Styling your home doesn't have to be daunting task. Knowing the basics can have a huge impact.
Whether you are styling your home for personal use and enjoyment, staging your home for sale or setting it up as an Airbnb, you can make your home Pinterest worthy by following our basic guide.
STEP 1: MAKE A PLAN
When prepping your home to look like it came straight out of a magazine, you need to expect that it is going to take some time. As in days, weeks or even months - and that is okay.
Creating a plan and setting goal dates for completing various steps of the plan are KEY! So get yourself a dedicated notebook or start a new spreadsheet or whatever suits you best and make that PLAN!
STEP 2: DECLUTTER
Declutter, declutter & then declutter a little (or a LOT) more.
Decluttering doesn’t just include your living room and kitchen counters, it also includes your entry closet, kitchen cabinetry and even those drawers in your media console.
As a Professional Stylist, I insist that every ITEM in your home have a specific PLACE in your home. Not only does this make it way easier to find things when you need them, but it also aids in living a life filled with more joy and less stress.
I think that is a fact, but I know it is a major truth for me.
So does this mean you shouldn’t have a junk drawer? Maybe…. I mean, probably.
But here is a work around for that junk drawer:
If you can’t seem to find a specific home for an item and you know that you absolutely 100% cannot live without the item AND it makes your life significantly easier, create a box specifically for those items and come back to address once you have completed the rest of your home. You may find it has less importance once you come back to it.
I could write a whole article dedicated to the topic of decluttering, however I feel that Marie Kondo already has an awesome guide, so start with a google search of Marie Kondo if you need a tutorial on decluttering.
STEP 3: CLEANING TIME!
It is not time to start the decor installation until you have a clean slate to work with (pun intended). Otherwise it is guaranteed that you will get distracted (especially if it is your own home you are styling)
My best cleaners use the “TOP DOWN” approach. They start on the top level of the home and begin with cleaning items at the ceiling level.
Example:
A. Dust cobwebs off the ceilings & light fixtures
B. Magic erase walls
C. Clean windows and window treatments
D. Clean furniture
E. Saving the floors for last
STEP 4: MAINTENANCE IS CALLING
As you clean, you will likely came across some repairs needed. Maybe that cabinet door isn’t lining up evenly with the others, or maybe you never replaced the missing trim in the mud room or maybe 50% of your lightbulbs are burned out. I won’t judge, just get the repairs on your schedule and get your home working right!
STEP 5: FURNITURE PLACEMENT
Sometimes it can be difficult to know how to arrange your spaces. And you may have to move things a million times before finding the right configuration.
To make this easier on yourself, I recommend one main thing: Furniture slides. They have different slides for wood floors than carpet and I literally use these EVERY time I move around my living room or bedrooms.
There are specific elements that should be included living rooms and bedrooms when it comes to furnishings.
LIVING ROOM:
Seating combination. This could be a sofa and an accent chair, a sofa & loveseat or other combination depending on what you already own.
- Surfaces (such as coffee table, end table, sofa table, media console)
- Some type of Storage
- A few pieces of table top decor
- Potentially a lamp and/or rug
- Wall hanging (art, pictures, decor)
- TV if desired
- Window treatments if applicable
- Throw blankets
- Throw pillows
BEDROOM:
- Bed & Bed Frame - If you have a platform bed, no bed skirt required. if you have a metal/utility frame that isn’t meant to be displayed, you will need a bed skirt.
- Nightstands - If you have a Queen or King Bed and space allows, having a nightstand on each side of the bed is ideal. Full beds could have 1 or 2 and Twin Beds should only have one.
- Lamps/Lighting on or above nightstand
- Window Treatments if applicable (if you have neighbors, most often these are applicable :)
- Bedding including sheets, pillows (4 king pillows for king bed, 4 queen pillows for queen and full beds, 2 queen pillows for twin beds), comforter and additional blanket
- Decorative pillows if applicable
STEP 6: WALL DECOR
Once you have all of your furniture placed, it is time to decorate the walls. Your style throughout should be cohesive. This doesn’t mean that you can’t mix styles, like modern with more traditional pieces, you definitely can and you see it all of the time. But I recommend cruising Pinterest and creating a board dedicated to wall decor and save examples of wall decor that you 100% love and then use those for inspiration.
STEP 7: SEEK FEEDBACK
If you 100% love your space, skip this step, but if you are not totally in love with your new set up, ask for feedback from friends, family and strangers.
People generally love to share their opinions.
If you have a HUGE style crush on somebody, have no fears and reach out to them. The worst that can happen is they won’t respond.
And there you have it, a complete yet basic guide to Styling Your Home Like a Pro!
If you have any questions at all or would like my personal feedback, send me a text or email with photos of your space and I will happily provide you with some guidance! 612-590-5399
If you would like to receive articles similar to this, sign up for our e-newsletter on YourHomeslice.com
Do you want us to list and stage your home?
We offer staging services for every listing and we are pretty fun to work with.
Email us @ FrontDesk@MSP-Realty.com
A Dream Home takes time, & whether you are choosing to complete this on your own or decide to hire some assistance, I know with 100% certainty that you can bring your current home to magazine worthy status.....
