How To Shop Like an Interior Designer
I by no means consider myself an interior designer but whenever I shop for a space, I like to think as one! There’s something so fun about shopping for home decor, wandering the aisles and looking at everything- I just love it. However, shopping for decor and furniture pieces always involves a lot of questions: will it fit?, how will I style it? etc.
If you want to make the most of your next shopping excursion, check out some of my tips below!
Know your floor plan: This is probably my most important tip when shopping because size matters! Before you even think about purchasing a new piece of furniture, measure, measure, measure. I can’t express how important it is to know the dimensions of the room you are working on. I even like to create a mock floor plan of the space just using a pen and paper. You want pieces that fit but not fit tightly!
Keep your mood board handy: Creating a mood board is something I do before shopping/buying anything relating to the space I’m working on. I keep a photo of it handy on my phone so I can constantly look at it and know what I’m shopping for. This helps me create a shopping list and I go into every store with a vibe in mind.
Find a statement piece: When designing a room, I like to make sure there is one statement piece. It could be a couch, chair, rug or even large accessory that totally fits. A statement piece is something I recommend investing in but don’t get this confused with a trendy accent piece. Anything trend driven, I recommend spending less on because you mostly likely will want to replace in a few years.
Keep your budget in mind: Sticking to a budget is something I always take seriously, whether it’s my personal budget for a room or my friend’s. I recommend keeping an excel doc or even a note in your iPhone pricing everything out. Prior to shopping, you can even budget out how much you want to spend on furniture, decor, paint/supplies- allotting a certain amount of money per category.
Don’t forget accessories: Sometimes we always focus on the big picture and forget about the small details, such as accessories. I think accessories always make the space, it’s like the final step where everything comes together! You don’t have to spend a lot of money on accessories, I tend to splurge on one or two pieces but the rest I will find at vintage stores or HomeGoods/Target.
Happy shopping!
xx
Drew