Very flatteringly, I am often asked for advice – Maybe I am more qualified than I realise after all these years. So here goes…
My No1 tip and I truly believe this, is to decide on a style and stick to it.
Deborah Gordon, owner of the above living room is a master of this approach!
All too often I see homes where the owner has NOT committed… the result being a sort of terrible uncertainty… The furniture all ends up very bland with practical, beige surfaces fighting for attention.
So be bold and get thinking!
How do you decide? Honesty is important and a bit of research – Pinterest is great…create a board for every room in your house and pin away…you will be surprised by how consistent you are.
You will find lots of inspiration at decorating suppliers Kent Blaxill, their range is huge and good prices…
You could, of course, ‘decide to be eclectic’, (Doug’s favourite style actually) but do stick to it: the watchword is commitment, don’t be ‘eclectic by accident’!
Colour is a big challenge for most of us.
A good tip is to use one colour for absolutely everything in a room: walls, radiators, skirting boards, even the cornicing and ceilings…I would particularly advise this solution in a period property, where you have beautiful period features, such as the mouldings and picture rails to add character and depth. I gleaned this recently, writing about a home where the owner had been on an Abigail Ahern Masterclass. The owner, artist, Tessa MacGregor, said that she learnt so much in that one day, she feels as if she has a degree in Interior Design – Bring it on!
I have seen a large Victorian house painted entirely magnolia… It was lovely and I was totally fooled, I actually said to the owner “Gosh I do like all these subtle taupe-y shades.’ She laughed and said it was magnolia throughout: walls ceilings, skirtings and cornicing – ‘the light catches it and it looks different in every corner.’
If you are unconfident, a really fail safe solution is to just paint the whole house white, then enjoy adding accents of colour with artworks, cushions and blankets.
Thank you Kent Blaxill for asking me to write this post, I will stop there though, as I hope it was thought provoking, but it is such a huge subject, I would rather continue as an occasional series, I feel so passionate about it…
Great post Alison! Eclectic style is definitely the hardest to get right. Also mixing contemporary and period pieces needs a lot of control but is still my favourite.
You have to be quite disciplined to get it right don’t you Jo…not just throw in anything! x
Ali, the link to Abigail Ahern Masterclass doesn’t seem to work.
Have linked to her main site now Elaine, the class I linked to may have sold out…you need to go on and search her ‘Design School’….