Don't Sabotage Your Decorating Project Before You Start

There's really no one way to start a decorating project. You can get the bug by looking at a magazine or seeing a beautiful fabric in a store. But don't move ahead without a plan. If you avoid the things noted here, you're bound to have a satisfying time and end up with a coordinated new space.

Should you paint first? Select the wallpaper? Buy a bargain piece of furniture? While there are many ways to approach a decorating project, don't make the mistake of moving ahead without any plan at all.

If you start decorating without a plan, you're going at it backwards. Don't end up with a piece of furniture that serves no purpose or a color scheme that doesn't work.

At all costs, avoid the things listed here! If you insist on moving forward, your decorating project will be frustrating and likely unpleasant. Again, avoid doing the following:

• 1. Buy a can of paint that looks okay in the store. Don't worry if it's not quite the right shade. If it's on sale, all the better. What a bargain! And you have to start somewhere, don't you? Put it on the walls and work around it.

• 2. Don't worry about how you'll use the room. A chair is a chair. Just buy furniture when you find it. It'll fit in.

• 3. Don't bother to measure your room, and for sure, don't waste the time drawing a floorplan.

• 4. Don't carry fabric and paint swatches with you when you shop. You don't want to be held back from some wonderful impulsive mood while you're shopping.

• 5. Don't let your style be cramped by plans. Avoid planning color schemes and furniture arrangements.

• 6. Arrange the furniture around the walls of your room. You'll be sure to have plenty of floor space in the middle.

• 7. Just put a lamp on some tables and consider the lighting complete. If you have to read, you can move the chair.

• 8. Use all the pieces of furniture and accessories that you have. You wouldn't want to have to store something out of sight.

• 9. Don't throw anything away. Your home will have a comfortable, lived-in feeling if you leave stacks of magazines around and have shelves filled with collectibles from everywhere you've been.

• 10. Don't be restricted by the principles of design. Just follow your instincts and do what you want.

If you do any or all of the things listed above, you're sure to meet frustration and disappointment on your way to a decorated room.