1. Start Small

First, one of the best tips when decorating your home to learn is to start small. Small things make big changes. Hanging blinds and curtains, painting your walls, and aligning your furniture are all things anyone can do that make a home look spacious, colorful, cheerful, and complete. These things are all easy to do, and you don’t have to spend a lot either. I got my curtains, blinds, and paint at Wal-Mart, and you’d never know they didn’t come from a pricey decorating store.

2. Learn to Match

This is such a pet peeve and anal issue for me. I can’t stand to see items in a home that don’t match. Truly, anyone can match up colors and it’s cheap and easy to do. All you really have to do is color coordinate. I like to choose neutral furniture that matches everything. If you have a piece of furniture that doesn’t match, you can simply paint it, cover it with a sealant to protect the paint, and make it like new. I did this with an old hutch, and it looks like I paid hundreds of dollars for it, when really I just spent $30 on paint and sealant instead.

3. Make Your Bed

Sound silly? Trust me, it’s not. This might not sound like something you’d hear on HGTV, but it is something that makes your room look neater, more together, and it’s just a good practice anyway. Plus, it’s free and you get to come home to a neater room as a result.

4. Control the Clutter

If you want to really take on an easy decorating tip, learn to control your clutter! The most expensive decorating scheme won’t look like anything special if it’s filled with clutter. If you have things you don’t know what to do with, sell them online, have a yard sale, or take them to Goodwill. Don’t leave them sitting out on display. They’re not art! Also, do small things like put your mail away each day, pick your clothes up out of the floor, and try to pick up things lying around your house at the end of each night, for just 5-10 minutes after dinner. It’s simple to do and will make your home look nicer, without spending a dime.

5. Floor Space

One of the best things you can do to make any room look bigger and like it’s been professionally designed is to clear more floor space, which makes your room look larger and more open. It actually also makes your home more appealing and seem more expensive, believe it or not. My mom’s a decorator and tells me time and time again that her clients who have rearranged their furniture to make their room appear larger always get more money for their home than those who show homes filled with clutter, too much furniture, or have their home arranged so there’s hardly any floor space. This makes a home look smaller, less appealing, and generally more closed in.

6. Wall Art

Don’t leave your walls bare, whatever you do. Put some life into them and decorate a little! Too many pictures can be tacky, but putting a small shelf on a wall, a painting you like, or a picture of someone you love can be a great way to spice up a room and add some personality.

7. Frame Smart

Also be sure when you hang your frames that you align them properly. You want to make sure if you hang one thing on a wall, that it’s centered and at eye level, not too far up or down. You also want to make sure that if you have multiple framed items or shelves on a wall, you have them spaced out accordingly, and hanging at appropriate levels. Hanging shelves near the ceiling is fine, but don’t do this with pictures. Always choose to hang your frames spaced evenly out, and preferably at eye level.

8. Lighting

Lighting is one of the most simple decorating tips you can implement, and it makes a huge difference. Avoid overhead, fluorescent based lights, which are harsh and make a room seem less cozy. Also, be sure you have at least one or two lamps in each room. Lamps create a dimmer light, and placing them on opposite sides of a room can help balance the “ambiance,” as decorators call it, in a room. This makes a room more inviting, intimate, and welcome to anyone who enters it, including yourself.

9. Add Personality

Lastly, a home isn’t your own unless it’s decorated in a way that speaks of your personality, or in a way you enjoy. For me, adding personality means adding a bright touch of color here and there among neutral ones, adding candles to a room, and also placing flowers out in my home. I also like to use pieces that have a natural glimmer or shine to them. They help reflect light in a room as well, which makes things more pleasant. Whatever touch of personality you want to add to your home, do it! Doing this will make your home feel more like your own, and also help you to enjoy coming home to it more.

If you have a decorating tip to share, don’t hide it from me! What’s your best tip for decorating your home?