It’s 2018 and time to redecorate that office, spruce up the living room, and decor the bedroom!

I recently got the chance to work with an amazing decorator who works here in SATX and got some inside tips along the way! Yes, this job has its perks 🙂 Have you ever wondered the secrets of decorating your house? Have you been putting off redoing your office and lack inspiration? The following blog has two parts because there’s so much good info Amber, of Blessed Little Bungalow has to spill! I’m going to share with you what this dynamite decor artist shared with me:

These are decorating tips you can use in your own home in 2018!

I love my lifestyle and headshots side of my business, I get to meet so many entrepreneurs whom I have loved working with. I especially love my female business owner clients, I love their drive and their passion, and it gives me hope for future businesses here in San Antonio.

Amber is the owner and operator of Blessed Little Bungalow, she designs and decorates your home with her keen eye and helps you really capture your style and incorporate into your space. Pretty much every girl’s dream! I love this session because I’m obsessed with Pinterest and her entire house is pretty much Pinteresting material! In fact, I’ll probably share most of the images on some of my pages for future home decorating inspo, because her decor is so put together and damn inspiring!

I’m there to be a lifestyle photographer but I had to get some info from this diva of decorating so I asked her to dish!

Me: “First and foremost, how did you get into decorating?”

Amber: “I’ve always been a creative girl since my childhood. Drawing, painting, illustrating stories I wrote, matching colors, patterns and styles…  all of that came naturally to me. Looking back, I loved making my bed, cleaning my room and fluffing throw pillows throughout my grandmother’s house. Years later as an adult, family and friends were very complimentary to my decorating skills in my apartments, townhouse in Atlanta and my most recent home in San Antonio. After decorating my bungalow in less than a week, my family and friends urged me to ‘do this for real’ as a business or at least blog about my interior design interests and how to decorate a home on a budget. I go into much more detail in my first blog post, BLB & Me, but that was how Blessed Little Bungalow, the blog and business, was born.”

Me: If someone feels overwhelmed trying to decorate their space, what steps should they take?

Amber: “From personal experience, I always feel overwhelmed when I don’t have one of three things:

1. Time.

2. Resources.

3. Know-How.

• It’s even more stressful when you’re missing more than one! Many clients hire me because of the first one: time. They are busy movers and shakers, parents, business owners, travelers…professional jugglers! I can completely relate. But whether you hire someone to help you or not, know that you want to carve out the time to define the space you’re decorating. Is this a living room that is supposed to keep the kids busy while you make breakfast? Serve as a reading nook for your parents? Be an entertainment domain for guests? Start with the space’s purpose and allow that to be the foundation of the design. And know that just because you bought the house last month doesn’t mean it needs to be completely decorated in 30 days! I’d say rushed designs are usually the most regrettable and least enjoyable spaces. It’s okay to give yourself the time you do or don’t have to build out that foundation and vision for the space.
• Second, you don’t need $20,000 to decorate a room. Again, what’s the foundation? What emotions and experiences are you trying to create? That doesn’t mean take a trip to Z Gallerie with your credit card and buy the first model collection you see. It doesn’t mean going to Wal-Mart and buying bean bag chairs to fill the space either. Start where you are and buy one item at a time as your budget allows. A rug today. A sofa next month. Drapes whenever you find some to match those pillows you’ve been eyeing. Breaking the bank to fill a room will only make you more overwhelmed (and not to mention, broke!).
• And lastly, know-how. Just know that you don’t need it. Sure, you can hire a professional, but professional’s make mistakes too. If you pick the wrong color and end up with Big’s red wall from Sex and the City, just know it can be painted over. And sometimes the biggest mistakes turn out to be the best masterpieces!”

 

 

Me: What are 3 decorator’s secrets you use most frequently?

Amber: “Well, I would’t call these secrets, but to me, a nicely decorated room always has these 3 things:

1. Good lighting (with some nice window treatments to show it off).

2. Comfortable furniture (because why else would you stick around?).  

3. Inspiration (bright colors, family photos, maps of the world, bible scriptures, whatever you’re interested in and breathes life into your day…add that.) I think these three things can instantly bring any space to life. Start there. Everything else is secondary”

 

Amber is based out of San Antonio but travels a lot for work. I’ll be posting part two of this blog with the rest of her insights, so stay tuned after the new year!

Until then, you can contact her for a consultation to clean up any hot messes you happen to have! 

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