If working from scratch, this is often a daunting task, deciding on the colour scheme then which soft furnishings, furniture, flooring and lighting. It is so easy to get it wrong by misjudging colour or size of furniture.
The first consideration is what ‘look’ is to be achieved especially if there is usually some furniture which needs to be retained. Ideally each room needs to flow from one to another within the home with the same basic scheme but perhaps with accents of the chosen colour. If the windows for instance have got Art Deco patterned glass, the scheme can echo the colours within the panes of glass. No point in fighting it, use it as inspiration and it will work out much less expensive than ripping everything out.
The second consideration is which way the room is facing. It is not a good idea to decorate a room facing north in cold colours, this will give the room a very cold dark feel and be most uninviting. Likewise if the room is south facing, warm colours of yellows, orange or red would give the illusion of being uncomfortably hot. Also, if the room is small it will become even smaller if large patterned wallpaper is put on a wall.
So where to start. Buy some A4 card in a ‘snow white’ this is a good shade which does not clash with anything. This is what you will build your scheme on and can be carried around shops. It does tend to be much easier to have a neutral base and then build on that. Some department stores give out free carpet samples and they can also send off for soft furnishing samples. DIY stores have tester pots of paint and also samples of wallpaper. It is so important collect these together and then they can be mixed matched in your own light at home on this piece of card.
It is also very important to be aware that the size of furniture can look a lot smaller in the showroom. Obtain the measurements and see how they look, rooms can be overwhelmed when the furniture is too large. I have some friends who bought a three seater settee and two armchairs and ended up sawing out the central ‘seat’ in the middle of the settee to make it look smaller because the room was full of seating with no room to move. They also made the mistake of buying it in yellow leather, having not obtained a sample, which looked unbelievably ‘yellow’ in the room. By that time the mistake had unfortunately been made, no turning back. In this instance, employing an interior designer who would suggest alternatives and have saved them thousands of pounds would have been well worth the investment.
Once the wall colour has been decided upon, paint a square of card in the chosen paint colour then stick it on the A4 card, then this can form part of the scheme. Soft furnishing samples can then be matched up. Play around with different patterns and colours, this can be fun, don’t be afraid.
By having this approach, it will save money in the long run, by avoiding unnecessary mistakes.
The first consideration is what ‘look’ is to be achieved especially if there is usually some furniture which needs to be retained. Ideally each room needs to flow from one to another within the home with the same basic scheme but perhaps with accents of the chosen colour. If the windows for instance have got Art Deco patterned glass, the scheme can echo the colours within the panes of glass. No point in fighting it, use it as inspiration and it will work out much less expensive than ripping everything out.
The second consideration is which way the room is facing. It is not a good idea to decorate a room facing north in cold colours, this will give the room a very cold dark feel and be most uninviting. Likewise if the room is south facing, warm colours of yellows, orange or red would give the illusion of being uncomfortably hot. Also, if the room is small it will become even smaller if large patterned wallpaper is put on a wall.
So where to start. Buy some A4 card in a ‘snow white’ this is a good shade which does not clash with anything. This is what you will build your scheme on and can be carried around shops. It does tend to be much easier to have a neutral base and then build on that. Some department stores give out free carpet samples and they can also send off for soft furnishing samples. DIY stores have tester pots of paint and also samples of wallpaper. It is so important collect these together and then they can be mixed matched in your own light at home on this piece of card.
It is also very important to be aware that the size of furniture can look a lot smaller in the showroom. Obtain the measurements and see how they look, rooms can be overwhelmed when the furniture is too large. I have some friends who bought a three seater settee and two armchairs and ended up sawing out the central ‘seat’ in the middle of the settee to make it look smaller because the room was full of seating with no room to move. They also made the mistake of buying it in yellow leather, having not obtained a sample, which looked unbelievably ‘yellow’ in the room. By that time the mistake had unfortunately been made, no turning back. In this instance, employing an interior designer who would suggest alternatives and have saved them thousands of pounds would have been well worth the investment.
Once the wall colour has been decided upon, paint a square of card in the chosen paint colour then stick it on the A4 card, then this can form part of the scheme. Soft furnishing samples can then be matched up. Play around with different patterns and colours, this can be fun, don’t be afraid.
By having this approach, it will save money in the long run, by avoiding unnecessary mistakes.
Anne Stuart
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