Six steps to creating your perfect
interior style
The way you
style your home is personal to you and needs to work with the way you choose to
live your life and those who share it with you. Not all of us feel confident
when choosing how to style our homes, so for those of you who would like a
little guidance here‘s a plan to help you on your way.
1. Create your Style File
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Get inspired by all the things around you, inspiration is everywhere you
look; magazines, art, fashion, nature … rip out the page, take a photo or get a
sample of it and
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Keep it all together, file it in a lever arch, pin it to an online album (I
recommend www.pinterest.com although be warned, once you start pinning you’ll find it
hard to stop!) or box it. File it however suits you best and once you’ve
collected a good selection of things that inspire you
·
*
Create your style by going through and categorising it. It’s likely that
common themes will run throughout. Break it down and find out what colours and
styles you are naturally drawn to.
Admittedly if
you take this approach, it’s won’t happen overnight but believe me it’s worth
the effort. Why? Because you’ll always have your Style File to refer to and
when you start making big decisions i.e. which sofa to buy, if you can’t trust
your instincts, this Style File will be your guide.
2. Assess your belongings
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*
Go around your house and evaluate everything you own; furniture, lights,
accessories, frames, cushions, absolutely everything.
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Think about each item and decide whether to keep or get rid of it. Consider
whether repainting or reupholstering it would give it a new lease of life. Be
ruthless and sort out what you love or loathe.
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Now measure the big items and cut out roughly to-scale outlines of them.
3. Work out a floor plan
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The simplest and most effective restyles are often the ones that use
furniture and furnishings from other rooms within a house. A clunky looking
table in one room might be the perfect missing piece in another.
*
Draw a simple outline of the rooms you plan to restyle and move your
cut-outs around it until you find a layout that you like. When doing so
consider any features you’d like to accentuate, areas to conceal, views and
remember furniture in 2D looks smaller than in 3D. No one layout
is perfect, make compromises and you’ll find the one that works best for
you.
4. Give yourself a budget
·
Everything considered you may think you need to spend lots
of money to achieve your new look. This is why it’s important to be realistic
about the cost of furniture and furnishings and what you are trying to achieve.
* Do you want to buy
everything in one go to get it all done?
* Would you rather
take time to collect pieces over time?
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Write a wish-list of all the stuff you would like and
allocate a budget (with contingency!) and then
5. Look, research &
discover
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Get out and about; go into the shops you love and ones
you’ve never entered before.
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Look at books and magazines, get on the internet and check
out retailer websites to see what is available within your budget* There are countless blogs online that you can also read that are packed with information
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Ask your friends and family where they shop.
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Immerse yourself fully and then add all of your swatches,
samples and cut-outs to your Style File.
6. Get creative
& make a mood board
This has to be one of the most fun parts of the process. It’s time to get
out the scissors and glue (release your inner child!) and for each room you
want to restyle, make a mood board with the contents of your Style File.
·
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Refer back to what you did earlier and create your board
based on the furniture and accessories you already have and what you need to
buy.
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You know your style, you know your budget and you know your
floor plan. This step brings everything together on one (big) board so you can
see how your look comes together. How exciting!
One last point, before you get your wallet out and hit the shops, it will
save you time and stop you from feeling overwhelmed by the task in hand, if you
write down a list of what you need to do, what you need to buy and in what
order. This way you can tick off each job as it’s done and when the room is
complete you can sit back, relax and feel proud of how you achieved your own
interior style.
Have fun and if you’d like
any advice or have any questions, please get in touch, I’d love to hear from
you x
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