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31 Creative Interior Design Ideas You can Try at Home

Decorating is creative interior design decisions about the details in a home. Learn to embrace beauty in the details, with 31 creative home decor ideas!

There is beauty in the details of a home. When it comes down to it, Creating a Home is the culmination of numerous creative interior design decisions… over months (likely, years)… related to hundreds of small details.

31 interior design ideas to try at home

Therefore, it is wise to be intentional through the process of Creating a Home. Rather than picking wall colors or buying a furniture set, start with these questions:

  1. How will we use this room?
  2. What features would I like to highlight/minimize in this room?
  3. How will I give this room character, warmth, coziness?
  4. What is the overall style and aesthetic of the house?
  5. How will this room tie into the adjoining rooms?

How to make Creative Interior Design Decisions

Let’s take a look an example: the Dining Room in our cottage-style fixer upper. In the listing photo, you’ll see the hardwood floors and beefy crown molding. 

We’ve actually stuck with a similar layout. Our dining hutch is in the right corner, and – of course – the table is in the center of the room. We switched out the chandelier and hung new curtains, but hadn’t changed much beyond that… until now. It’s in-progress as we speak, so I’ll walk through the creative interior design decisions for this room.

Q: How will we use this room?

A: We use this room for most meals and as a homeschool room. Therefore, it needs storage for books and school supplies, in addition to typical dining room storage. Our plan includes a set of 3 low bookcases on the left side of the room, which can also double as a serving buffet.

Q: What features would I like to highlight/minimize in this room?

A:  The crown molding is gorgeous, but the chair rail and baseboard are uninspiring. I’d like to highlight the crown molding while downplaying the rest of the trim. To do this, we’ll paint the walls white, the baseboard white, and the chair rail white, but leave the crown molding as it is.

Check out these Summer Decorating Ideas! In this Summer Tour of my Dining Room, see how I brought beach-inspired texture and color into a neutral space. #AtHomeFinds @CraftivityD @athomestores
Q: How will I give this room character, warmth, coziness?

A: The room’s character is found in the crown molding and our antique, handmade dining cabinet. 

Q: What is the style and aesthetic of the house?

I’ve defined the style of our home as a modern cottage (read more about the plan for our cottage style home, here). That includes antiques and cozy cottage elements mixed with clean-lined modern design. 

brick exterior home in winter
Q: How will this room tie into the adjoining rooms?

A: The living room features the same dark crown molding. The walls in both the kitchen and living room are painted the same white color that will be in the dining room. 

That’s a glimpse into how to make creative interior design decisions for your home, without getting overwhelmed in the details. Once these questions are answered, use it as a guide when choosing paint colors, accessories, furniture, and lighting. 

Of course, I don’t want to leave it at that. Sometimes we need concrete examples as inspiration, too (just make sure you do the pre-work and answer those questions, first!). So, let’s take a look at 31 creative interior design ideas that you can try in your home

31 Creative Interior Design Ideas You can Try at Home

Much of decorating is creative interior design decisions about the details. Learn to embrace beauty in the details, with 31 creative home decor ideas!