It can be hard to know where to start when it comes time to decorate your home. Knowing what your preferred interior design style is the first step, but even when armed with this knowledge, purchasing and arranging decor in your home can seem like an insurmountable task. There’s a reason interior designers go to school to hone their craft; it’s a complex practice that requires a keen eye and a curiosity for style. Fortunately, you don’t need a degree to learn some basic interior design 101 tips to assist you with decorating your home beautifully.

Function

The most important quality for any room in your home is that it functions properly. For instance, a dining room stacked to the ceiling with boxes doesn’t function well as a space for eating a meal.

You’ll begin by determining the room’s focal point. This could be something that is built into the space, like a large window, a fireplace, or an exposed brick wall. If your room doesn’t have a natural focal point, establish one by selecting a piece of art that speaks to you or an element of home decor that you absolutely adore, such as modern barn doors. You will create the rest of the room around this focal point.

Next, you’ll choose which furniture to use in the room so that the space functions as needed. As you work with the furniture in a room, play with the arrangement and consider the size and shape of each piece. You may have a living room set that looked great on the showroom floor but is too big for the space you have. Use some of the pieces that were in the set in the living room and place the other ones in different parts of your home. Save yourself the hassle of moving your furniture by using graph paper to plot out the furniture arrangement in your room.

Lighting plays a crucial role in the function of a room. Bright lighting is needed in places where you have to focus like the kitchen or an office. However, dimmer lighting may serve you better in the bedroom. For overhead lights, install dimmer switches to easily control the lighting in any room.

Mood

The mood of a room is defined by the color palette, furniture style, textiles, and home decor accessories. An inspiration piece, such as a rug or painting, will help you select the elements that will set the mood. Take color cues from your inspiration to select the perfect palette.

Maybe your inspiration piece has a theme, such as tropical garden or nautical landscape, that can be incorporated into the overall decorative mood. For example, if your inspiration piece is a picture of a rustic cabin in the woods, you’ll want to work with flannel textiles, wooden furnishings, and green earthtones to replicate the mood.

Patterned and textured pieces also add depth and dimension to the mood you establish in a room. Note the patterns or textures seen in your inspiration piece to add continuity to your room. Play around with different textiles and home decor pieces to set the mood you desire.

Personality

This is where you get to make the space your own by accessorizing with pieces that are uniquely you. A photograph you took on vacation. Those funky throw pillows you found at a flea market. A collection of your children’s artwork over the years. Flowers from your garden. Personalize each and every room in a way the complements the mood and function while highlighting what you adore.

The most important interior design 101 tip to keep in mind is to have fun as you decorate your home. This is your living space so it should always feel welcoming, comfortable, and beautiful to you. Enjoy the time you spend on these projects by playing around with colors, shapes, and pieces to see what feels best to you.