7 chic interior design schemes

These home decor ideas are perfect if you are updating your home from top to bottom, or just want to add pretty seasonal touches or swap out your color schemes with a new accent shade. 

To ensure your home decor has longevity, we have garnered expert tips, ideas, inspiration and advice from interior designers and the Homes & Gardens team.

Between us, we have covered every space indoors and out... and we will keep adding more home decor inspiration so that you can continue to perfect your interior design skills.

Home Decor Ideas

If you are looking for clever decorating ideas, useful home decor tips or simple home ideas to make your house feel homey and look beautiful, these rooms, and accompanying expert advice, are for you.

1. Decorate Your Home For Coziness

'There are so many good reasons to look for cozy living room ideas,' says Homes & Gardens' Deputy Editor (Digital) Jen Ebert. 'Whether it's because fall has come around and you feel the need to be in a warm, comforting space indoors, or because you want your home to be a haven from a busy work life, there are many ways to make a house look cozy.

'The most effective are through room color ideas; introducing a color combinations for rooms of earthy or spice shades, and combining these with natural or touchable textures. In the room above, this includes the wood framing on the wall which complements the coffee table, through the textured wall ideas and ceiling ideas.

2. Give Your Home A Seasonal Update

If you like to decorate your home for the season, one way to switch things up is to change the color of your entryway regularly. This needn't mean decorating the entire space – simply repainting a wall or two in a shade that reflects the mood of the season can make all the difference.

'An entryway is a great space for a seasonal update, perhaps fall decor ideas in September and spring decor ideas in March,' says Sarah Spiteri, Editorial Director, Homes & Gardens. 'For one, it's the room that everyone sees, from family to guests; and secondly, it's an area of your home that gets a fair amount of wear and tear, so it's likely that it will need a new coat of paint a couple of times a year anyway.

3. Decorate Your Home For Wellbeing 

More and more of us are searching for 'happy room ideas' in order to create homes that don't just look good but feel good too. 

'Happy room ideas are difficult to pin down,' says Sarah Spiteri, 'because what makes one person happy is different to what makes another person happy. However, color experts and wellbeing experts tend to agree that uncluttered spaces that have plenty of natural textures and a touch of yellow are most likely to appeal to the senses of most of us.'

4. Bring Light Into Your Rooms

'Ensuring a room has as much light in it as is possible is key to any home decor being successful,' says Jo Bailey, Homes & Gardens' Deputy Editor (Print) and stylist. 'This will of course mean daylight, which will make a room feel warmer, larger and more welcoming. You can boost this by rethinking bulky curtain ideas, decluttering and decorating with light colors.

'But equal attention should be given to artificial light, too: which means ensuring each room has a balanced mix of ambient, accent and task lighting in every single space. Never, if you can help it, rely on a single overhead bulb.'

5. Prioritize Storage And Organization

Your home decor ideas can't shine if you haven't maximized your storage ideas and home organizing ideas, especially if you have the task of organizing small spaces.

'In my experience of renovating and remodelling city homes, it is vital to include built-in storage that can make use of every inch of space,' says Sarah Spiteri. 'If you can make that storage dual-purpose or multi-functional, even better. The room above is a really good example of this, with a window seat hiding spacious storage beneath.'

7. Focus On The Heart Of The Home

As we've said before, home decor shouldn't just be about what a house looks like but how it makes you feel, and that's based around how you use it. So, which room does your family love to spend the most time in? The kitchen-diner? The family room? Is it the best it can be? Or could you improve the home decor ideas within it to make it more welcoming, more sociable? 

Whichever, the room's seating and layout are vital: sectional living room ideas that gather atop a rug and around a coffee table are just as likely to ensure an inviting, welcoming space as kitchen island seating that allows the cook to be a part of the conversation. The other home decor element to focus on? The room's color: as we have said before, warmer shades are more welcoming and invite you to linger.

8. Lift A Neutral Scheme With Subtle Detailing

The simple addition of gold paint on the structure of the shelving is a fantastic idea for anyone considering enlivening details for their neutral room ideas. The key is subtlety. 

'A neutral needs to be paired with other materials to sing: timber and marble work well,' says interior designer and founder of Elicyon(opens in new tab) design agency Charu Gandhi. 'I also love teaming them with suede and woollen rugs. Ceramic, clay and colored glass are great for decorative elements.'