by Kathleen Hesketh

Created on: February 27, 2009

When faced with the empty space between four walls, it is difficult to know where to start an interior decorating project. An empty room is similar to a blank canvas, but like the painter who stares at the matte white surface, a designer needs to know what they want to create. It's the same for any homeowner trying to start a room. Often people begin by choosing a piece of furniture they like, only to discover upon delivery that it is too

traditional, too contemporary, or not at all what they wanted for their interior decorating design. Without a clear idea of the type of room they want to develop, a homeowner ends up with a complicated mix of objects, lamenting the loss of the masterpiece they had hoped to create.

As any artist will tell you, creating a masterpiece takes time and some inspiration. Creating an interior requires the same. Art is a means to express a certain emotion. Rooms are decorated to inspire a certain feel. Isolating this is the first step in turning an empty room into a living work of art. The feel can be many things. People often want their main living spaces to feel warm and inviting or cool and sophisticated. The feel a room is intended to inspire determines what elements will go into it.

Isolating the feel is easier than it might sound. There are hundreds of books on the market with pictures of well designed interiors. Equally as accessible are the many home magazines available at supermarkets and bookstores. Further down on the list, but just as common, are home themed catalogues and websites. All of these are resources in determining the feel of a room. Start by looking through them. It should be immediately apparent if a room is appealing or not. If so, set it aside. After several have been collected, go back through them paying careful attention to the feel the rooms in the photographs inspire. Do they bring memories of the beach? Are they formal and elegant, or do they remind you of a sleek and powerful office in a New York City high rise? Finding this feel is the start to creating a masterpiece out of the blank canvas of your room.

Deciding on the feel you want to inspire may seem easy compared to choosing what goes into an interior decorating project. Again, the pictures can help. Look at the ones that most closely exhibit the feel. Start with colors. Colors come with a powerful psychology and can do much to inspire emotion. Blues and some greens are cool colors, excellent for rooms that receive sunshine or for giving a room a

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