A key factor to successful interior design style is the reflection of the occupants personalities and life styles. Once this has been achieved people will be able to relax and enjoy their living spaces to the full. The budget should also be given very careful consideration; most of us would love to live in homes which are filled with bespoke furniture and fixings, in reality there are not many who can afford to do so! However, all is not lost–it is possible to recreate and emulate many interior styles on a more affordable budget. One of the key factors here is to plan each room carefully. Make a sample board in order for you to focus on styles, textures and colours which compliment or coordinate with each other. Sample boards are easy to put together: Make a different board for each room. Browse through interior design articles and cut out pictures of all the things which appeal-irrespective of the cost. Request fabric samples from retailers and add these to your collection of images. Ask for flooring samples; either for blinds or carpets. Gather paint colour charts and select two or three base colour cards. The type which has a main colour in a variety of different tones are best. Once you have a collection of samples and images concentrate on separating them into the different rooms of your home. Many people prefer to only select pictures and samples for one room at a time; I find this difficult, because it’s almost guaranteed that if I’m looking for bedroom images I will come across ‘just the thing’ I was looking for to suit the lounge or dining room! I choose to randomly cut pictures and gather samples as and when I see them otherwise I can rarely find them again. Lay the images and samples out on a board, a stiff piece of card will do-make sure it’s a neutral colour background so as not to detract from the colours of the samples and images. Try and keep things in order, for example place the flooring samples at the bottom of the board, lighting and lampshades at the top. Once you have a rough plan laid out walk away-make coffee or leave the room for a while. When you return to the board you will probably find you re-shuffle things about, remove or add pictures or samples. This is all part of the fun with sample boards, experimentation, changing, being inspired before you spend any money! Once you are happy with the colours, textures and overall layout take a long hard look at each of the items; if your budget does not allow for all brand new or bespoke items remain positive and set out to track down and locate similar pieces which are available from the high street retailers or gone online-there are some great bargains to be found by shopping online. In fact many things you find online are not available in the high street, making your choice more unique! Online retailers have some great deals on their range of fabrics, curtains and bedding. Be inspired by patterns such as ‘Rene Mackintosh’ designs. Use colours which tone well on the walls and select a couple of accent colours from the fabric to use for accessories such as rugs and throws, in this example the russet colour would look great as an accent colour.
Posts Tagged ‘Space’
Enjoy Your Living Space to the Full
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Awaken Your Mind and Your Living Space
Awaken your mind and your living space with intensive spring cleaning! It’s that time of year again when the dull overcast days, drizzle, fog and persistent rain can make you feel lethargic and fed up. Brighten your life and your home by spring cleaning! It will work wonders for your morale, your living space will be refreshed-all-in-all spring clean is a great way to banish the winter blues! Take a positive approach and work in a methodical manner, otherwise you’ll become overwhelmed and simply give up. Chose the lounge to begin with as this is the place you will be able to relax in at the end of the day and soak up the new ambience of the room. De-clutter the room before you start cleaning. Gather up all old newspapers, books, clothes, shoes-whatever it is on your surfaces, sofas and chairs. Toss all unwanted paper into the recycling, take clothes and shoes and deposit them in their owners rooms! Once you have cleared away start cleaning! It’s always best to start from the top and work down. Remember this is not re-decorating this is spring cleaning! Use a soft broom or one of those feather type dusters on a stick to sweep down cob webs from the ceiling and corners. Don’t forget to clean or dust light shades-spiders love making webs around these! If you have washable shades take them down and spruce them up with warm soapy water. If your lighting is old and dated, damaged or a colour which no longer blends with your colour scheme make a mental or better still a written note to search out something more appropriate. Lighting and choice of light shade can make or break a room’s interior design style. There are some fantastic lights available which will brighten a room in more ways than one! Work your way systematically round the room cleaning, dusting and polishing anything that isn’t moving! Take the curtains or blinds down and wash them-if you can. Having superb window dressing is a key factor in creating a fantastic interior design. Maybe it’s time you replaced them? Like lighting there are some fabulous ready made curtains in a wealth of colours, plains and patterns to choose from. New design colours in blinds can be a very affordable way to inject colour into a room. Natural wood blinds are ideal as they blend effortlessly with any colour combinations and design styles. Before you get side tracked looking for new window dressings clean the windows inside and out-you will amazed the difference this will make. Hover the carpet, shake out rugs, plump up the cushions, these little things will make a real difference. Place only your very favourite items for display. Shelves and mantle pieces bombarded with a disorganised mass of trinkets not only looks a shambles they attract dust, making cleaning chores even harder. Any interior design magazine or TV programme has only a few strategically placed items which add interest and focal points, you will rarely see a cluttered mess of mismatched items! The only exception to this maybe a ’shabby chic’ interior design style, but even this should have themed objects not mess. It may be hard but once you have the de-clutter bug you will be able to zip round the other rooms and de-clutter and spring clean in no time at all!
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