New Year’s Resolutions: 5 Interior Promises to Keep In 2021

There’s no denying that 2020 has been a memorable year, but instead of dwelling on what’s been cracking off this year, we want to place our focus on the year ahead. A new year symbolises a fresh start and in the name of interior design, we want to run through some interior promises you need to keep in the coming year.

Having spent more time at home than ever before, it’s time to stop putting off those decor update plans and take action. Whether it’s saying farewell to sentimental clutter or tackling dingy areas you never want to spend time in, we’re dishing up lashings of inspiration for meaningful home interior resolution ideas that have the potential to transform your home, and your way of life!

#1: Make a decorating plan

Before embarking on any major home update, make sure your efforts aren’t deemed to fail by getting a decorating plan in place. This doesn’t have to be full-scale drawings or completely set in stone, but outlining your plan of attack will help you to remain focused on your goals. 

It doesn’t matter if you’re just updating one room or your entire home, committing to a decor plan will make sure you end up with a cohesive design that truly encapsulates your vision from start to finish.

A good place to start is to decide on a decor theme and colour palette, ensuring you stick to these throughout to tie every aspect of the room together. You could even go as far as creating a mood board (used by pro interior designers) that will allow you to play around with different textures, colours and styles before you fully commit to putting them in the room. 

Make a list of existing items you’re going to keep and new items you’ll need for your project, being sure to keep it with you when you’re out shopping. A clear outline of what’s staying will give you a better idea of how to match them up with new concepts you introduce, as well as preventing impulse purchases that stray from your overall design.

#2: Nail down a budget

As part of your planning promise, you should also look to establish a budget for your interior design ideas. When you’re in the midst of a project it’s easy to let your spending get out of control or end up with insufficient funds to finish the job. These rookie errors could leave you with a less than perfect finish. 

To calculate how to make a budget for your interior design project, first you need to work out how much you have (or want) to spend. Next, make a ‘wish list’ that details everything you want including. Obviously you may not be able to afford the whole list, but it will help you identify areas you can cut costs and make justifiable compromises to keep within your specified spend.

With these two pieces of key information, the next task is to nail down the nitty-gritty details of the project costs. You don’t need to go into granular detail about every tiny spend, but there does need to be more to your budget than a rough ballpark figure. 

We’d suggest breaking down expenditures into specific sections like building materials, labour (if you’re hiring professional tradespeople) and any additional costs for finishing touches. Dividing your spend up and keeping a tally on what you’re spending will help you to keep your budget promise. 

#3: Say goodbye to sentimental trinkets

When you first start out furnishing a home, it can be expensive, so it’s not uncommon to find yourself with a mish-mash of hand-me-downs and family heirlooms that don’t go with your approach. 

However, if you’re committed to improving your interiors in 2021, it’s time to put sentimentality to one side and use your head to make smart interior design choices, not your heart. After a year that’s seen us cooped up at home for months on end, you deserve to have a living space that you love and enjoy spending time in. 

This means sidelining the sentimental trinkets in favour of pieces that complement your overall design theme. It may sound ruthless, but just imagine the joy you’ll feel when you walk into a room that’s beautiful from top to bottom and filled with items you personally picked out. 

If you’re still grappling with guilt at the prospect of throwing sentimental items out, you don’t have to banish them entirely. You could see if any family or friends have a place for them, pop them in a storage box out of the way or, if you’re feeling brave, gift them to a charity shop and let someone else give them a home.

#4: Channel the power of light

Lighting plays an integral role in interior design, yet it’s often an idea that’s an afterthought or, in some cases, not a thought at all. This is something we want to change in 2021, which is why we urge you to make a promise to channel the power of light correctly in your home. 

Forget relying on just one underwhelming overhead light that provides just enough illumination to ensure you don’t trip over the coffee table. Instead, use light as a tool that adds warmth, depth and character to your home design, all while making it well lit. 

Firstly, focus on harnessing the power of natural light where you can to bathe even the darkest of corners with light. This could be stripping back windows to let more light in, lightening the overall colour palette or investing in light-reflecting materials like shiny mirror wall tiles or hanging mirrors. 

Secondly, think about how you can improve the lighting in your home with artificial lighting. For instance, in practical areas like kitchens and bathrooms, opt for bright task lighting that offers sufficient illumination for detailed tasks like prepping dinner or applying makeup. 

In areas like living rooms, dining rooms and bedrooms, you want something with a softer illumination that helps to create a relaxing and cosy ambience. This is where you need to switch off the ‘big light’ in favour of smaller, free-standing options. A striking standing lamp or table lamp offers a much nicer alternative to large overhead lighting, with a softer glow and more subtle illumination. 

#5: Carve out a space for “me time”

With many of us having to adapt to working, exercising and living at home with the whole household crammed in under one roof, it’s important that our homes provide a dedicated space for a little bit of “me time”. 

Of course, we’re all hopeful that normal life will resume in the near future, but there’s no definitive timeline on this right now. That’s why making the resolution to carve out an area in your home that’s centred around relaxation could be the key to putting your wellbeing first in 2021. This could be a quiet reading nook on your landing or a craft corner in your dining room, the important thing is it’s all about you. 

The beauty is that your “me time” nook doesn’t have to be big, or even in a separate room if space isn’t something your home has an abundance of. The key is to put emphasis on creating a defined zone (even if it’s within another room) that’s clearly differentiated from the surrounding area through the use of colours, texture and other decorative detailing.

One idea is to create visual floor boundaries by using a different flooring material, like some brightly coloured hexagonal floor tiles. The distinctive shape and vivid colour will instantly distinguish this as a zone in its own right. Alternatively, you can define the area using contrasting colours and textures that will work to define this space as a relaxation area. 

Whatever grand plans you have in store for giving you home some much-needed TLC in 2021, give yourself a better chance of making them a reality by sticking to these interior promises. Having set goals on what you want to achieve will make sure your year gets off to a positive start and will help you focus on those key interior priorities. 

If you’re ready to get started right away, why not begin with picking out some tiles? With a huge collection of floor tiles and wall tiles, you’ll find plenty of interior design ideas to get you inspired and in the right creative frame of mind. Plus, if you see some designs you like, you can order small cut tile samples from just £1.99 that will be perfect for kicking off your mood board!