In case anyone needs this... Step 1: Define the function of the space. Step 2: Get measurements. Step 3: Take inventory of pieces you own. Decide what you want to keep and what you want to get rid of. Step 4: Choose a design style. Step 5: Choose a color palette. Step 6: Get your basic furnishings. Step 7: Decorate.
Measurements should also include doorways, hallways & stairwells…elevator heights, too…especially if you live in a bldg. That can factor into getting the furniture into the space. It may fit the room perfectly but you’ve got to get it there! 😄 I’ve learned that lesson.
Kiva is so right when she said measure, measure, measure. My husband and I didn't measure our living room and OMG to walk around in there you have to walk sideways. We are getting rid of the big couch and will use a loveseat in it's place. That's the first thing. MEASURE!!!!! Thank you Kiva.
Finally! I've figured out my design style...early garage sale. It's basically traditional, but very light and bright, lots of plants. I just move in all my plants. If there's room for a bed or a couch, COOL!
Congratulations! I moved into mine almost 2 months ago, it's honestly really liberating and curating the stuff to decorate has been really fun and exciting, so I hope you enjoy it too!
I just bought my first house at 50. I already had some loved pieces collected over time but am starting over with almost everything substantial. I did order my sofa, a few days before closing, but it is supposed to take two months so I put curtains on hold while I wait. I also know that I will need two side tables. Last week, after looking at two worn curtain panels tied to the front two curtains, I broke down and ordered curtains and curtain rods. They look good with my framed artwork and should work with the furniture that is another month out. It is just nerve wracking not being able to compare in person. I have to say that my color choices have expanded some. Mostly things were in neutrals with sage green touches and honey yellows in the bedroom. Now the kitchen has a brighter sunny yellow which accents spilling into the dining room and the bedroom suddenly has an aqua blue wallpaper accent wall mixed in with the warm yellow and neutrals. The wallpaper has some of those same warm tones as well. Today I found a small vase and a throw blanket in that aqua blue color to tie it all together. My style includes nature pictures from my hikes, my bird painting that I created, baskets that I bought or made, antiques, dark wood and sof muted fabrics and rustic or bronze finishes. Not quite bohemian, not quite traditional. The sofa is a little modern with it clean lines but perhaps more transitional.
I so agree. While this all sounds like common sense when you hear it, it really helps to hear everything broken down. I just bought a new house and designing is so overwhelming
Please do a video about art deco. I feel like this style is always left out when people talk about different design styles and I really want to know where I can find things to integrate without ripping a hole in my pocket 🙃.
YES! I'm there! LOVE IT! It may fall under cottage core, but no garish floral curtains from the '70's, please! I find a lot of cute, walnut furniture at garage sales, etc. Some so reasonably priced.
After taking hand me downs and unwanted items from family members over the years, we are finally in a financial spot to redecorate. This video was super helpful!! Thank you Kiva!!! 😊
Thank you so much for this Kiva! I've been stressing out about not being able to buy all those finishing design details at once, now I realise we need to buy the necessities FIRST!!!🥰
Another fantastic video from Kiva!! I needed this one for sure. We are in the middle of a reno. I’ve learned that the best the for me is to go through all of my things and ask myself, “do I Love it or do I just like it”. Donate everything that you don’t love.
At the moment be and my husband are looking for our first home and when we move in I'm gonna try soo hard not to splurge and take my time. Pray for my y'all lol 😂
Kiva, this has been your most helpful video that I've watched so far. (I just found you a couple weeks ago.) I will definitely save to rewatch. Very encouraging!
Absolutely!!! Very useful video to those who furnishings space first time. With layout better make your own, easy and understandable, with exact measurements between doors, windows, don't forget put height of the windows (you don't want furniture to block them). And sometimes when you are not sure where to start you can find online beautiful bed you absolutely in love and if it suits the space start adding more items working around style/colour/texture of your bed. Same you can do with sofa/dinning set and so one. Then you would not fall on love with image in your head which is impossible/very hard to find seeing available and affordable options to choose from P.S.: yesterday finally decided to find out how much is for coffee table I like a lot. Well, people it happened to be € 32 000 (which is over $ 35 000). Yep, 3 zeros, no mistake:)
Great & helpful video. Step no. 4 "Inventory what you have " is an important step, not only for design but for decluttering. Many of us like to hang on to stuff way too long. Get rid of it if it doesn't fit into your new design style!
Owwww K! I can’t get enough of you! I’m doing a marathon now with all your videos!!! Thank you so much for such an awesome content ❤️ lots of love from Canada
i just moved into my dream apartment and it's a clean slate. i'm starting from scratch, no furniture or anything. I've been inhaling your videos. this one is a great start! thank you!!!!
I moved from an apartment in NY that was less than 700sq ft, fully furnished to a home in Florida that was a few feet shy of 4000sq ft. Its been a year, Ive done everything from Diying my entry table, buying and reupholstering from goodwill, Offerup and marketplace is my best friend and handmedowns I TAKE THEM ALL. lol. would love to show a few of my pictures
Great advice to do the basics first since those might cost more than anticipated. I doubled my budget for a sofa because we found an amazing gray, leather chesterfield that was reduced by $4k because it was missing a button. I ordered a new button and repaired it myself for $15. The quality was amazing and it’s worth putting off getting a chair for the room by a year if I need to.
A great video that has useful information. I find decorating to be very stressful and there are too many choices for me to pick things out. Plus my hubby wants a say in everything and I don’t care for his “style” at all. Hopefully now I can rethink a room when I am planning to decorate it.
This is exactly the video I need right now as we plan to move into our first purchased home from a rental in which we were very limited in our ability to style as we would’ve liked. I’ll be coming back to reference this video often! Thank you!
Im in the process of painting my living room and hallway white. It's a big change because 2 of my walls were red, one was bright green, and the hallway is a light taupe. I have applied 2 coats of primer to my colorful walls, and they are now bright white. I will finish priming my hallway this week, and I am going to paint the walls and the ceilings BM super white in the regal select line. I did write down my room's dimensions and made a list of my existing furniture. I still have to research design styles. Thank you for the guidance!
Im doing this now for the YT studio in my new house. I took the dining room since we entertain in the kitchen! have existing and new pieces. The Havenly is helping me😊
Happy Monday, KB you always come with very detail on home decorating and how to find perfect size furniture, love, love, cant stop watching your channel.
It is a break from moving from a temp apt while the owners of these apts for the elderly are being totally refurbished. I have been following your rules,suggestions and believe me they are working. Am glad to take this little break before I resume sliding and rolling back the furniture two doors away to the old- new home. Thank you.
Thank you for doing this video Kiva! This is such a wealth of information! Thank you for being generous and sharing what you know with lots of love, inspiration, and encouragement. :-)
We’re in the process of purchasing our first home. The furniture and decor we currently have is a lot of hand me downs and isn’t cohesive. It’s a mess!! I was going to get rid of EVERYTHING and purchase all new stuff. I’m so glad I saw this! I need to rethink this.
Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! This is why I love your videos! Functional, practical, encouraging and just plain fun to watch. I wish I had a book 📚 of Kiva’s advice!!
Thank you! I am redoing my living room and I have followed all of your steps so far. I just wish my sofa would come back in stock so I can move forward!
THANK YOU FOR THIS! The bf and I are moving in two months, so this was much needed! I have the tendency to want to get everything done all at once. I've def made the temporary purchases and had regrets. Thanks for reminding me to take my time lol!
YOU ARE SO GOOD AT THIS!!!! I love your channel and you very real and practical instruction. So happy I found your channel!!!!! I’m watching everything you have made so far!!! New devoted follower!!! ❤️
I know I'm late to the game here, but just saw your video and happily subscribed to your channel. My question is, every designer always says "Measure the space!" but then never gives any tips about how to use those measurements to purchase correctly sized furniture. How much room should be left between the wall and the side of the sofa? How much room between two chairs? How much room between the sofa and the coffee table? Between the sofa and the TV? Between the dining table and the wall, leaving room for the chair and the person siting in it? I can certainly measure the room, but I still have no idea what size furniture to buy so that the room doesn't end up looking either stuffed or practically empty. I'll know it when I see it, but by then I've already purchased the furniture so it's too late. A video explaining those things, with examples of furnitue actually mapped out and sized, would be so helpful.
I am in process of moving and your videos are such an inspiration, and it has given me ideas of my design look for my spot. Plus, the stores you have information about has me shopping at all. Thank you and I love your channel
My new place is finally coming together, having a lot of the basics/focusing on obtaining those basics first really means I feel at home despite not even being halfway done two months in (a lot of this is due to time constraints with work plus waiting ages for the wardrobe I want to come back in stock on Ikea before ordering anything off there)
Kiva.... I love, love, love your end wall in the living room. The RH most luscious and huge mirror. The 2 very tall figural paintings on either side. Your style speaks to me. How would you describe your style? Thanks a bunch!!!
Great video as usual Kiva! I just wanted to point out that some furniture stores have a free design service where a designer from the store will come to your home and go over ideas with you, even if you want to incorporate some of your own/older furniture. I haven't tried this service yet, but being a single (older) male I probably will.
I really needed this video! Thank you so much! Now we are building a new house and my big problem is my art. I sold everything with my old apartment, but my art goes with me over 20 years. I have learned to group them somehow by framing them with equal frames, but some art is very different from other, and I'm down to 3 different styles. One is Japanese style, but the others don't fit. Do you think that I can do different styles in the bedrooms, maybe? I'm even thinking about hanging some art in the bathroom and laundry room :)
Wow! This is GOLDEN info. I always thought the color palette came somewhere around the beginning. Thank you for putting all these things onto perspective. I just bought all new LR furniture for a modern/transional style. Not sure where I lean the most. Probably need more direction.♥️
This video is so helpful. I live in a apartment in the Netherlands, Tilburg for many years but I never had the feeling that it is our home. This video help me so much to realise what I want to achieved, and what me and my family are in need and looking for. Can you suggest any (free) website where I can design a room. Thanks a lot. Greetings from the Netherlands.
Thank you Kiva, you have inspired me to diy my dream home and hopefully start a liitle business when my s@hm comes to an end this September. Unfortunately I will have to begin on my backyard and then work my way inside, but seeing your videos keep me motivated and eager to start.
Love this! We bought a new house and are trying to renovate and furnish. I am in the midst of designing my bedroom and is looking at raised platforms as the bed frame
I would love to hear how you would style a bright red room now. Or anything else that has a loud color wall. Most magazines have whites and it seems so boring.
We actually measured the furniture that was in the home while it was being sold. Made it easier to visualise roughly what size sofa, table, bed, etc would work in the room without making it feel cramped, or look odd bc it’s too small in the room. If you like the set-up of the house you’re buying measure their furniture 🤣
You are just such a beautiful and sweet young woman. I really appreciate you and your videos. This helps me greatly as I try and navigate this process.
Kiva, so much great information! I'll be moving soon, and although I'm going to into an apartment, this is still practical essential basic design information that will benefit any and every one's space! Always look forward to your videos. Thanks for all your great tips!☺
This was super helpful! I just moved and have been overwhelmed, but I think I can manage these steps. My big hang up right now is my tiny living space. I think it’s about 18” x 10” (still need to measure), and I need it to do double duty as a living and dining space. I can’t decide if I should have two rugs or one big rug, and if I should go colorful to match my accent wall (made that decision before watching your vids) or have it be the same color as the laminate floors. I’m struggling, but I’m going to start with the steps and see how it goes.
A design style with lots of vintage pieces can be expensive OR take time: I have a lot of mid-20th century vintage furniture that I've bought for about the same as similar IKEA furniture or got for free, off websites/apps where people sell/give away stuff or from flee markets (local one time flee markets have no storage space so they give stuff away at the end, I got a lovely 1960s teak coffee table once)
I'll add that not everything needs to be bought. Sofas can be slipcovered or reupholstered. Wood furniture can be painted or stripped. If you have basic pieces that work but aren't the right color- make them work.