The Simple Solution That Makes Decorating Your Entire Home Less Overwhelming

The beginning of an interior decorating overhaul is always exciting. Poring over design catalogs, analyzing every Pinterest home decor trend, reframing your HGTV habit as "research" — it's really all fun and games until all the little jobs start to add up. Suddenly, finding the time to finally create that perfect gallery wall or put just the right knobs on all the dresser drawers is just too much. Instead, design experts recommend that to prevent getting overwhelmed at the prospect of decorating your entire home, you should finish every single design aspect of one room or space before moving on to your next project.

That means everything, whether it's finally putting the finishing touches on your home bar or hanging that last piece of artwork to pull the living room together. When that area is complete, you'll know — and you'll have the momentum, sense of accomplishment, and improved decorating skills to tackle the next project full steam ahead.

Design experts have been touting versions of this principle for years. One organization called One Room Challenge calls DIYers to action twice a year. Their challenge? Finish one room — just one! — in eight weeks. Participants can share their design wins or fails with an online community working towards similar goals to stay motivated. Other designers have called the concept "slow renovating." They argue that decision fatigue quickly sets in when you have to make tons of choices all at once about every area of the home, but you can easily minimize that stress by focusing on one area at a time.

Some decorating experts say that if you want to decorate your home like a professional, you have to have at least one completed space. Without it, your place won't feel like home. But even one completely finished area can spark joy and give you the direction and stamina you need to keep moving forward with your design projects.

Of course, tackling rooms one at a time doesn't mean you can't think about the decorating projects to come. In fact, it can help to have those in mind, so you can pick up inspiration, tips, and tricks along the way. For example, rather than make one decision about hardware throughout your home only to learn you don't really love the style in your space, you can just make the mistake once and be better informed when you move on to the next room. Or, you might discover a knack for hanging tile on the tiny backsplash in your bathroom — and thus feel more confident about the bigger backsplash project in your kitchen when the time comes.