Living room decor with designer dupes (and the start of my E-Design business!!)
(This post contains affiliate links.You can see my full disclosure here)
Well, the day has come and it’s finally official! I won’t bore you with all of the details. I’ll only talk about this for a hot second (or two or maybe three)
I launched my E-Design business.
It’s something I have always wanted to do and quite honestly, something I also thought was completely out of reach.
Blogging is one thing but starting a business seemed like something I couldn’t even wrap my head around. Until 3 weeks ago..
Blogging is hard and time consuming.. but it is also so much fun. I’m hoping to say the same about E-Design!
I took a mini blogging break to just focus on getting my E-Design up and running. I had no idea how much fun it would be to play “dress up” with home decor in Photoshop.
I could do it all day long.
I used my mom as my first “client”. She has a few rooms in home that (one day) she wants to start fresh in. I showed her all of my new tricks.
From designing floor plans…
To designing a Photoshop rendering of her space
Curtains // Rug // Cabinet // End Table// Couch // Lumbar pillow // Square Pillow // Chandelier // Floor Lamp //Sconce // Round mirror // Large Art// Accent chair//
(PS…those are two different rooms above I am working on for her)
I took it one step further and gave myself an additional challenge.
To design a space on a budget.
I love all kinds of decor but there is something really satisfying about finding a good deal. It’s the thrill of the hunt.
Most of the pieces you see in the Photoshop rendering above are budget finds and I have everything linked for you.
Now, I know some of you might not want to ever use an E-Designer. That’s fine….you won’t hurt my feelings. I promise.
To prove it to you, I’ll even share a few secrets with you. Decorating your home can be hard but it doesn’t have to be painful.
Always start with a floor plan
Up until recently, I rarely followed this rule. But it is a game changer. Even if you just draw your room out on a piece of paper.
I did something similar with my daughter’s room using grid paper.
It helps so much to visualize the space and to know what pieces of furniture can go where before you purchase anything.
Nothing like bringing home a couch that is too big for your space.
There are a few free programs you can use too. To be honest though, I cannot say I have found a free one that is very user friendly.
Design A Vision Board
This is another rule I rarely followed. But again, now I know it is also a game changer. You can use free software like Canva or PicMonkey to paste pictures of all of your furniture and decor together in one collage to make sure everything gets along before you purchase anything.
I can’t tell you how many times this has saved me from purchasing something that I would end up hating in the space.
Hunt-Hunt-Hunt
Now you need to go on a bear hunt…but for furniture and decor. Google is your friend. I originally saw the rug in my Photoshop rendering above on Ballard Designs (it’s linked here if you want to spend the extra money).
I put my hunting boots on and found (almost) the same rug (if not the same exact rug) on Overstock for half the price.
I know, I am good, right?. Kidding…(but not really).
You don’t need to spend a fortune to design your home. There are designer dupes everywhere. It just takes some digging around Google and getting creative. And seriously, search my blog. I know I have written a few blog posts about it. I’ll do some digging and find those posts for you.
And since we are talking about decorating family/living rooms on a budget, let us go down memory lane shall we?
Remember when my family used to look like this?
All brown and dark. I didn’t hate the dark moody room. I was just ready for something brighter and lighter.
And here we are today
A fresh coat of paint and some different furniture that fit our space better made a world of difference in our space. My little DIY fireplace makeover was a huge help as well.
Fireplace Makeover Using Peel And Stick Tile
It doesn’t need to cost you alot of money to decorate your home. I like to use what I have as much as possible. I took our IKEA couches we used to have in our family room and moved them to our other living room we have.
I got new slipcovers for the couches, moved some furniture around and this room feels like a brand new room again.
See, easy peasy.
And one more thing that should be noted….it takes time. We’ve lived in our current home for four years and I am still decorating it. The longer it takes, the more collected it looks (in my opinion).
But don’t forget there are e-Designers out there to help you get started (wink wink). Just kidding.
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