Focus your project to get started on the right track

Sometimes it makes no difference if you are a novice or experienced home decorator when it comes to starting a project. The information you'll need to start decorating is the same.

Here are the questions to ask before you decorate. The answers and the issues they bring up can help you decide on what to include, and what to leave out, of your room.

1. What is the function of this room?
It may be basic, but figuring out how a room will be used can provide clues about the furniture to include. It is obvious, for example, that in a bedroom a bed will be needed as well as tables or nightstands. You may also have room for a dresser, entertainment unit, armoire, or seating area. Yet adding activities -- perhaps you'd like a dressing area or exercise area -- will require both space and appropriate furnishings that you'll want to include in your plans.

2. How often do I plan to use this room?
The answer to this question may help you decide everything from budget to color. A space used infrequently should usually eat up less of your decorating dollar. It might also be a room where you can try bolder color or a furniture style that is different from the rest of your home.

3. How much light does this room get ?
Look for the answer here to give you ideas for a color scheme and help you zero in on decisions about window treatments. A hot corner room will full sunlight may be a candidate for a cooler color palette and light-controlling window shutters. If, on the other hand, your room is a dark space that never sees the sun, then you might choose warm color to brighten it up and airy window treatments to let in every bit of light possible.

Next: > Page 2: Color Questions

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Color, Style, and Furniture Arranging

Here are more questions to ask before you begin decorating.

4. What is my favorite color and how can I use some of it in this room?
Ok, so you adore pale green but your husband thinks it looks like the wet dishrag in the kitchen. In this case you may not be able to paint your family room pale green, yet you can look for a fabric, area rug, or accessory that features many colors, including your favorite green.

Use this multi-colored item as your starting point. You may end up painting the room tan and getting that leather chair your husband desires, but your carefully added touches of green will be the frosting on the cake. Remember that background colors are often just that, and it is the accent colors that are the bright "catch your eye" focal points in a room.

5. What is my favorite outdoor location, vacation spot, or building?
Give this idea a few minutes of attention. Did you think of the beach, the mountains, or a cozy bed and breakfast? What is it about your favorite spot that you like so much -- is it the color, the mood, the style? How might you create this feeling in your room?

If you choose the beach as your dream location then you might use a sandy colored sisal rug, sky blue walls, deep blue upholstery, and bowls of shells as accessories. Or you might want a nautical theme, a seaside cottage look, or a pale palette of shell pink.

6. How can I arrange the furniture so it looks best?
Although not every decorating technique applies to every project, the following tips can help get the ball rolling if you don't know where to begin. Here's a mini-course on furniture arranging:

• Find the room's focal point and use it to center your arrangement.
• Don't block natural pathways into and through a room.
• Place the largest pieces of furniture first; midsize next, and smallest pieces last.
• Include tables and lighting next to seating pieces.
• Aim to balance large features (like a sofa or fireplace) with a similarly sized element in an opposite location.
• Keep seating arrangements within a square that's between 8 and 14 feet across.
• Think of an area rug as an island within the room and use it as the foundation for a seating arrangement.

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