Tips on creating the perfect scheme

Too often I am called by clients who have tried to decorate a room, or even the full house on their own, and realise after they bought some expensive pieces of furniture that the end result is not the expected one, and that it simply doesn’t work at all. Why did they fail? And how can we simply avoid making the same mistakes?

Well, the answer is in one word: planning.

And planning is what every interior designer do. It does take time and effort and can be a frustrating process if we are impatient. But planning ahead is what prevents costly mistakes. It is no good to go in shops and buy furniture or other items because we like them. Every item has to be taken in consideration to make sure that they will look at their best, fit the space perfectly and be part of a whole.

Let start planning:
1. Draw on graphic paper the room you want to decorate, take the dimensions and draw a plan to scale. The plan is there for you to organise the room so that you will get the best furniture layout.

2. Draw (to scale) on paper the different pieces of furniture you would like to add to the room, cut them and play with them by placing them on the plan until you are happy with the layout. Check that there is a good traffic flow as well.

3. Now you can write a list with the different items you would like to go in the room, and you can start shopping for them. It is a good idea to look for the different items and gather all the photos and check that they make a harmonious ensemble.

4. Get paint sample as well.

5. When upholstery is involved, get also all the samples and look at them along with the furniture, paint sample and all other pieces that will go into the room.

By looking at everything together you will get a feeling of what it will look like when installed in the room. You can check the colours, dimensions, textures… and verify that everything is matching in the new décor. At this stage you might discover that there is a piece of the puzzle that you like very much, but simply doesn’t fit, and it is then the right moment to either remove the piece or change all the other pieces if you really can’t do without it! By doing this, you will just have avoided making a very costly mistake.

Now you understand better why we, interior designer, spend all this time taking a measured survey, drawing plans to scale, creating a furniture layout, sourcing the different items, creating a sample board, and creating some visuals to transmit our ideas to our clients.

Emmanuelle Lemoine