You’ve finally decided that you’re ready to take your home’s decor to the next level and hire a professional decorator to help you do the job. If you’ve never worked with a professional decorator or don’t know much about interior design, it can be intimidating to know where to begin. However, if you follow these helpful tips, you should be able to execute on your vision for your home and find the right decor scheme to showcase your personality and style.

GET A CONSULTATION

The best place to start is to have an at-home consultation with your home decorator. This will give them some time to walk through your home and take notes about you, your style preferences and what you’re looking for with your home’s decorating scheme. As part of their consultation, they’ll likely do a color consult as well to determine what color scheme you want to follow. Some people like to have their entire home follow one scheme so everything flows while others prefer to have a different scheme for each room. Ask for their input and let them know what you like so they can make recommendations.

FIND YOUR STYLE

Your decorator may ask questions to understand your style or they may come out and ask what your style preferences are. It’s okay if you don’t know right away, it just means you will need to take some time to determine what your style preferences are. To find your personal style, pay attention to the world around you and what you’re naturally drawn to. Do you find that you enjoy natural looks such as lots of wood, plants, and fibers? Do you love nautical decor? Keep notes about everything you like to share with your decorator. You may want to browse sites like Pinterest or style magazines for inspiration.

TRY DIFFERENT LOOKS

After you determine what your style is and you meet with your stylist, your next step is to try out different looks to determine what works best for you. You’ll eventually find the perfect decoration scheme for your home.