Mad About The House – Interior Design  Inspiration

Our blog has been set up to give you the advice you need,  the confidence to undertake the transformation, and hopefully also make it an enjoyable process where you can step through the looking glass to an amazing end result ! 

Every Adventure Requires a First Step

Select one room in your home that is crying out for help ! Is it looking tired, cluttered, is your hallway just a corridor of doors, your spare room as chaotic as the Mad Hatters Tea Party ! With any interior design project it is best to start with a small project particularly if you have never done this type of thing before. It may be that you simply want to spruce up a spare bedroom, or you may feel its time to sort out a home office. Through our blogs we will discuss all sorts of rooms and how to design them best. We would be delighted if people would send their before and after images, or send us pictures of your room so that we can advise you email  info@inglishdesign.co.uk

Through the Looking Glass

Step back and look at the room in question objectively before diving in ! Its always good to have a clear canvas to start a project, so tidying the room of clutter is brilliant. A good clean down and clear out lets you see the space properly.  Establish the purpose of the room now and if this is to stay the same. When we visit clients homes as designers we always create a brief, and this is key. Ask yourself the following questions- or indeed discuss ideas with any other people planning to be using the room !!

1.  What will the function of this room be ?

2.  How can we make it much better ?

3.  What do we want it to look like in terms of style, modern, traditional, simple, or with a theme ?

4.  Do we have a budget for doing this room ?

How To Make Your Home Look Like You Hired An Interior Designer

1. Magazines And Design Websites Are Full Of Design Inspiration, or indeed our blog and our website !  www.inglishdesign.co.uk  Try to choose a look/ style, a key colour or element, this will provide the basis of your design concept. Sometimes one item can provide the foundation of a scheme.

2. Color Schemes: Try to use three Colors Or Shades. Too many variations create confusion.

3. Add Texture To Your Home, this can be done in many ways – via soft furnishings, and combining different finishes, for example natural timber against soft painted finishes, hard stone against feature rugs. Think about the hard and soft elements of each room, and use them together.

4. Plan your furniture wisely – fitted or freestanding, statement or functional. Clever space planning is key to every room. Measure your room and plan it.

5.  Carefully consider lighting. Look at the natural light in the room, choose more than one light source – feature lights are great but are often unsuitable for completing tasks.

6. Add the aesthetics for interest – “the fluffy bits” as I like to call them often tie a scheme together. Dress out the room, pick out the scheme colours for artwork, vases, candles or other objects.

7. Lights and decorative objects placed together  look better when arranged in odd numbers – 1/3/5 being the normal.

8. Mirrors can reflect light into rooms and are often better than artwork, especially in smaller rooms.

9. Windows and window dressing – do you need curtains or could you have shutters or blinds ? A small room will look bigger without curtains.

10. Radiators – ugly beasts in general, but rather useful ! Is the room warm enough now may be the time to put a larger radiator in. Or you may decide to hide it with a radiator cover ?

11. Flooring – practicality wins, but dont forget aesthetics and comfort ! And remember that your flooring is a large visual area of the scheme – so choose colour wisely.

12.  Take a break, stand back at each stage and make sure things are gong in the right direction. Take your time !

Be confident, choose your project  ! – Our next blog will be about space planning, colour and how to decorate your room. Choose your room, find your imagination and remember –

Every Adventure Requires a First Step