Recently I shared a photo to my Facebook page of a corner of my home, and reader was questioning how I know what to put where. The truth is there is no real science to home decorating but there are a few tips to make it just that will help you with how to decorate your home that are really easy to follow.

How To Decorate Your Home When You Don’t Know How

Know What You Like

When I started decorating Pen Y Llechwedd, I had no idea of what style I would use to decorate my home. I have an eclectic taste, that seeds itself firmly in the Hamptons. But while Hampton’s style works well in Queenslanders, in our classic much older home, we needed to find a way to honor the grandeur of the home as well as it’s age.

Knowing what you like in terms of decorating styles is a great place to start when learning. Your home is meant to be a reflection of you, so decorating it in a style that you like, is the most important first step.

Map Out Your Room

I find it especially helpful to start decorating using the key pieces in your room, the furniture. Big items of furniture are difficult to move around, so beginning your room plan on a piece of paper is a great way to start. It really helps to make little scale cut outs of your furniture so you can move them around until you are happy with their location.

Remember to consider the scale of the room as to the scale of the furniture. You may need to add or subtract pieces until you feel the room has balance. A room does not need to be strictly symmetrical to provide balance, balance can be found with differing pieces placed in a symmetrical way.

Once you feel it’s right on paper, move your furniture in. It’s ok if you are not happy with it once all in place, simply tweak until it feels right to you.

Use Vignettes

Once the furniture is in place, use vignettes to create focal points in the room. Vignettes should be used to draw the eye to parts of the room you would like to highlight, or can also be used to draw the eye away from bits you’d rather forget.

When choosing what to put into your vignettes, try and share your personality by selecting items that show where you have been and what you love.

Layer Your Room

It is important to add layers to your spaces, rugs cushion throw rugs and vignettes will all help to create a cosy warm feeling within your home. These layers are what will prevent your room from feeling sparse and cold.

Artwork or mirrors are another way to add layers to a room, especially if they tell a story about your journey.

Lighting Is Your Friend

I have candles and lamps everywhere! We rarely if ever use the main lights in any room but the bathrooms and laundry. Lamps add so much ambience to your home, especially when you choose a warm white bulb. This colour is very close to the old incandescent bulbs we all grew up with and will instantly make give you room a homely feel.

Just Try

My biggest message here is to simply try. You can get really bogged down in trying to replicate a perfect home, but will you really love it? I had many a decorating disaster before I found what worked for our home and our family, you will too, but don’t let this stop you from trying.

Use Restraint

I have at times put a whole room together only to find I hate it, it doesn’t feel right, and usually at that stage, if I simply take a few items out of the room it begins to balance out.

It is easy to “over decorate” a room by adding too much stuff and not allowing the room to tell it’s own story. Practice restrain when you are decorating to really see the personality of your home shine.

Do you have a favourite room in your home? Do you enjoy decorating your home, or does it fill you with fear?

Nicole xxx

All photos in this post are from our shoot for Queensland Homes, photography by Hannah Puechmarin, styling by Rachael Honner and Interiors by me ?