decorate a room

Meaning

This phrase refers to adding paint, wallpaper, furniture, art, or other decorative elements to a room to make it look more attractive. It can range from a complete renovation to simply hanging up posters or festive ornaments. It is a common neutral expression used when talking about home improvement or seasonal preparation.

Examples

• We plan to decorate the spare room and turn it into a nursery before the baby arrives.

  We plan to decorate the spare room and turn it into a nursery before the baby arrives.

• She loves to decorate her room with fairy lights and vintage movie posters.

  She loves to decorate her room with fairy lights and vintage movie posters.

• It doesn't cost a fortune to decorate a room if you shop at thrift stores.

  It doesn't cost a fortune to decorate a room if you shop at thrift stores.

• They spent the entire weekend trying to decorate the living room.

  They spent the entire weekend trying to decorate the living room.

• My sister helped me decorate my room when I moved into my new apartment.

  My sister helped me decorate my room when I moved into my new apartment.

Common Mistakes

• ✗ I am going to make my room beautiful.

  ✓ I am going to decorate my room.

  'Make my room beautiful' is grammatically correct but sounds childish and unnatural compared to the standard collocation 'decorate my room'.

• ✗ We decorated the room by blue paint.

  ✓ We decorated the room with blue paint.

  Use the preposition 'with' to indicate the materials or colors used to decorate a space.

Related Expressions

Practice

• We bought some new paintings and plants to help ___.

  💡 Make the indoor space look more attractive.

  Show answer

  decorate the room

• How long did it take you to ___ after you moved in?

  💡 Personalize your private living space with colors and furniture.

  Show answer

  decorate your room