Looking for a place to start when remodeling or decorating your home?  Look no further than the pages of your favorite magazine.  Before beginning any project, I ask my client to go through home decorating magazines and cut out pictures of ANYTHING they like in any room.  It can be an accessory , color, texture or a fixture.  When they have a folder of these, we begin.  You will find that there are things that you repeated from photo to photo.  Whether it's a specific color,  texture or a certain "feel" of a room, you will begin to see a pattern that you can build on.  You'll find the theme of the room from there.  From here, we do a drawing to scale of the room.  (I usually work on 1/4 scale.  1/4 of an inch equals 1 foot.)  Draw in all windows, doors, stairs, etc., and don't forget light switches and outlets.  Cut out templates of all your furnitue and rearrange on paper before committing sweat time to a faulty floor plan.  When considering color for the walls, etc., take into account surrounding rooms.  Try to take at least 1 color from each surrounding room and tie it in by  adding a pillow, vase, etc., in those colors.  Sometimes a neat picture that combines all the colors works beautifully to transition from one space to another.
Do your room in layers, paint, rugs/carpeting, furniture, lighting then accesories.  Don't be afraid to be different or of change.  You'll have done most of the work on paper so putting it all together is just a formality!  When it comes to accessorizing, buy things that are returnable.  That way, you won't be as afraid of committing if you know you can take it back. BUT, when you find something you LOVE that's just too pricey, I honestly use ebay for those items.  I make sure it's exactly what I want before committing, but I can usually get items for clients as well as myself at much lower prices than are available at most wholesalers I use!

TIPS:
Always keep window measurements with you in case you find that must have, just right bargain.

Before you paint that color you THINK you love on the wall, get 4 poster boards and paint 2 coats of your color om them and tape to the walls for 2 day.  Colors change in the night and as the day progresses.

I have a plastic sleeve with fabric and paint swatches with me at all times.  If I see something I love, I just check my samples to make sure they match.  I have one page for each room and I also photograph and print out furniture and area rugs.

Most of all, enjoy the process, you'll also learn a lot about yourself along the way.

Karen Cameron