1) Pick a Theme
Each room or home needs to have a theme to give your decorating a direction. It can be as simple as a colour or colour scheme, to a specific time period or style. Your room could be a blue study room, or a Classic styled distressed living room, or a dark Modern bedroom.
I wanted the study to be blue to make it more inspiring for my Sims.
2) Space
Keep in mind space, and less CAN be more: do not stress over the clutter items. A room can be beautiful with just a painting and a plant.
This tiny kitchen still looks comfy and full because of a few decorative items. Consider using different styled chairs to give your room charm.
3) Wallpaper and Flooring
Neutral coloured walls allow for more flexibility in your decorating options. Think of it as your canvas.
Yellow
Red
Blue
4) Utility of The Room
Keep in mind what the room is going to be used for. Although the Sims do not directly use most of the decorative objects, we would probably use them in real life. A kitchen should have objects on the counter; such as a knife block, a bowl of fruit, dishes, a coffee maker, a microwave, etc. A bedroom definitely has a closet and sometimes shoes.
5) Curtains are your Friend
Curtains can make or break a room. A room without curtains on its windows feels empty and incomplete.
Without Curtains:
With Curtains:
6) MoveObjects Cheat
Do not be afraid to use the moveobjects on cheat! It increases the possibilities of your decorating abilities tenfold! Put the cheat on and use 9 to raise an object up, or 0 to drop an object down to put decorative objects anywhere! Holding down left Alt key allows you to place items off the grid. You can also resize objects by pressing left Alt + ] to increase size, or left Alt + [ to decrease the size to normal.
Here I resized the painting on the wall, and used the 9 key to stack items on top of the fireplace. I used left Alt throughout the room to get the exact positioning for the furniture and objects I wanted.
7) Colors
Be careful using too much colour in a room. Understanding how colours work together will definitely improve your room/house decorating. Think about contrasting and complementary colours, monochromatic colours and triadic colours. Also, shades and tones of one colour can be just as beautiful as using contrasting colours.
8) Test your Limits
I like to sometimes use the Room Catalogue to remind myself what objects usually go into a room, but I also recommend pushing yourself and going through the objects catalogue and putting anything into any room. Counters and cupboards can be used in living rooms, bathrooms, even foyers. Couches can be used in studies and bedrooms. Mirrors can go anywhere you want! And decorative items are universal.
Objects by Room
Objects by Function
9) Look Online and in your Own Home
Gather inspiration from pictures online of homes and rooms. Watch YouTubers and see what they are doing. Also, look at your own home and try recreating rooms to get an idea of what a room should look like.
I saw this kitchen in an Interior Design competition and recreated it. It gave me ideas of how to really take my kitchens to the next level.
10) Have Fun!
Some people find decorating a chore. Look at it as a place you can be proud of. I am always way more happy to play a room I decorated and built myself than playing one someone else decorated. And I keep in mind that feeling when I am decorating and building because I know I will be rewarded.
