New Home Design – Four Simple Tips

Part of the excitement of buying a new home is the opportunity to design, decorate, and create a space you love. When you purchase a new home with Wathen Castanos, you get a head start on personalization with our design team, who help you choose things like elevation style, colors and interior finish options. Once your new home is built, and you start settling in, the real fun begins – decorating! Below are four simple tips to help get you started.

Set the Mood

Having an idea in mind for how you want your new home to look and feel is essential as you start the decorating process, and creating mood boards is a perfect way to figure out what you like. Decide on what emotions you want to invoke; do you want something cool and fresh or comfy and cozy? Pinterest is a great place to gather inspiration, and usually, you can purchase those exact pieces in just a click. You can start to pick out the similarities and decide what you want or don’t want from the pins you save. Playing around with the layout of your saved pins can also help you visualize the space. Getting paint and fabric swatches are also helpful tools when creating a mood board as it allows you to understand how different elements might come together. From this, you can figure out what color story will work best.

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Choosing the Right Color Palette.

A great way to determine a color scheme is finding a piece of furniture or art that you love and working off those colors for the rest of the décor. This will help keep the color story cohesive throughout the space.

It is also important to remember that colors can have different effects on a space. For example, a darker accent wall can make a room feel more closed off and make the lighting appear darker, versus a lighter accent wall which can make the room feel more open. When selecting paint, it is important to try out swatches of your top contenders and live with it for a few days. Seeing those swatches during various times of the day can help you decide which colors feel best. It is also important because the way a color looks under artificial lighting might be very different than how it looks in your home’s natural lighting.

If your goal is to have a space that feels more open, we recommend starting with a neutral base – light-colored floors and walls – and then add pops of more dramatic colors. This can be accomplished with items like rugs, art, and throw pillows. The added benefit of using smaller, trendy colorful transitional pieces is that you can switch your color palette up more frequently without a substantial cost.

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Thoughtful Furniture.

When picking out large furniture, it is crucial to think of the longevity of the piece; how often do you want to change it out? It may be better to choose timeless versus trendy pieces. We also recommend going to furniture stores and see products in person, even if you buy online. Going into stores can give you a better sense of what you like and provide an opportunity to know the piece’s functionality for yourself. Getting fabric swatches of the furniture you are interested in also helps when shopping for various accent accessories.

As mentioned previously, when it comes to following trends, we recommend choosing small décor items that can be easily changed and won’t break the bank if and when you decide to switch things up. But, if that pink cheetah print couch is calling your name, make the jump and go for it! This leads us to the final tip.

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Make it Unique.

The most important tip when designing and decorating your home is to make it your own! Since you will be the one living in it, make it a place you want to be and fill it with things that bring you joy. Explore adding personal touches, like souvenirs from a vacation, a childhood toy, or your child’s artwork in a frame to showcase what matters to you. The mixing of sentimental and intentional elements can give your home more personality and create a welcoming environment for guests. Decorating and designing your home isn’t always about following trends, but creating a space that brings you happiness and the ability to connect with those most important – so don’t be afraid to take risks too!

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We hope these tips help you create a home that is uniquely you and functional for your lifestyle. Be sure to tag us in your photos on social media – we would love to see how you decorate your new Wathen Castanos Home!