Looking for a way to simplify your home decor and make your life easier? Find decorating ideas to simplify your home with these easy-to-follow tips.

 

How to simplify your home decor and have more time for things you enjoy

When it comes to home decorating and home decor there are endless possibilities.  But if you want to keep your life simple and have more time to do the things you enjoy, then there are ways to simplify your home decor to achieve this.

Not only can this save you time when decorating your home and choosing the decor, but keeping your home simple will also save you money.  This is great news if you are attempting to furnish your house on a budget. 

So how can you simplify your home decor to save you time and money, as well as give yourself more time for the things you enjoy?  In this blog post, I share 11+ ways to achieve this.  Let’s get started. 

Peel and stick wallpaper in neutral pattern

1. Use neutral colours

Working with colours can get complicated if you have no experience with them. Too much of one colour can make your home feel overwhelming or oversaturated, and it’s not a good look. 

On the other hand, too little paint can make it depressing. Instead, working with muted colours gives you a bit more room for error. Muted colours won’t clash as often, nor will mistakes stand out too much.

Neutral colours are a great way to implement your favourite colours without the worry of using too many or the wrong ones. Your home can retain a calm atmosphere, and you can experiment with different shades.  Think off-whites, pale greys and calming taupes.

Using neutral colours also means you won’t get tired of your walls.  When you opt for the latest maximalist wallpaper craze, it’s not only costly, but you’re more likely to grow tired of overly patterned walls that you see every day.  Keeping things neutral and calm rather than bold and daring can easily save you money on decorating in the long run as you’re less likely to want to redecorate any time soon.

Minimal self-adhesive wallpaper

2. Scrap colours altogether and go for white painted walls

If you want to keep decor cost-effective and super simple then opt for all-white walls.  You can buy huge tubs of white wall paint and these are often much cheaper than their coloured counterparts.

By opting for one brand of white paint, you’ll have no problem touching up the walls in the future.  This is much simpler than choosing a variety of coloured paints for your home and then having to remember which colours you chose when it comes to redecorating or touching up imperfections in the future.

If you can’t remember which colour you painted a room, you might even have to repaint the whole room when it gets marked!

Well some people think a white house is boring, it can make a house feel clean, light and airy, as well as give it that fresh, brand new house feel.  It also means you can put whatever colour furniture in that you like as it won’t ever clash with the walls!

Bonkers wallpaper in our family room, not in a room we want to relax in!

3. Avoid patterns or busy designs

This is true for both walls and furniture.  Busy patterns can stop a room from feeling so calm, so definitely avoid using in relaxing rooms such as bathrooms, living rooms and bedrooms.  

Also, it’s easier to grow bored of busy designs or the latest decor trends which will result in you spending more money on new furniture when it starts driving you crazy.

That’s not to say you can’t use patterns in your home decor. Just keep it to the easily removable and changeable textiles such as duvet covers, throws, pillows and blankets that can easily be swapped out, moved around or changed when you’re not feeling that crazy pattern anymore!

Ercol table and chairs

4. Keep furniture simple

There are a lot of different styles you can attempt for your home, and while you might be tempted to go for a more lively or cluttered look - it can be difficult to master and more expensive. Instead, it could be a good idea to recognize that sometimes less is more. 

You don’t need to have something covering every blank space in your home, and a simple amount of furniture can look just as appealing. Opting for a feature item that is something needed in a room like these TV units and entertainment units can be an effective way to add style and character to your decor without overfilling a room.

Also, the more furniture you have, the more cleaning and maintenance your home will require.  Keep things simple with feature pieces for the practical items you do need, such as a sofa, TV unit and coffee table in the living room, then stay minimal and enjoy the extra space you have instead of filling every inch!

Choose accessories carefully to suit your taste and decor without it getting cluttered.

5. Remove clutter

Start with a clean slate and declutter your home before you start anything else. Get rid of all the junk from around the house that you haven't used in over a year, or that you don't really need in your life anymore. This includes old clothes, books, toys and even furniture that's broken or too worn out to use any more. If it's broken or too worn out, donate it!

If you’re the type to hold onto things that you don’t necessarily need or want anymore, it can completely ruin the look of your home. Keeping clutter that just sits around is going to make it hard to decorate and keep a clean environment; it’s just better to get rid of it or organise it properly.

Clutter can make a room feel overcrowded and instantly messy, so stay on top of it.  The fewer things and clutter you have, the more time you will save organising the clutter in your rooms and tidying it.

Having a house filled with clutter can make you feel stressed out, so start sorting through it ASAP.  If items you no longer need are valuable, then you can even make money from them by selling on Facebook Marketplace or at a carboot.  Or give to charity or friends who can make better use of these items.

6. Keep accessories to a minimum

It’s nice to have some home accessories dotted about to bring some interest, style and personality into a room, but if you start to maximilize then you’re going to create yourself more work.

Firstly, you’ll have more items to dust with the more knickknacks you have.  Secondly, you’ll have more items to move and put back when deep cleaning.  Thirdly, too many accessories will start to make a room feel overcrowded and cluttered reducing the calm.

Instead, focus on quality items instead of quantity of items  Find some core pieces you really love.  Make these few items a focal point and talking point of your room.  Don’t just accessorise for the sake of it.  A few well placed pieces can make a room look stylish and purposeful. 

You’ll also save money by only purchasing a few key pieces of home accessories and save time as you’ll stop wasting time browsing shops for meaningless items you don’t really want or need.

Blue and green is the theme through our home so we can mix and match textiles and decor throughout rooms.

7. Simplify your colourscheme

You could go wild and have a different colour or theme in every room, but we’re trying to keep things simple here, so stick to an overall colour theme throughout your entire home if you can.

The benefits of this?  It’s easy to mix and match furniture and accessories throughout the home, meaning you can move things around with ease into different areas transforming your living rooms and relaxing areas without spending more.

You’ll be able to create new looks throughout your home by reshuffling furniture and decor without needing to buy new or completely redecorate.  

8. Take inspiration from others

Sometimes you can have a complete mental design block when it comes to decorating your home and coming up with new ideas on how to do it simply.  Kind of like a writers block, but for design!  When this happens and you can’t come up with anymore ideas, it’s a good idea to look elsewhere for inspiration and find out how others have handled finding theirs.

You can literally take inspiration from all around.  Perhaps you’ve stayed in a hotel and you love their minimalist design?  Maybe you’ve stayed in an Airbnb and loved the style of decor?  Even your own friends and family might have homes which you admire?  Take inspiration from all of these and collate it into a design and decor idea for your own home.

Books, blogs, magazines and even sites like Pinterest and Instagram are great when you are lacking in inspiration and need to get your home design juices flowing.

Have a place for everything and storage to hide the clutter.

9. Simplify room by room

The idea of simplifying your home might be overwhelming at first, and that’s fine if you’ve never had the opportunity to try it. It can be hard to know where to start. If this sounds like you then start with one room, simplify and then move to the next room.  

You’ll have an easier time if you take things room by room instead of looking at the whole project.

10. Use a professional organiser

Yes, professional organisers and declutterers do exist, so if you simply don’t have the time, need advice, a kickstart or want company whilst you complete your home simplification, look for a local organiser to assist.

Just make sure you give it your own personal touch to make it feel more like home to you.

Avoid window shopping for home decor if you know you'll come home with a purchase!

11. Avoid tempting homeware stores

Once you have simplified your home then stop spending your days off wandering around your favourite homeware stores.  This will only tempt you into buying more things you don’t need and creating the clutter again.  The same goes with online shopping. Don’t browse homeware websites for the sake of it.

When you need a homeware item, simply shop for this only with a set idea and budget in mind and stick to it.

12. Find a home for all your things

When organising your home, make sure everything has it’s own place.  This will help you locate things when you need them and stop the frustration of losing things, but it will also keep your home neat and tidy if you always put things back where they belong.

Final word on how to simplify your home decor (and life)

You don't have to be a professional decorator to make your home feel like a home. You can just follow these simple tips, and you'll be amazed by the difference it makes.

​​The popularity of minimalism is on the rise. The idea that less is more is becoming a lifestyle for many people. This trend has also led to the rise of minimalist home decor.

Organising your home decor and getting rid of clutter can be a daunting task, but there are ways to simplify your life and make it easier.  To roundup, these are the steps to follow to simplify your home decor and make your life easier:

1. Use neutral colours

2. Opt for white walls throughout

3. Avoid busy patterns

4. Keep furniture simple

5. Remove clutter

6. Don’t over accessorise

7. Choose a similar colour scheme for your entire home

8. Take inspiration from others

9. Tackle the project room by room

10. Use a professional declutterer

11. Avoid tempting homeware stores

12. Find a home for all your things

The most important thing is to remember that simplicity is key.