Start planning your 2015 decorating projects

Now that the holidays are over and hopefully the decorations tucked away, you can start planning — or get back on track with — your decorating projects. I’m sure there are some of you, including myself, who got sidetracked. Life happens and time slips away, but we now have a new calendar to fill.

So, here are four simple ideas to help you plan and get the end results you’ve dreamed of.

1) If you haven’t already, make a decorating plan. Think about the decorating projects you want to accomplish and commit them to paper. There’s something about writing things down to keep us on track.

Remember to be realistic and consider your budget and time. Write out each step you need to do, how long it will take, how much it will cost, when you plan on starting and when you want to finish.

Realize that nothing big gets completed in one day, but in many steps. Remain flexible and expect that your plans can and most likely will change. When they do, take a deep breath, take care of what must be done and then go back to what you were working on.

2) Don’t have a clear picture of what you want? Start a decorating folder or notebook with pictures that draw you in. Write on them what you like. Is it the color, fabric, table or just the overall feel?

If you prefer to store things on your computer, start a folder there. I make a separate one for each project I’m working on. As you gather your pictures make a design board. There are all kinds of programs online; Houzz ideabooks are great.

Don’t let friends, family or the decorating industry force you into anything that is just not you. You will be living in your home, not the salesperson, your sister, your girlfriend or your designer. Just because they happen to love country with ruffles, bunnies and bows doesn’t mean you have to live with it too.

As a designer, I can decorate with any style or color but it doesn’t mean that is how I would decorate my home. We can enjoy and appreciate all kinds of styles and colors, but we must love what we live with day in and day out. When you know what you like, you won’t settle for something else or, in the end, wishing you waited for what you really wanted.

3) With your plan and pictures in hand, commit to not filling a space because it’s empty.

Just because a room is empty doesn’t mean you have to run out and buy furniture to fill it. Wait until you find that perfect piece you love and that is within your budget.

Don’t buy art for the wall unless it’s something you’ll enjoy looking at every time you walk by. You’ll be lying to yourself if you say it’s only temporary until you find something better. Those temporary time frames turn into years.

4) Appreciate what you have and redesign. Work with what you already have in your home until you have the time and money to buy new. Very few people have the time or money to completely redo everything.

Using what you have to the best advantage allows you to enjoy your home and plan your purchases. Plus, you’ll be less likely to impulse buy and overspend.

While you’re redesigning, it’s a perfect time to remove the things you no longer like. Sometimes it’s harder to let go than buy new. We guilt ourselves because of that pricey purchase we made by mistake or a paint color that we thought would look good and never has.

The longer we look at these things, it can spiral you into not liking anything in your home. I’ve seen it happen many times: clients hating a room because of just one piece of furniture. Consign it or donate and move forward.

My final suggestion for you is to not rush the process. We’re ready and we want it done now. But in the end will you have what you want?

Gail Mayhugh, owner of GMJ Interiors, is a professional interior designer and author of a book on the subject. Questions may be sent by email to: GMJinteriors@gmail.com. Or, mail to: 7380 S. Eastern Ave., No. 124-272, Las Vegas, NV 89123. Her Web address is: www.GMJinteriors.com.