How to design your dream house by yourself and why I want to help you achieve that goal
Have I ever told you my story? And no, not my entire life story, but my story about why I design? Why I love home décor, and even better, why I love doing all that work myself? You might have seen a bit about that on my about me page, but I think it is time I really dove into my why and let you in on the details.
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My passion for home décor and design
It is no secret that I love all things home décor and design. I have a passion for making homes beautiful, and it recharges my batteries. I love walking through home décor stores, just dreaming and designing rooms with all the lovely goods I see – that is my kind of window-shopping.
It is also one part of myself that I can’t switch off. Wherever I go, I will evaluate the space. I will compliment the good choices, and I will try and fix the mistakes. I take snapshots in my mind of what works and try and solve the problem areas. If a room has got a wonky layout, I will try and build that puzzle until it fits. I also remember the room with “virtual” measurements (how I see the room’s scale) and often dwell on a room or house I’ve visited long afterwards. Let’s call these my daydream projects.
The first thing I do is evaluate the space and everything in it. Then I will try and fix the layout, all in my mind, of course, while I may or may not be in conversation with friends or family. When I have fixed the layout, I look at possible updates to existing furniture like painting or refinishing and maybe think about adding a piece or two. Lastly, I always find myself thinking about the décor, the wall art, the curtains, plants and accessories.
This little habit of mine shows me through and through where my passion lies, and that is why I love home décor and design. But that does not mean my journey was smooth, and everything came naturally.
I’ve made a lot of mistakes in my home design
Even I’ve struggled with my home design – scatter cushions are still my nemesis (but I’ll let you know when I’ve conquered them). I’ve made so many mistakes along the way and continue to do so.
Here is one example for you. I chose the wrong sideboard for our dining room after admiring the piece for three years. I was so happy when we finally purchased it, but the day they delivered it, I realised I had made a mistake as soon as they opened the delivery truck door. But we placed it in our dining room and left it at that. Of course, then I struggled for another year to get style it and bought many wrong décor accessories to try and fix my mistake. As the years passed, I’ve gotten used to it, but I’m still not thrilled with the sideboard. I get the feeling that if we ever move house that I won’t take it with us.
But I’ve learned from that experience, and I’ve grown because of it. Instead of feeling deflated when we realise our mistakes, we should learn from them. I want you to take those failures and recover from them. But we should not let home décor mistakes keep us from trying again and again until we get to a point where we have enough confidence and knowledge not to make those mistakes again, or at least not as often.
How I gained confidence in my interior design skills
I have a degree in Interior Architecture, but the four years of studying only broke down my confidence instead of building it up. I enrolled for my honours degree as well, but I was so beat down that I could not get myself to complete it, so instead, I dropped out. And I can tell you that it took me years to get over the fact that I could not make it. I felt ashamed, and it impacted many aspects of my life. One of them being insecure about my home and showing it to the people in my life. It felt easier to hide than to share my designs and risk being insulted.
I get many compliments on my home, but I used to brush it off and only see my design and décor mistakes. Over the last couple of years, though, with some coaching and a couple of courses, I’ve been able to start believing in myself and my skills again. And I really felt that pride and confidence when we completed our kitchen and home office renovations. That made me realise that I can do it and that I should be proud and excited.
Now that I have the confidence to design my dream home, I want to help you get there too
These never-ending day-dream design projects and our own journey has opened my eyes to what you can achieve on your own, in your home. And so, my mission is to teach you how to design your own home too. I want to empower you to create your own house because I think that everyone deserves a beautiful home, whether you have the funds for designers or premium homeware or not.
Now let’s talk about you and your ideal house
Why you should design your own home
But why should you have your dream home? Why should you even want to have your dream home? Isn’t it selfish? Isn’t it materialistic? It might be, I but I personally don’t think so. I believe our homes can be a sanctuary, a means to recharge, and a method of practising self-care. Your environment impacts your mood and your productivity. I’m going into more detail on this in another post, but to state it shortly here: I believe that you are allowed your dream home without feeling guilty. (And yes, I’ll address the price tag that comes with that statement as well).
After the year we had in 2020, our homes are even more vital. Chances are, the little things that bothered you got even more infuriating during those long hard lockdown/quarantine times. We all spent much more time at home and might even now work from home permanently.
So, either your home is or was your solace, or you stared those problem areas down, wishing for something else. Maybe you were inspired to get your project list completed, or perhaps you still need to find the inspiration. But imagine if you can have that dream home; how different will you feel, and what difference will it make in your life? And even better, what if you could create that dream home by yourself without hiring an interior designer.
You can create your ideal house yourself
Say what!? Yes, it is true! I firmly believe that you can get your dream home by designing it yourself! And I want to teach you how! I want to equip you so you can design and decorate your own home. But why?
Mainly because very few of us have the funds to hire a professional designer for every room in our homes, but also because it will instil pride and confidence (but I’ll get to that last part in a minute). You know yourself and your style the best, even if you need a bit of guidance to apply your style to home décor correctly. This skill will also help you with things like seasonal decorating or a quick room refresh. And it will save you money as well. It will help you not to make impulsive décor buys or buying items that do not suit your style.
With the infinite sources of information and good quality home goods, we can all design our homes DIY-style. And with that, I don’t mean that you need to bust out the paintbrush and transform the coffee table. If DIY is not your style, and you prefer not to buy things from a thrift store, it is ok. I mean DESIGN-IT-YOURSELF.
Why designing your dream home will give you confidence
When we accomplish things in life, we are proud of what we’ve done. This could be because we’ve been taught that through our lives. Just think about parents cheering on a baby about to take her first steps or their son on the football field. Later on in life, we don’t even need those cheers (well, sometimes we still do), but we mostly know when we’ve done something right or good.
Our reward brain chemical (or feel-good hormone), dopamine, is released when we complete a task, reach a goal or practice self-care. So the realisation that you’ve completed a task and that you’ve done it well can actually boost your mood and make you happier – how amazing is that? That is why my wish for you is to have pride in what you’ve accomplished. I want you to be able to create a room and home that you will love. Something that you will be proud to share with your friends and family. And through that, I would love it if you get the confidence in your home design skills that you need to design every room in your house to improve your quality of life ultimately.
How can I help you to design your dream home
Are you ready to join me on this journey? To learn home décor and design tips and to improve your skills? Starting real soon, I’ll be sharing lots of easy-to-follow tips on how to conquer your style, room layouts, décor dilemmas and a lot more. I would love it if you could move away from mindlessly recreating Pinterest images and have the skills you need to apply the correct elements in the right way. I hope that you will improve your design and décor skills from this and get the pride and confidence that you want in your home.
So let me know what is on the top of your list and what you would like to accomplish? I would love to hear from you. My next post will be about the budget-side of home décor, which is a pretty tricky subject. Be sure to check back to read the post, coming real soon.
Until then, take care
