Organize information before decorating

If you attended last weekend's Spring Home Show, perhaps your mind is brimming with great decorating ideas and new 'products. Now's the time to take the bags of information you collected and put those ideas to work for you.

First, it's important to realize that you don't have to be a professional to decorate your own home. You just have to use a professional approach: Be organized and do lots of research.

An excellent way to get organized is to purchase a portable accordion file and index it room by room. Start by filing the various pamphlets You collected at the in Home Show.

For example, your section labelled Bathrooms, you'd file information on sinks, bathtubs or tiles. Over time you might add a magazine photo's that catches your eye or a fabric ,swatch. Don't worry about styles or swatches that conflict, you aren't making firm decisions yet. You're simply narrowing your choices.

Label one section in your files 'Style'. A professional will try to reflect the personality and dreams of a client, while making the space functional and liveable. You have to do the same.

Hold family meetings to discuss likes and dislikes. If family members aren't sure what their tastes are, look through design magazines. Clip and file any designs that really dazzle.

Next make floor plans of the rooms involved. A floor plan shows the location and angles of walls, windows and doors. It's best if you use 1/4-inch graph paper, where one square equals one foot.

Be sure to include all measurements. You will use these for future layouts or to estimate how much carpet, tile or hardwood you will need.

Next draw interior elevations. Simply stand in the middle of the room and look at one of your four walls and draw what you see. Repeat this process for every wall included in your design scheme, including measurements.

These drawings don't have to be works of art. You'll use them to calculate quantities of paint, wallpaper or fabric for window coverings. You can take your house shopping with you!

Once you're satisfied with the amount of information you've collected, the final decision-making process begins. Room by room, lay out what you've collected. If one room is visible from another, lay side-by-side what you've collected for both rooms.

Once all decisions have been made, do a floor-by-floor sample board to cheek that all flows well.

In your file folder, also allocate two sections to trades. Keep the contracts separate from the estimates.

Insist that all tradespeople visit and inspect the site thoroughly before giving you an estimate. Be sure to sign a contract with all tradespeople. Contracts set out what will be done, for what, cost and when, helping to avoid misunderstandings and aggravation.

When you're making your final decisions, think budget and time. Decorating and renovating tend to go over budget and tend to take more time expected.

Be organized. Schedule all work to be done, deliveries, payments and be sure to keep all receipts. Decorating takes time and patience. Just take it one step at a time.