Why Budget-First Decorating Can Leave You With a Room You Still Don't Love
We often defer to budget, whether we have or don’t have enough money in the bank account, to determine if we can proceed with a room refresh. But budget alone shouldn’t be the driving force behind decision making. If it were, it would likely be responsible for all the erroneous decisions you’ve already made and wish you wouldn’t have.
So before you spend any money redecorating a room, there are five questions worth asking yourself.
Why?
Simply put, what’s your motivation? Do you have a deadline, hosting an event, just tired of the same ol’, same ol’? What’s driving the desire for a room refresh and who, ultimately, is it for? Are you doing it for you and your family or the guests you’ll be hosting?
Being really honest with yourself here is paramount. If you’re embarking on redecorating a room in order to impress your Auntie Picky Pearl, you’re in it for the wrong reasons and will likely end up with a few regretful decisions as well as a hole in your wallet.
Has any part of your aesthetic (or personal design style) changed?
Refinement here is a good thing - it helps you niche into what you like or don’t like. Knowing a bit more about your aesthetic ultimately helps you make decisions that are in alignment with your style, your personality and the goals you have for your home. This refinement can help you audit what you have and eliminate what you don’t need.
A 180’ shift in your personal aesthetic requires an entirely different strategy, however, and will look a lot like a game of dominoes where one change can negatively, visually impact your room - quickly turning a quick room refresh into a cascading room overhaul.
What do I need to meet the purpose of the room?
If I’m being honest, this question needs to be asked ALL the time - whether you’re starting from scratch, doing a mini refresh, inheriting a piece of furniture or moving a piece of furniture out. Though the ultimate goal is to have homes that delight visually and are easy to be in, the ‘easy to be in’ part comes with a lot of intentionality. Creating spaces that serve functionally is foundational before any aesthetics are applied. Simply put, you need to assess the overall purpose of the room to the finest detail. Ask yourself these questions: What do you want your room to be used for? Do the current furnishings make that possible? Do you need anything (there should be a BIG distinction here between needing it for functionality vs wanting it) to help your room function as it should? What, if any, items do you have that need to be removed?
What do I want?
This is basic human nature - What do I want? If we made a list only of things we want, our list may become a little extreme. Balancing that want list with the things we’ve determined we need, helps you prioritize purchases (basic economy). When the item in question lands on both your ‘want list’ as well as your ‘need list’ it becomes a clear winner of where your budget should be applied.
Of those items on your want + need list, which items will make the BIGGEST impact?
Some physical changes pack a larger visual punch than others. Determining which product or physical change that will make the biggest impact isn’t equivalent to the value of the money spent. It’s a bit more nuanced than that. Simply put…one change doesn’t equal another.
The biggest impact comes from identifying the change that will move you closest to the room you're trying to create. And that requires you to look beyond the item itself and consider how it fits into the bigger picture.
This is where your three filters come into play: your aesthetic, your feeling word, and your budget.
Your aesthetic helps you determine whether a change supports the style you're trying to create. Your feeling word helps you evaluate whether it will contribute to the way you want your home to feel. And your budget helps you determine how to make that change in a way that makes financial sense for you.
All three filters work together. An item might be beautiful and affordable, but if it doesn't support your aesthetic or help create the feeling you're after, it may not be the best use of your money. Likewise, the least expensive change isn't always the one that gets you closest to your goal.
When you evaluate your options through all three filters, you're better equipped to decide where to focus your time, energy, and money first. And that, my friend, is how you make progress without spending money on things that don't actually move you forward.
Not sure which change will make the biggest impact in your room? The Redecorating Roadmap helps you figure out. It helps you determine where to focus based on your starting point and your budget, so you're not wasting money on changes that won't get you where you want to go. It basically helps you answer that proverbial question...which comes first - the chicken or the egg, but in decorator-speak.
Happy decorating!
xo,
dani
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