6 Super-Easy Decorating Tips to Spruce Up Your Pad This Year

If there’s one time of year when purging and sprucing up your home is widely regarded as a typical weekend activity, it’s probably now. After all, why wait until Spring to clean out your cluttered spaces when you can do it in the dead of winter, when there’s not that much else going on?

We sat down with ultra-chic home goods site One Kings Lane co-founder Alison Pincus and Andrea Stanford, general manager of merchandising, designer, and vintage goods, who gave us some unbelievably easy decorating tips and tricks for transforming your home for the new year. Read on to get inspired!
spruce space

1. If you love an object, you can make it work.
“I always say, buy what you love,” One Kings Lane’s Andrea Stanford tells StyleCaster. “I think sometimes people get a little caught up in oh, it all has to fit together and has to be a certain style. I think if you love it, you can make it work.”

2. Know the purpose of your space.
“I always try to start with a general plan when I’m thinking about a room,” Andrea says. “What’s my idea for this room? How am I going to live in this room? I think that’s the biggest thing. Where is the TV going to go? Where am I going to sit? Am I going to entertain in here too? What are the multiple purposes of this room?”

3. Invest in a few staple pieces.
“First, I like to get the big pieces,” Andrea says. “I love the idea of buying original. There’s so many knockoffs out there right now, and it’s just a bummer, because you can get the original chairs. You can find the original design, you can really support great design by being smart about it. Look around and find those pieces. I think it’s so much better to invest in some great pieces in the room—just like an outfit. You get the great shoes, you get the great bag, the rest of it you can sort of play around with. I think it’s the same with a house. You invest in a couple of key pieces, you can do it smartly, and the rest of it can all sort of come together.”

4. Pinterest is your best friend.
“In addition to not buying all at one time and really taking your time, I also think it’s really helpful to do your research,” co-founder Alison Pincus says. “Get inspired by blogs or rooms on Pinterest, make a file for yourself and think about, what would I love to live with it? Unlike fashion, the price per ticket for home items is much more expensive.”

5. Know the cheap tricks.
“What I’m so impressed with some of the women we’ve worked with who are very focused on getting great coffee table books or great books for their bookshelves, and knowing that they can do lots of different things with books,” Ali says. “You can put books below your lamps, for example, and it makes your room feel very lived in. You can also get great throws. If you have a sofa that you don’t love, you can make it look better by throwing a throw on it. You can also change out pillows for pretty cheap.”

6. Take your time.
“Don’t be in a hurry,” Andrea urges. “Get the main pieces, but don’t do it all at once. Because if you try to do it all at once, it feels like you did it all at once. Once you start living in it, you’re like oh, you know what, I actually need a table here that should be a desk and this. Get things as you love them.

“Have your list of what you’re looking for, and then continue to add the special pieces, so you can say oh I got this on that trip and I love it. Just don’t be in a big hurry. No one cares if everything is finished, because even if they come over, that’s what makes it fun. You throw down a blanket on the floor, and as long as you’re pouring good wine, no one cares if you have enough chairs. It doesn’t even matter.”
“Most of us make mistakes when you’re shopping in a hurry,” Ali adds.

Posted by: Meghan Blalock