Starter guide
Plan, arrange and style the rooms you live in until they feel right.
You can start with the room you are sitting in and the furniture already in it. Interior design as a hobby is the planning side of a home: measuring a room, working out where things should go, choosing a color scheme, layering the lighting and styling the surfaces so the whole space feels deliberate. Most of the work happens on paper, on a screen and by moving things around, which is why it costs so little to begin. The payoff is immediate and personal: you live inside the result every day, and every room you finish teaches you something for the next one.
Measure, sketch, move, edit
A session usually starts with a question about one room: why does the seating feel scattered, why is this corner dark, why does nothing on the shelf look right. You measure, sketch the room to scale, and test answers on paper or on screen before moving anything heavy. Then you try it for real: shift the sofa, swap a lamp, hang the art lower, take half the objects off a surface. Shopping is a small part of it. Most improvements come from layout, light and editing, and the things you do buy are chosen against a plan with sizes written on it.
Four doors into the same room
Start here
Pick the room you use most, measure it, and move the largest piece of furniture to a new spot this week. Live with it for three days before judging it.
Start here
Read your lease for what it says about nails, paint and fixtures, then plan one wall of art and one new light source that leave no marks.
Start here
Draw your measured room in a free floor planner and build three versions of the layout to compare side by side.
Start here
Write down the exact sizes you need (a side table no taller than your sofa arm, a rug big enough for the seating) and take the list and a tape measure to a thrift store or estate sale.
Free software for planning in 3D
Open a card to see its first step. Rental-Friendly adds its two lines to the planning kit, and you can switch them back out from the kit.
One room, drawn before it is moved
What you can finish in your first month
A scaled floor plan
One room drawn on grid paper with doors, windows, outlets and radiators marked, ready to reuse for every later idea.
A new layout for your main room
The same furniture rearranged around a focal point with clear walkways.
A mood board
Paint chips, fabric swatches and photos pinned to one board so you can see whether your choices get along.
A three-layer lighting setup
One room lit from three heights with the lamps you already own, moved to where they are needed and fitted with bulbs set to the same warm tone.
A styled shelf or console
One surface cleared and rebuilt with fewer, larger objects in odd-numbered groups.
Measuring and drawing to scale
An accurate plan is what stops you buying a sofa that blocks a door. Measure twice and write every number on the plan.
Layout and flow
Choose a focal point (a window, fireplace or TV wall), arrange seating around it, and keep the routes people walk clear.
Color
Build a room from three colors in roughly a 60-30-10 split. The largest share goes to walls and big furniture, the middle share to curtains and rugs, the smallest to accents.
Lighting in layers
Combine general light from above, task light where you read or cook, and accent light that makes a corner glow. Keep every bulb in a room the same color temperature.
Editing and styling
Fewer and larger objects read as calmer than many small ones. Vary height, repeat a color or material three times around the room, and leave some surface empty.
Write these on the plan
Walkways
Leave about 30 to 36 inches for the main routes through a room.
Coffee table
14 to 18 inches from the sofa, close enough to reach and far enough to pass.
Rugs
Big enough that at least the front legs of every seat rest on it. In most living rooms that means 8 by 10 feet rather than 5 by 8.
Art
Hang it so the center sits about 57 inches off the floor, or 6 to 8 inches above a sofa back.
Curtains
Mount the rod 4 to 6 inches above the window frame and wide enough that open panels clear the glass.
Dining pendant
The bottom of the shade hangs 30 to 36 inches above the tabletop.
Bulbs
2700K to 3000K reads as warm and suits living rooms and bedrooms. Higher numbers look bluer and suit work areas.
Expect to move things more than once.
A layout that works on paper can feel wrong in the room, and living with it for a few days is part of the process.
Expect your taste to shift.
The rooms you save in month three will differ from month one, so finish one room before buying for the next.
Expect colors to change with the light.
A sample that looks soft gray at noon can turn blue at night. Look at every sample in the actual room, morning and evening.
Stop pushing all the furniture against the walls.
Pulling seating a few inches in, around a rug, usually makes a room feel bigger.
Stop buying before measuring.
Rugs that are too small and sofas that are too deep are the most common expensive mistakes.
Stop relying on a single ceiling light.
One bright overhead source flattens a room. Two or three lower lamps do more than a brighter bulb.
Stop buying matching sets.
A room furnished from one catalog page looks like a showroom. Mix wood tones, ages and textures.
Painting, wallpaper, tile and repairs are their own skills with their own tools.
Use this hobby to decide the color and the pattern, then follow the separate guides for doing the work.
Wiring is not a design task.
Plug-in lamps and bulbs are fair game. A new hardwired fixture, switch or outlet is a job for a licensed electrician.
Tall furniture tips.
Anchor bookcases, dressers and TVs to the wall whenever you move them, above all in a home with children.
Walls hide things.
Before drilling for a shelf or a heavy mirror, check for pipes and cables, and in a rental check the lease.
Calling yourself an interior designer is regulated in some US states.
Decorating your own home and helping friends is not.
For the hands-on work, and for anchoring furniture
House tours teach faster than theory: look at a real room, then work out why it works (where the rug ends, how many light sources you can count, which colors repeat). Published makeovers that show a floor plan and a before photo are the most useful kind. A feedback forum is worth using early, because strangers spot a too-small rug or a badly placed TV in seconds. One well-illustrated beginner book gives you the vocabulary in a weekend.
Free places to look, read and ask
This list is the planning kit, not the furniture. The three essentials let you measure a room, draw it to scale and test a layout on the floor, which is the whole hobby in miniature. The recommended lines speed up measuring, make scale drawings easier, and let you test color and lighting before spending real money. Sofas, rugs and lamps are missing on purpose: what you need depends on your plan, and secondhand is often the better buy. The Rental-Friendly add-on holds the two things renters need that owners do not.
The essential and recommended lines start in the kit. The two Rental-Friendly lines join once you pick that add-on, above or from the kit, and the furniture template waits until you want it. Compare the options, then set your picks and check out from the kit. Clicking a card selects it there.
Every plan starts with the room's real dimensions, and 25 feet spans most rooms in one pull. A blade that stays rigid when extended lets you measure a wall alone.
Any tape you already own that reaches 16 feet does the same job.
With four squares to the inch, one square equals one foot at the standard quarter-inch scale, so you can draw a room without doing any arithmetic.
TOPS 33041 Quadrille Pads, 4 Squares/Inch, 8 1/2 x 11, White, 50 Sheets
4.6(718)
$7.54
2 Pack Graph Paper Pad 11x17, 4x4 Quad Ruled Blueprint Quadrille Paper
4.6(464)
$14.99
NextDayLabels Blueprint Graph Paper Pad 11x17, 50 Sheets, 1-Pack
4.7(3.5K)
$21.56
A larger 11 by 17 inch pad fits a whole floor of a house on one sheet.
Taping the outline of a sofa, rug or table on the floor shows how much room it takes before you move or buy it. It also marks art positions on a wall and peels off cleanly.
ScotchBlue Original Multi-Surface Painters Tape, 1 Inch Wide (0.94 in. x 60 Yds), 1 Roll, Blue Paint Tape Protects Surfaces and Removes Easily, Masking Tapes for Indoor and Outdoor Use (2090-24NC)
4.8(12.7K)
$4.49
Available to ship in 1-2 days
Multi-Surface Painter's Tape with PAINTBLOCK, 0.94 in x 60 Yds
4.7(10.7K)
$5.76
One roll about an inch wide is plenty.
Point it at the far wall and read the distance in a second, including ceiling heights and long rooms a tape sags across. It turns measuring a whole home into a ten-minute job.
Laser Measure,RockSeed Digital Laser Distance Meter with 2 Bubble Levels,Portable M/in/Ft Unit Switching Backlit LCD and Measuring Distance/Area/Volume/Pythagorean
4.4(22.5K)
$23.99
BOSCH GLM100-23 100 Ft Blaze Laser Distance Measure, With 2 AA Batteries
4.6(2.7K)
$62.99
Leica DISTO D1 120ft Laser Distance Measure with Bluetooth 4.0, Black/Red
4.6(840)
$107.39
You still need the tape measure for furniture and anything without a flat surface to aim at.
A three-sided ruler marked in feet at several scales lets you draw and read plans directly, and check the dimensions on floor plans from a listing or a builder.
Buy an architect's scale (feet and inches), not an engineer's scale, which divides the inch into tenths.
Turning the dial shows which colors sit opposite or beside each other, which takes the guesswork out of picking an accent for a room's main color.
JimKing Creative Color Wheel, Paint Mixing Learning Guide, Art Class Teaching Tool for Makeup Painting Tattoo,Blending Board Chart Color Mixed Guide Hardboard(9.25inch)
4.6(4K)
$4.99
Cox Color Wheel-9.25-inch, 2.1 x 27.4 x 32.480000000000004 cm, Multicolor (133343)
4.7(5.2K)
$9.99
Mcbazel 3 Pieces Artist Color Mixing Guides Wheel, Paint Mixing Learning Art Teaching Tool & Theory Chart for Painting, Makeup, Tattoo Design - Large & Pocket Sizes for Studio & Class (3 Sizes)
4.7(1.2K)
$9.99
One well-illustrated book explains proportion, color and lighting in order, which scattered photos and short videos do not. It also gives you the vocabulary to search for what you want.
The Interior Design Handbook: Furnish, Decorate, and Style Your Space
4.7(4.7K)
$17.09
Styled: Secrets for Arranging Rooms, from Tabletops to Bookshelves
4.6(1.3K)
$20.60
Check your library first. Most carry several.
Pinning paint chips, fabric swatches and flooring samples to one rigid board lets you carry the whole scheme into the room and see it in that room's light.
White Foam Board 20” x 30” - Premium Double-Sided with White Foam Core, 3/16" Thick - Photography Mounting, Art Projects, Presentations, Display & Signage – Pack of 10
4.5(170)
$32.29
Foam Board 20 x 30 x 3/16"(5mm), Foam Core Board Sheets, White Poster Board
4.6(777)
$55.97
Sold in multi-packs, from three boards up to a carton. One board per room is the usual habit.
Bulbs you can dim and shift from warm to cool let you try different light levels and tones in your existing lamps, so you learn what a room needs before buying fixtures.
Linkind Matter Smart Light Bulbs, Work with Apple Home, Alexa, Siri, Google
4.5(1K)
$13.99
Wyze Lifestyle 800LM A19 Tunable Smart Light Bulb White, 2-Pack
4.6(317)
$26.98
Philips Hue Smart 60W A19 LED Bulb - White Ambiance Warm-to-Cool White Light - 2 Pack - 800LM - E26 - Indoor - Control with Hue App - Works with Alexa, Google Assistant and Apple Homekit
4.7(1.8K)
$48.99
Check the base size of your lamps. Most US table lamps take a standard medium base.
Testing a layout means moving heavy pieces several times. Sliders under the legs let one person do it without scratching floors or straining a back.
10PCS Furniture Sliders, 3 1/2" Furniture Sliders for Hardwood Floors, Reusable for Carpet, Heavy Duty Furniture Movers Sliders, Carpet, Floor Protectors (Beige)
4.4(1.5K)
$5.99
CO-Z Felt Furniture Sliders - 16 Pack with 8 Plastic & 8 Felt Sliders, 3 1/2" Reusable Furniture Sliders for Carpet Hardwood Floors, Heavy-Duty Furniture Gliders Movers, Moving Pads for Hard Surfaces
4.4(203)
$14.99
Furniture Sliders X-PROTECTOR - 8+8 Pack 3 1/2” Multi-Surface Sliders
4.5(3.1K)
$15.99
Hard plastic sliders are for carpet and felt ones are for hard floors. A mixed pack covers both.
Adhesive strips hold framed art on a painted wall and pull off without leaving a hole, so you can hang and rearrange freely in a rented home.
SummerBrite Damage Free Picture Hanging Strips, 20 Pairs, Medium, White
4.1(5.3K)
$7.99
Command Large (15 lb) Picture Hanging Strips, 14 Pairs (28 Strips
4.6(111.4K)
$11.19
Command 15 & 10 lb Assorted Picture Hanging Strips, 28 Pairs (56 Strips)
4.6(24.4K)
$13.99
Check the weight rating on the pack against each frame, and press for the full time the instructions give.
A sconce with a cord and plug adds light at eye level beside a bed or sofa with no wiring, and comes with you when you move.
VATONI Dimmable Wall Sconce, Plug in Wall Sconce Adjustable Angle Wall Lights with Plug in Cord and Dimmer On/Off knob Switch, Gold Wall Mounted Light for Bedside Bedroom Doorway(1 Pack, 1 Bulb)
4.6(200)
$26.99
Lomoky Plug in Wall Sconces Set of 2, Dimmable Wall Lights with Plug in Cord and Dimmer On/Off Knob Switch, Adjustable Angle Black Wall Mounted Lamp for Bedside Bedroom Living Room (2 Bulbs Included)
4.4(132)
$37.98
GOODATE Dimmable Wall Sconces Set of Two, Plug in Wall Sconces White Fabric Shade, Wall Lamp for Bedroom, Living Room, Plug in Wall Light Sconces Wall Decor Set of 2, LED Bulbs Included, Black
4.5(115)
$61.99
Some options are sold as a set of two, which suits either side of a bed. Each mounts with two small screws, so check your lease first.
For later, once you are drawing plans for several rooms: a plastic stencil of beds, sofas, tables and door swings at quarter-inch scale saves measuring and cutting paper shapes each time.
Mr. Pen- House Plan, 3 pcs, Interior Design and Furniture Templates
4.6(9.1K)
$7.95
STAEDTLER Mars Home Furnishings Drafting Template, 39 Shapes, 10 x 5.75
4.5(640)
$8.99
House Furnishings Template, 1/4 Inch = 1 Foot Scale, 1 Each (R714)
4.5(18)
$23.30
