Design Story: Decorating A New Home

Time Several Hours

Budget $ $$$

Skill Level

WORDS BY The Havenly Team

Fill 1Created with Sketch.

Published on April 25, 2017

Decorating a new home can be daunting. You’ve just packed up all your belongings, lugged your existing furniture across town (or the country), and suddenly you realize what worked in your old space doesn’t quite fit in the new.

This is the design dilemma Havenly client Amanda Nistor of Ruffled, a wedding blog, faced. She, her husband and their daughter were moving to a new home in New Jersey, and while they had several pieces they wanted to keep, they needed a little help tying things together. Luckily, Amanda found her very own Havenly interior designer and her new house quickly felt like home.

Step 1: The Ideas

Every Havenly design package starts with a set of ideas. Your designer includes three different takes on your style based on your room profile, and through a fun and easy feedback process, you and she will be able to start to narrow down the choices and create your design. It’s the perfect way to get started on decorating a new home, and was the first step Amanda’s designer took in creating her dream design.

“Our new living room has tons of light, so I wanted to keep the space bright and light but still warm and child-friendly.” – Amanda

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With three different design ideas to pour over, Amanda and her husband found lots to love in each. The clear favorite was the second design idea: Colorful, warm and with a touch of glam! By adding elements from each design idea, like a plush sofa similar to the one found in the first idea, Amanda and her designer had a clear next step.

Step 2: The Concepts

The next step in a Havenly design is the concepts. These take all the feedback collected during the ideas step and create two distinct, more complete designs. The toughest part about the concepts step is that it can be hard to pick a favorite!

“Ahhhh I really love both so much! I’d love to have two living rooms for these two.” – Amanda

Concept 1:

What They Loved –

  • Bright and happy (and super comfy!)
  • Lighter sofa & coffee table
  • More modern credenza
  • Brass and gold accents

Concept 2:

What They Loved –

  • Eclectic vibe makes it easy to add new pieces from their travels
  • Bold printed rug
  • Comfy chair shape

Once you’ve fallen in love with different design elements, the hardest part can be fitting them into your life. Decorating a new home is stressful enough, so we work hard to make sure you get the design you want and need–whether that need is kid-friendly, pet-friendly or wine-spill-friendly.

“It pains me to say this, but I might have to leave the marble coffee table idea behind. I just realized it can tip if our little one tries to climb on it. The wooden one is nice, but we can see her climbing up on 3 stacking tables. Is there a way to incorporate a round coffee table with 4 legs…?” – Amanda

Yes, yes there is.

Step 3: The Renderings

It’s the moment you’ve been waiting for. You’ve had anticipation building through each step, you’ve given awesome feedback, your designer gets you. Now, it’s time to put it all together with a rendering & some final tweaks. The coolest part about renderings?

“The renderings are so real!” – Amanda

Renderings show you how everything will work together in your space, so you can work with your designer to make changes if it isn’t just right. Yes, in your home, you get to be Goldilocks.

“I am not sure about the chairs. I think it overall is a bit dark… Maybe the rug I got isn’t bright enough…” – Amanda

For the next few days, Amanda and her designer swapped messages and chatted on the phone to find the perfect chairs and make sure the space was bright and inviting. The best part is through the use of a colorful rug Amanda had in her master bedroom and other eclectic pieces from her travels, she and her designer were able to create a unique and eclectic space without going over budget.

The result? Check it out.

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Decorating a new home always feels like a herculean task, but with the help of Havenly it’s totally doable. Amanda and her designer were able to use existing pieces and new inspiration to create the perfect bright, light living room with plenty of personal touches—plus it’s kid-friendly.

Recently moved to a new home, or looking to revamp your space? Find your own Havenly interior designer and get started on your dream design today!