories that tend to get lost in a room and focus on using larger pieces that make a statement. My personal design style now tends to lean toward classic pieces that are not trendy. The coastal farmhouse look is what I’m trying to achieve in my home, even though we live nowhere near a beach. I love large comfy sofas that I can sink into with my kiddos to watch a movie, lots of pillows, baskets, white shiplap, and greenery sprinkled throughout.

Pam List – Momma Can

I always check to see what I have on hand first to style a room. I feel starting with quality basic pieces and then adding my personal style is the best way to go for my family budget and to save time. Planning a room from scratch each time would be a real challenge with my work schedule while maintaining a home and taking care of my family. Our house style is eclectic with an emphasis on music and travel. Eclectic to me means I can use whatever the heck looks good and toss in some Lego sculptures and vintage doll houses. We decorate with the things we use and love. I adore colourful drums in all sizes, and my husband collects stringed instruments, mostly guitars. Our style is traditional eclectic with a dash of farm and coastal, which sounds crazy. But I feel the result is charming.

Sam Franklin – A Happy Home In Holand

I don’t particularly follow set styles of home decorating and often mix it all up giving it a real eclectic feel. My home is full of mismatched furniture pieces that we have either been given or bought second hand. You would think this would look awful but somehow it works and creates a look that I like.
Another rule I am also thinking about breaking is a having a matching dining room suite. A big trend here in the Netherlands at the moment is to mix and match different chair styles and colours giving your home décor a more interesting feel. I really like this and have been looking around at some possible combinations.

Emy Flint – Semi Gloss Design

For the most part, I really enjoy using what I have. It’s so much fun to shop the house and find forgotten accessories. Moving a forgotten item to a new location can make it feel so special! However, it’s a lot of fun to shop, so I do enjoy adding new items as well, especially vintage items.

Yami Platero – The Latina Next Door

When decorating a room I like to start with the items in my own home, unless I am creating an entirely new room with a new function and I just don’t have the pieces of furniture that I need. This is both cost effective and less wasteful. Once I have exhausted all options with my own furnishings and accessories, I go out and shop for the remaining items. It can help to completely clear the room when you begin to decorate, but this is beneficial whether or not you use items you already have or items you have purchased.

Jennifer Gainer – Jenron Designs

When designing a room I do like to clear the slate so to speak and start fresh. I find that sometimes the emotional attachment that you have to an object can cloud the designer eye. That being said, I have been known to rework pieces I already own into the room, as that makes sense for a budget friendly redesign. I see no problem in reusing what you have if 1. You love the item or it has a sentimental attachment for you 2. The item is still current and in good condition 3. The item will work within the perimeters of the existing room design.

Denise Bryant – My Thrifty House

When styling a room I always try to use what I already have and shop inside my house first. If there is something that I don’t have then I will supplement by shopping at the flea markets or thrift store and my last resort would be going to a retail store. I would consider my personal style flea market chic or shabby chic.

Tina Bousu – Eclectic Twist

 

I usually start off thinking about what I’ve got around, and that goes for furniture too. What kind of rearranging can I do to get what I’m going for in here? Accessories are a big one I rotate often, things like pillows, drapes and art. If I know I don’t have anything comparable to what I want to do I will start bargain hunting online, focusing on the best deal I can find or wait until I stumble on something that is perfect! I shop thrift stores, flea markets, home goods, marshalls and world market in store. My personal style is colourful eclectic. I’m a big fan of every genre of design from antiques to midcentury mod to farmhouse to modern. I appreciate all aspects and incorporate them. Colourful is my other big one. I simply cannot LIVE without colour. It adds so much life and personality!

Susie Kuc – Tiny House Giant Life

I’ve never personally been able to start a design completely from scratch and I would venture to say its a myth that anyone really does. Even if you have the money, you probably have items that have sentimental value to you that get re-used as time goes by.
I always start with looking at what I already have and see if it will work, or if I can swap it with something else I already own. When all else fails I see what could be made ourselves to fill in the gaps, then I’ll go shopping for new items. Those steps help create our homes eclectic style.

Sam Hay – Raggedy Bits

I always shop my own home first. It’s amazing how moving things around can completely change the style of a room. I try to style rooms first with things that we already have and then if I’m stuck I might bring something old back to new by painting it, using material to cover it. The possibilities are endless!

Liz Elliot- Franc & Eli

Always shop your own home first! It’s like shopping your closet first – YOU know what YOU like. And so you probably already have some really cool pieces. It’s always fun to find a new use or place for an old item and bring it back to life! I call my personal style “modern bohemian planterior” because I love designing with plants!

So there you have 16 Best Decorating Tips to help you decorate your home and how the experts do it. Check out below for all of the other 15 fabulous questions that were asked by my blogging pals. Because you never know if they may solve another decorating dilemma!
Happy Decorating!

For more answers to design questions, don’t forget to visit my blogging friends!

Jessica Devlin Expert Bloggers Top Home Decorating Ideas

Sam Hay Expert Bloggers 16 Best Decorating Tips

Susanne Stewart Decorating on a Budget, 16 Design Bloggers Tell You How

Kimm Boes Ask The Experts: Favorite Paint Colors For Furniture

Sarah Foote Making those Teeny-Tiny Spaces Look & Feel Larger; 16 Bloggers Share their Best Advice

Pam List Expert Bloggers Top 3 Decorating Items

Sam Franklin Home Decor Style & Trends; Design Experts Favorites

Denise Bryant Decorating With Thrift Store and Flea Market Finds

Susan Kuc Small Home Design; 16 Bloggers Tell All

Yami Platero How to Keep a Stylish and Organized Home with Small Children

Nicole Corr Design Experts Tell Us What Their Dream Outside Relaxation Space Looks Like

Emy Flint How 16 Bloggers Use Color In Their Homes

Jennifer Gainer Ask the Designer-What is Your Style?

Christy Harper Grey Paint Colors – Top Bloggers Favorites

Tina Bousu Top Tips for Decorating Tough Spaces from Expert Bloggers

Liz Elliott Design Bloggers Top Design Tips

Don’t have time to take a peek now? Be sure to PIN for later 🙂