Decorating A House To Be A Home

As a decorator for over 32 years now friends as well as clients ask me questions about decorating their homes. As I was asked these questions I started to put the answers down in articles  and 7 years ago started this web site AskMyDecorator.com as a place to post those articles. The articles are here for anyone to read free of charge.

Most of the links on this site are affiliate links. This means that if you should click on a link and buy a product or service from that person I would receive a commission on that purchase. That's part of the way I support my family.

With that said, let's get on to talking about decorating.

Decorating A House

I would also like to explain a little of my philosophy about decorating. I believe that for a home to be decorated every member of that family needs to have a part and contribute to the decorating idea. If you are decorating to outdo your neighbor then this site is probably not for you.

As a decorator in South Florida these past 32 years I have decorated too many home that were decorated to be the best on the block or complex since so many of these home are in gated communities. The houses were so overdecorated that the residents would not use them. They usually had a little corner, out of the way that they stayed in because they didn't want to mess up their perfect showplace.

Decorating a Home

For a house to be a home, decorating should always be a work in progress. Tastes change and if you have children their tastes and likes change yearly, if not sooner. A home should be an extension of the people in the family. Every one should have a place to show off their accomplishments. It could be the front of the fridge or a place in the family room where all get to post their accomplishments. Believe me if you, as a family, don't take the time and effort to do this no one else will and every one in the family is too important for that to happen. Every person in your family needs to be reminded daily just how important they are.                                                             

Your decorating should be practical. Before you decide on a window treatment as an example, you should know not only what the advantages of using the style you pick are but you need to have a clear picture of what that treatment is not going to allow you to do. A treatment might be the most gorgeous design you have ever seen but if it won't allow your family to watch the TV at certain times of the day then no matter how gorgeous it is, it's not practical.

Before you start to pick out any decorating accessory for a room you need to have a very clear picture of exactly what you and the family are going to use the room for. List those on a piece of paper and then when you find that perfect flooring for example, compare it to the list and decide if it will allow you to do all that is  on the list. If not, then go and find something that will. For a house to be a home it needs to be functional.

That in a nut shell is what these pages on AskMyDecotator.com strive to accomplish. Turning your house into a home.

Enjoy!