Are you ready to plan your design year? Are you wondering what that even means?
Designing and decorating your forever home isn’t something that happens overnight, even if you were to hire us to manage the details for you. Instead, your forever home is like a beautiful puzzle. It gets put together piece by piece in a way that feels classically beautiful to you — now and in the distant future.
This is what we do, and I was thinking about our process the other day, when a bright idea popped into my head…
Before working with us, most of our clients say that they’ve postponed their projects because of indecision, uncertainty, or a lack of time. But what if I could give you the knowledge you need, and you would only need to commit a small amount of time to your home each month?
“What if we could break down our Signature Decorating method in a way that guides you to creating your forever space by the end of the year?”
Well, we’re doing it!
Over the next 12 months, we’ll be covering a whole year of design, from preparation and the design concept to ordering and installation.
Whether you’re located in Canberra or not, we’d love to invite you along!
How Does “Plan Your Design Year” Work?
Below, I’ve given you a summary of each month’s overall goal. As each month gets closer, you can check back here on our blog for more specifics:
- Information about the month’s tasks and how to accomplish them
- Helpful resources you can use as a guide
Inspiration for beautiful living - Support — leave us a comment if you have questions along the way!
What Will the Design Year Look Like?
January: Prepare & Commit
January is the month to make your commitment to yourself and to creating your future forever home. What does this look like?
It looks like a plan for decorating your home for your long-term happiness, not quick buys that you might not love later. It means penciling the month’s tasks into your calendar and bringing your home together, piece by piece over a year’s time. It means your commitment to living beautifully at last. Are you ready?!
February: Declutter
Having a good clean out before you start is a great way to get you thinking about your room, not to mention that you’ll have more space (headspace, too) to create the home you want!
March: Define Scope
How far are you taking your project? Do you need to change floor coverings and paint? What do things cost and what is your budget? We’ll answer all of these important questions during this month.
Grab Your Design Project Planner
Cut through the fluff to discover what you REALLY want done around your home.
This planner helps you prioritise your goals and create an action plan to proceed with design confidence.
April: Concept Dreaming
This is the fun part! Gather your ideas, the colours you like, things you have dream of, social media inspirations, and anything else that strikes your fancy. Then you put it all together into a design concept that brings you joy, gives you warm fuzzy feelings, and will make you feel alive.
May: Furnishings Layout
In this step, you’ll define how you will use the room and figure out where the furniture will go to meet that need. Once you have finalised which furniture goes where, you’ll have a list of furnishings you need to source.
June: Furnishings Selections & Quoting
The hunt for furnishings, lamps, rugs, and art begins! By choosing it all together, you are more likely to keep to your budget and have complementary, cohesive furnishings. Tip: Choose the paint colour last!
July: Ordering
This is when you press buy on the items you’ve selected, and now is the time. It is critical that you order your furnishings in July to avoid any pre-Christmas rush.
August & September: Installing & Waiting for Furnishings
Bespoke items will take longer to be made, shipped, and delivered. Made-to-order sofas and curtains take at least 6-9 weeks, plus delivery. This is why it’s so important to place orders in July. But that doesn’t mean these two months go to waste! This is the perfect time to install new floor coverings, paint, mount lighting, clean windows, etc.
October: Installation & Styling
Your items have arrived! October is for installation and styling. It is likely that this step won’t take you an entire month, but you never know when unexpected supplier delays will pop up. So relax, and have fun styling your forever home!
November: Punch List
With any project of scale, there will be one or two things to deal with, such as a lamp that arrived broken or a chair delivered in the wrong color. (You can see our post on all the things you didn’t know a decorator does!) In this step, you’ll make a punch list of to-do items and take care of them quickly and efficiently.
December: Sitting Pretty for the Holidays
And… you’ve arrived! In December, you’ll get to enjoy your room and plot your future entertaining events in plenty of time for Christmas!
How Can You Participate?
1. Check our blog post on the Mondays prior to the beginning of each month. You’ll find the tips and support you need to tackle the next month’s tasks. You can also subscribe to our newsletter below to receive more updates and helpful resources throughout the year.
2. Do the tasks each month, ask questions in the comments section of any blog post, or reach out to us for more hands-on support if you need it.
3. Stay inspired (and share your progress if you’d like!) by following us on Instagram at @journeyhomeinteriors.
4. Before you know it, the year will have flown by and you’ll have arrived to your forever home and beautiful living at last!
So, what do you think? Are you ready to join me? Will 2020 be the year you finally get the home you’ve always dreamed of? I hope so!
Join us next month for February: Decluttering, and until then, get a head start by downloading our free Guide to Budgeting Your Home Furnishings.
Warmly,
Nadine
