Interior Design Jobs: Evaluate Your Completed Room Design

Have you recently completed a remodel, interior design, or room decoration project in your home? Are you excited about the results? Are you not sure if you did a good job or not? Well, simply getting to the point that you are ready to assess how well you’ve achieved a beautiful space is exhilarating. You’ve put a lot of time into creating a space that makes you comfortable and happy and determining how successful your efforts were is a crucial final step – the moment of truth!

Keep some things in mind before you begin to evaluate your room--> Remember that less is more; the eye determines what belongs in a décor more easily when there is less crowding of stuff. In the end, adding items where necessary will be easier than removing items. Don’t get discouraged if some changes need to be made at this point – even professionals don’t always get room or home decorating ideas right the first time!

Before that important final evaluation step, you should leave your house for a few hours. While you’re away from home, don’t even think about the room or rooms. Don’t think about decorating, either. About an hour before returning home, start to think to yourself that your decorating is only partially about you and keep repeating that in your head – it will help you make a more objective evaluation of the room when you return to it.

The reasons why your decorating is only partially about you is because there are a few things that are part of the equation that have nothing to do with you, like the room’s architectural features, the function of the room, and basic design principles when it comes to balance and proportion and such. So, as much as we all want our homes to be a complete reflection of ourselves, it is clear that there are many other factors that will dictate, at least partially, how our décor looks. Keeping this in mind should make it easier for you to critique you work.

Okay, so you arrive back home after your many hours away from home not thinking about your décor at all (well, at least you tried) – what do you see? 

• You don’t know where to look first.
• You see an objects color or pattern first, before seeing the actual object.
• The room doesn’t feel balanced.
• The room lacks personality.
• The room feels like it's dominated by one item.

Okay, don’t panic!  If there are elements of the room’s décor that don’t coordinate well, you’ll need to spend some time determining why.  Don’t give up – often it’s easy to correct the problem.  First, try moving furnishings and accessories and think about removing or adding items.  You probably know by now that sometimes the smallest details can have a big impact on the final look.  Don’t feel badly if your design needs some tweaking – this happens to professional designers, too.  Keep in mind that the best artists and designers have one most-used item: an eraser.

• You find that your eyes move easily from one thing to another in the room.
• Items in the room seem to work well together visually to create a nice ensemble.
• The room feels balanced and proportional.

If when you walk in to your room you feel yourself being drawn in – you know you love it but cannot pick just one reason why you love it – then your hard work has paid off and you can now have a seat, call your friends and family, and invite people over to celebrate!