My friends have recently moved into an unfurnished house and, in desperate search of ideas on how to decorate their new place, asked me if there is an academic design theory they could use. I am a Berkeley grad, and if you are not familiar with different architecture schools, Berkeley is one of the most conceptual and theoretic design schools out there.

Well, I said, there are definitely a lot of architecture and urban planning theories, and I would not be surprised if there was a theory in interior design, too. I did not, however, recommend that my well-educated, well-traveled and cultured friends read heavy academic writing on this subject. Academic books do not make a designer. The ability to distinguish between good and bad design, paired with practice and vision, does.

Here are 9 design secrets that I’ve developed over the years to help you get started:

1. Get Inspired

Start thinking of what kind of places you really like - maybe something from your childhood, or from travels, something very appealing to you. Fire up the search engine and find photos of those places or interiors. When you find your favorites, save them and place them in front of you, so you don’t forget what you like during the long process of picking and choosing. Use them as the compass on your design journey.

2. It’s Like Fashion

It may be hard to get started, because you are not used to laying out rooms and selecting furniture and curtains. Try thinking about your home design like dressing yourself up every morning. Well, maybe not every morning, but the special days when you take the time to coordinate your outfit.

It you take apart the ritual of getting dressed, it is actually a complex thought process that became a habit. Think of selecting color of the walls like selecting the colors of your clothes. The classic is a white top and a neutral or dark bottom. If you are adventurous, you play with colors of your outfit. Similarly, you can play with colors of your space, or stay within the traditional whites and neutrals.

Think about selecting the flooring like selecting a very expensive bag that will need to go with everything. Decorative lighting is like jewelry and furniture is like accessories.

If you select everything in shades of the same color, it will match and if this is how you approach your own dress style, it will most likely work for you. But you can also have a lot of different colors and textures that work well together, like a well-assembled outfit.

3. Develop a Color Scheme Before Buying Anything!

There are colors and materials that go well together, and there are those that do not. Pick a color and materials scheme first and stick to it. Remember buying something you really liked, but hating how it fits in when you got home? I do.

So, when you go shopping, you want to know what you are looking for. For example, a warm tone wood floor that you know will look very nice under the light grey couch from another store. You know it will work because you have a one-page inspiration image that you are looking at. That inspiration can be found on Pinterest or Instagram. Type in words like “materials palette” and “color schemes” and you will find many. Select those that match your inspiration images on the wall and start shopping without fear!

4. Placing Furniture

It is easy to place furniture in a plan on a computer, but it is actually different when you are standing in the space. Don’t worry about finding the perfect placement the first time around. Count on moving the furniture 2-3 times until it finds home. Best part? After a year or two, you can move it again to change things around!

5. Combining Styles

Combining styles is OK, but it is a little tricky to do it right. If you don’t have a strong urge to play with styles, don’t.

If you do, there are a couple of approaches. One is to mix different styled furniture but harmonize by color scheme. Another is to introduce a different style in one or two special rooms of your house. Perhaps the breakfast nook could be a bright country style and the library could be a Japanese style. Once again, use color and materiality to balance the styles.

Your inspiration images can look like this; a mix of interior images that you like, material palettes and outfits. Note that what you see above is a collection of a few different schemes. See how some of them work well together? You can introduce this variation from one room to another. All images above are sourced from Pinterest.

6. Start with One Room

If you are feeling nervous about redoing your entire place, start with one room and try yourself out. Remember that bathrooms and kitchens are more time-consuming than any other rooms because of the fixtures, equipment, tile and cabinetry.

7. Tie it Together with a Rug

The Dude is right, a rug does tie a room together (design wisdom straight from The Big Lebowski). A very interesting observation is if you do not place a run in the center of the room, visually it still becomes the center, so don’t worry about being perfect.

8. When in Doubt

You will certainly doubt yourself a few times. This is normal. When you are not sure what to do, look at examples. Look back to your inspiration images. Do a little more research, look around at beautiful work by others and you will find the answers.

9. Should I Hire a Designer?

If you have time and strong desire to do this yourself, you do not need a designer. If you want a special place and are ready to pay for it, but you do not have the time, hiring a designer will speed things up for you. That being said, remember that you will still need to make decisions. The designer will show you good options and your job is to choose.

Dedicated to my friends Elena and Tom.