An Easy 5-Step Decorating System You Can Master for Better Home Design

Are you hitting a wall when it comes to decorating your home?

You might feel discouraged, like it’s not working because “you just aren’t good at this stuff.” (I hear that all the time!)

But the reality is that it isn’t your fault.  Most of us love looking at flawlessly finished spaces, but we have no idea how to actually make them a reality.  

Sound like you?   If so, the problem might be that you haven’t found a good system to help you stay focused and achieve your home decorating goals.

Lucky for you, I have one. And once you learn to implement it, decorating becomes much more easy (and fun!). In this post, I’m here to teach you a 5-step decorating system that makes decorating your house feel fun and easy.

Grab something to snack on and dive on in with me, friend.

What is a “system”?

Have you heard a ton of people talking about “systems” lately?  It feels like everywhere I look there’s an emphasis on how systems can improve your business, your daily routines, everything!

In the most simple terms, I like to think of a system as a set way of doing something.  It’s an organized method that you repeat over and over, every time you do that task. Another good word for it would be process. It’s deliberate and repeatable.

If you bear a lot of the responsibility for taking care of a household, you probably have lots of systems and routines that you already follow without realizing it!

You might have a system for how you approach laundry. 

1. Sort
2. Wash
3. Fold
4. Put away ( I personally like to delay this step as long as possible).

Or your family might have a system for packing for a trip.

1. Take out the suitcases
2. Lay out outfits for each day
3. Roll clothes neatly and place them into packing cubes
4. Pack shoes and toiletries last.

As you can see, systems aren’t anything big and scary… they are simply a rhythm for doing things that follows a predictable order.

Why Do I Need A System for Decorating?

We are deliberately taught some systems, like how to follow a recipe to cook dinner. But for most of us, the decorating process is not explicitly taught.

Unless you go to design school or intentionally spend time educating yourself about the rules of design, chances are that the whole thing feels intimidating and a little overwhelming.

I’ve spent a lot of time listening to clients talking about their struggles with decorating their homes, and I started realizing that simply learning a repeatable process for how to approach their home design projects would help most of them get out of their heads enough to guide them to better results.

The system works because:

• It helps you know exactly where to start (usually the hardest part)
• Following the steps helps you stay on track
• Eventually the easy decorating system becomes automatic, just like preparing that weekly batch of tacos

How I Developed My Easy 5-Step Decorating System

You might look at my content and the photos I share and think, “She’s one to talk about struggling with decorating.”

But years ago, I was just like you. I was a new mom staring at orange shag carpet in the living room of a fixer-upper that we had stretched our finances to purchase. I had a lot of dreams and not a lot of budget, time, or energy leftover to make them happen.

So I started experimenting. I started learning what worked, what didn’t. Slowly, I took it one room at a time. As I worked, I updated and decorated the best I could until eventually my hard work paid off.

We sold our house and made enough profit to buy another house and have enough left over for updates. I self-contracted our remodel and learned a LOT more.

Eventually, we got to the point where we were able to build a custom house; now that was a serious education!

When the build was over, I still wanted more. So I:

• Went to work for a home staging company, and learned the fascinating process of furnishing and styling an entire home in 2 hours or less.
• Focused on helping people professionally organize their homes.
• Assisted the home builder who built our home on design for a few additional projects.

Eventually, I took everything I had learned along the way and started helping clients improve their spaces through a blend of organizing and design.

Through these experiences, I came to learn that while there is nuance to decorating a space, the general process is straightforward.

My personal journey changed the way I helped clients by:

• Encouraging a Slower, More Gradual Process – this system is best suited to tackling one space at a time. This reduces overwhelm and lets the homeowner curate spaces in a way that feels more organic and collected (which I love).
• Emphasizing A More Holistic Approach To Design Decisions– my process keeps a focus on how elements of a design can improve the way you live in and experience your home every day. We’re creating home in a spiritual sense, not just a physical place.
• Empowering Clients To Make Decisions According To What They Love– For me, design is less about “What is in style?” and more about “What do I love?” Trends fade too quickly and shouldn’t be the sole basis for your decision-making. This system encourages you to always be asking “What makes me HAPPY?!?”

Side Note:

As in any area, there are tons of approaches to design. Many designers take a different approach. For example, most of my favorite designers to follow for inspiration (like Blackband Design or Emily Moss) focus on luxury, full-service design. They oversee every detail of every room in their projects from initial design to fixtures and finishes, to furnishing. The results are so, so lovely and inspiring.

I think for most clients I serve, a project like that would be a dream. But it isn’t reality just yet. If you are looking for that high-touch, done for you type of project, I’m probably not your gal.

Instead, I’m here for the big dreamers with smaller budgets and a desire to learn how to improve their decorating skills.

I remember sitting in my Colorado living room pouring over Coastal Living magazines 15 years ago thinking “How can I make my house look like this?”

As I set about learning how, I learned that I actually loved the journey. The experiments, the learning, the element of play… it’s a fun process! And now I want to share that with you. I love teaching other people the first steps to take when they want to begin their own design journey.

The Easy 5-Step Decorating System

You know why you need a system now, but maybe you’re struggling to see how you can make it work for you. This still sounds pretty complicated!

Well let’s jump in and explore the process, shall we? I think it will make a lot more sense once we do!

Step 1

Narrow Your Focus

For DIY decorators, setting a goal of overhauling your whole house is a major DON’T. This isn’t an HGTV makeover show. You actually have to be the one to execute this plan.

Even if a whole home refresh is your ultimate goal, it’s better to break things down into more bite-sized, managable chunks.

Often this means one room at a time, but sometimes it can be an even smaller micro-project like:

• A Closet
• A Bookshelf
• Your Kitchen Counter
• A Single Wall

Once you’ve chosen which space to focus on, I also like to encourage clients to choose whether they want to do a design focus, a function focus, or a combination.

This will lead you into the next step.

Step 2

Reflect On Your Desired Outcome

This is the step that I think is probably the most unique part of my system, and it’s something that most people will overlook in their rush to just get started.

If you learn only one thing from me, I hope this is it:

Getting clear on how you want to live in your space is the key to creating a better design, because the questions you ask yourself to determine this will help guide all your decision-making throughout the rest of the process.

Ask yourself questions like:

• How do I want to feel in this space?
• What is already working well (and what isn’t)?
• How does my family use this space?
• If I could describe my ideal version of this space with one word, what would it be?

This step doesn’t have to take long or be rigid. It’s simply an exercise in becoming more mindful about your “why“. The first few times you do the exercise it might feel weird or forced, but eventually, it will become a habit and you will find that this step becomes automatic.

Step 3

Look For Inspiration

Nothing groundbreaking here right? We’ve all been browsing magazines, catalogs, and Pinterest for long enough to know the power of a good inspo image.

Except…

• How much time have you wasted scrolling and pinning?
• Have you ever actually done anything with those images?

I teach my students 3 important concepts when it comes to using those inspiration photos:

1. Focus Your Search (Use relevant key words based on your answers in Step 2 to get better results)
2. Set Limits (Cap the amount of time you spend searching + the # of images you collect to avoid overwhelm)
3. Create Focus With A Mood Board (Learn how here)

Step 4

Clean Up The Space

When I was working for Colorado Staging + Design I realized it is a LOT easier to decorate an empty house.

Why? It’s easier to see the possibilities with a clean slate that isn’t overflowing with stuff.

Later when I started organizing for people, a lightbulb clicked inside my head.

Cleaning, organizing and decluttering aren’t a separate discipline from design.

These tasks are an essential part of the process if you want to have that designer feeling in your finished space.

It’s not sexy. It’s probably not exciting (although for some of you, it might be. No judgment!). But hear me when I say that if you don’t take the time to clear out the junk and dust off your surfaces, your experience in the space will never live up to your expectations.

No amount of pretty accessories can make up for a dirty or messy environment.

Step 5

Style + Decorate

By far the most common issue I hear from students who want to decorate their homes better is, “I don’t know where to start.” And that’s because they have jumped straight to Step 5 without laying the ground work.

But if you’ve worked your way to this point, you will be fully prepared to tackle things like:

• Choosing Paint Colors
• Buying Furniture
• Shopping for Accessories
• Arranging + Styling Decor

Why?!? Because you’ve done the leg work and now you have a “big why”, a vision for how to get there, and a clean space to work with.

That makes the decorating part so easy. This is the fun part, for most of the people I work with (it’s why they wanted to take more of a DIY approach in the first place).

I have tons of resources available to help with this part.

Here are a few popular blog posts you might find helpful!:

• My Home’s Paint Colors
• Office Decor Ideas
• Decorating An Open Concept Living Room

I love creating resources to help give readers ideas for ways to solve their decorating challenges. Do you see the comment section below? Let me know which decorating problems are driving you CRAZY. Join the convo and share your own struggles…and I will try to give you some solutions!

Case Study: Tracy

My friend (and first regular client) Tracy was fed up with her house. She works from home and neither her home office nor the rest of the space felt like the restful retreat she wanted it to be. In short, the space where she was spending most of her time was far from the space she dreamed of.

Thankfully, she took a chance on me early on (if you read this, thank you for your faith in me, Tracy!) and asked me to help her come up with a plan for making changes.

In her own words,

“I realized everything Suzy was doing was something I needed to focus some attention to as I was starting to feel completely overwhelmed with having too much “stuff.”

Since she had unsuccessfully tried doing it herself, she thought maybe starting small with a little bit of accountability might be a good next step.

We followed the system, starting with what Tracy called “the dreaded playroom.”

“I hired Suzy to come help and she was absolutely incredible, she had so many amazing tips on decluttering and how to reorganize the room to make it fun and functional for my daughter.”

Simply tackling that one overwhelming space was the motivation Tracy needed to start making updates in other spaces – one room at a time.

“Somehow she made the whole experience into a fun event rather than a chore. The rooms turned out great and both of my kids were so impressed.

We’ve been working with each other off and on for the past 5 years! I’ve consulted with her on main floor living spaces, a kitchen remodel, and her home office- and the best part? Tracy really doesn’t need me anymore. Over our time together I have watched her confidence in her taste/decisions grow to the point where she mostly just calls me to have someone to bounce ideas off of. She knows what to do and trusts her decisions- which is exactly my goal for all my clients and students. When she sends me pics of her amazing FB marketplace finds or recently executed projects, I feel SO proud of her.

Suzy is definitely my mentor and “go to” person for organizing + design – I can’t wait to work with her again and I would highly recommend her to anyone who needs help simplifying and transforming any and all spaces in the house.”

Tracy

Wrapping it Up

People like you and Tracy are precisely why I’m here.

I knew there was a need for simplifying and systemizing the design process in a way that makes it possible for women to improve their diy design skills in a fun, approachable and affordable way.

From there, I launched Styling Soulful Spaces, which makes learning available anywhere, anytime for students who want to give this approach a try.

If you would like to know more about the course, click here or follow me over on Intagram to explore a little more! 

Good job on making it to the end of this post! That type of commitment shows that you will have no problems sticking to the system.

Here’s a discount code as a reward! Just don’t tell anyone you got it from me. Deal?

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xoxo,