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Setting Design and Decorating Goals for the New Year

When each new year arrives, I find myself setting design and decorating goals for the months ahead. Does January 1st inspire you to make a fresh start in your home? If you’re like me, you may find that your taste far exceeds your budget. If only unlimited funds were available! But great design and affordable style often overlap, so instead of abandoning any hope of redecorating in the new year, now is the time to make a plan for a design-fabulous 2015. Here are a few tips and ideas for setting practical yet fabulous decorating goals…

A Dream Project

Start with the big picture. Are there any large-scale home design projects that you need to complete? For me, 2015 is all about flooring. A room in my home flooded in 2014, and it’s taken awhile to repair the problem, make sure it’s fixed (by waiting for another heavy rain to test the repair attempt), and decide on the flooring! I’m leaning toward cork, but in a shade of gray rather than brown. Doesn’t the room below inspire happy thoughts about the many possibilities the new year holds?! [photo by Andrew Snow Photography via Houzz]

Bedroom with cork flooring

Or maybe you’re hoping to transform a room in your home with a new paint color or some major furniture purchases. More on special purchases in the next section… [from West Elm]

Radiant color in a modern living room

Perhaps you’re hoping to finally landscape the backyard. For me, it’s less about installing a pool and more about adding a serious dose of color to my outdoor space. The red-orange wall below has definitely caught my eye! [from Burle Yates Design]

Stunning outdoor space by Burle Yates Design

Special Purchases

Next it’s time to make a list of the design-related purchases in the works for the new year. It goes without saying that creating a design budget is essential here! Looking for a new piece of furniture, such as a table? It can be fun to consider your all of your options, especially since this is an exciting time for modern design developments. Below we see the Crisscross Wire Side Table from West Elm:

Wire and glass side table

Or maybe you’ve been saving up for a special accent piece to adorn a blank wall. The Round Dorm from Ferm Living quickly became a design-lovers’ favorite in 2014:

Round shelf from Ferm Living

Perhaps a large purchase is in your future. I’m in the market for a compact sleeper sofa for the spare bedroom (which has pulled double duty as an office in the past). It goes without saying that the Flex Orange Sleeper Sofa from CB2 is on my radar!

Orange sleeper sofa from CB2

Home Organization

Notice how we started with the fun stuff–the planning of big projects and new purchases? Now it’s time to get down to the nitty gritty. How can your space be more efficiently used? Inevitably we turn our attention to the closets. I’m planning on reorganizing all of my closets in 2015! I have a feeling that some strategic storage solutions are in my future. [from Closet Appeal]

A closet organization project

Is there a nook in your office that you can transform into a useful space? Like a home office? With the right desk/shelving combo, anything is possible. [from CB2]

Handy home office nook

Or maybe you need to rethink the way you’ve appointed a high-use space, such as the kitchen. What can you do to make this space a more effective one? Declutter? Make use of wall storage? Pare down? [from 100K House]

Organized kitchen space

DIY Projects

I have a confession to make: I’m a DIY girl. I love brainstorming do-it-yourself endeavors as a way to enjoy the creative process (and stay on a budget). It’s a good thing there are many amazing DIY tutorials and projects out there to use as inspiration. Like this gallery wall from Emma of A Beautiful Mess:

Creative gallery wall in the living room
Creative gallery wall in the living room

You may want to start with DIY projects that are more essential than decorative. For example, I can punch a hole through the seats of my outdoor chairs. Not good. Once spring hits, I’m recovering (and partially rebuilding) them. [from Axis Mundi]

Colorful outdoor seating

And then there’s the icing on the cake: those special DIY details that turn a house into a home. I’m quite taken with this colorful wall art project using foam sheeting. Can you tell that I’m a big fan of A Beautiful Mess?!

DIY wall art from A Beautiful Mess

I hope the new year brings you many opportunities to set and achieve your dreamiest design goals. There’s nothing like a fresh start to get the creativity flowing!

Kate Simmons

Kate Simmons is a freelance writer and design blogger with a love of all things decor. She spent her childhood writing stories and working on interior design-themed DIY projects. Kate’s published writing reflects her special interest in how design has changed through the decades. Her blog Mirror80 ( http://mirror80.com/) explores the fashion and [...]

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