Where To Start When Decorating A Room
Posted by Kirsten Sharp on Apr 4th 2025
Feel stuck before you even begin? Here's where to start when decorating your room feels overwhelming.
(This post may contain affiliate links, and I may earn a small commission if you make a purchase through them, at no extra cost to you).
1. Choose An Inspiration Piece
What's an inspiration piece? It's just a piece of home decor - the only catch is that it needs to have multiple colors in it. Here are a few examples:
- A throw pillow
- A piece of art
- An area rug
- Patterned curtains
The great thing about decorating when you have an inspiration piece is that it does a lot of the hard work for for you.
It becomes your color palette for the room and it guides you on choosing home decor in complimentary colors.
Have some furniture or decor that you'll be keeping in your room? No problem. Just find an inspiration piece that includes those same colors.
The wallpaper in this photo is an example of a inspiration piece. Notice how all the surrounding decor ties back in to the colors in the inspiration piece. Pretty cool, right?
Shop The Look: Dash & Albert Herringbone Rug in Light Blue/Ivory (top) | Ballard Designs Seaside Jacobean Wallpaper in Taupe (middle) | Taj Mahal Quartzite Countertop (left) | Porter Lane Home Fabric Swatch in Sky Alabaster (lower left) | Pottery Barn Performance Heathered Basketweave in Oatmeal (middle left) | Bedrosians Marin tile in Sand Dollar (beige tile) | Bedrosians Marin Tile in Misty Blue (right)
2. Learn the Design Principles
Now that we have our inspiration piece in place, we just need to find home decor in coordinating colors.
A lot of what makes the home decor in your room look great comes down to a few basic design principles - one of those is knowing what size item you're looking for. Whether it's furniture, lamps, artwork or rugs, purchasing the proper size makes your room look much more pulled together.
Shop The Look: Serena & Lily Twisted Abaca Rug (left) | Society Social Sage Green Faux Grasscloth Wallpaper (upper right) | Bedrosians Tile in Pearl White (upper right) | Ballard Designs Willow Peel and Stick Wallpaper in Emerald (middle) | Rejuvenation Vernon Mushroom Cabinet Knob in Aged Brass (lower left) | Rejuvenation Claybourne Drawer Pull, 4" in Aged Brass (lower left) | Porter Lane Home Pillow Swatch in Levi (polka dot, lower right) | Pottery Barn Churchfield Leather Furniture Swatch in Chocolate (lower right)
I teach the ideal sizes for throw pillows, area rugs, lamps and more in our course Decorating Made Simple, but spoiler alert for nearly all home decor items: Bigger is usually better!
3. Styling Your Room
Styling your room by strategically adding accessories (like a vase of flowers, a few candles, or a stack of books) is one of the most impactful ways you can uplevel your room.
Styling your room is what makes it feel like a home. It can take a room from good to great and I promise it doesn't have to be hard!
One simple styling trick is to group your accessories together - For example, you could group three candlesticks together, or you could group a vase of flowers on top of a stack of books.
This strategy not only looks beautiful, but it also helps to keep your room from looking cluttered. Here's an example of grouping accessories on a coffee table by incorporating a tray:
Decorating your room really can be as simple as that! Three basic steps.
I know first hand how frustrating it can be to really want your room to look like the ones you see on Pinterest, but not know how or where to start.
I hope this post has given you a jumping off point!
If you want to learn more, you can check out our course, Decorating Made Simple.
It expands on this framework with clear, actionable guidance—so you’ll know exactly how to bring it to life in your own home:
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