Decorating your house can be an extremely difficult task especially for those of us that do not have a natural fashion sense. However, by planning out your design ahead of time you can prevent yourself from making those poor design decisions.

Start out by analyzing the space that you plan on decorating. One of the major factors in designing a room is determining what shape the room is currently in. For instance, a long rectangle shaped room will be much better used for a media room or even an office whereas most people prefer a large square room for a bedroom.

Draw out where you want the furniture to go and how you would like it to be arranged. One of the best ways to do this is to measure the room and then draw it out on paper much like an architecture diagram. At this point, you should cut out shapes for different furniture using measurement approximations. For instance, you could estimate a couch being 8 feet by 3 feet and move it around on the diagram to try out different positions before you actually make your purchase.

When you are designing your plan, make sure to keep in mind color choices and themes. Do not pick more than 3 major colors per room or your room will have far too much color. You also need to decide a theme such as Colonial, Victorian, or Abstract Modern.

Furniture is not the only thing you need to plan when designing your room. Also, make sure to include accessories such as vases, plants, and candles. Although they seem small, they are important enough that they can make or break a room.

These are all essential pre-planning steps that you should think about before you go out and buy all the materials needed for a room.