5 Golden Rules for Interior Decorating
By Cris Bucknall1. Colour - Select your colours IN the space where you intend to use them. You will be amazed (and potentially heartbroken) at how colours can change from how they appear in the store versus in your space. They are affected by many factors including the windows which may cast cool or warm light, artificial lighting, and reflected colours form things like trees, carpet and walls. This applies to paint colours (please buy test pots first), fabrics (ask for samples), and furnishings. If you want to avid colour trends that will date, take your inspiration from a piece of art, pictures of nature or even cooking magazines.
2. Scale - Pick the right scale of furniture for the room. A gorgeous sofa that is too big can make a good room go bad! You need to pick each item to fit appropriately into the space and to sit nicely alongside the other items in the room. There is nothing worse than a demure little coffee table sitting next to two big chunky side table. We suggest getting making tape and laying it out on the floor where furniture is to go, measuring it and THEN going shopping armed with your figures.
3. Balance - Be clear about where you are creating symmetry and asymmetry...most rooms have a bit of both. Each item or colour needs a counterbalance. For example you may have two sofas facing each other (symmetry), or a sofa facing two chairs (semi-symmetry) or a sofa with two chairs to one side and an ottoman on the other (asymmetry. This sense of balance s especially important with colours. Let's say you have a red accent cushion - add a red vase on the coffee table, select art with touches of red and voila! Using multiples of three or five is always a good balance for interiors.
4. Texture - you don't have to rely on colour or pattern to create the wow factor. An interesting play of different textures can be just as stylish. Try pairing matte with shiny, smooth with rustic, and hard with soft. For example, you might have a linen sofa with silk scatter cushion sitting on a nubby sisal rug topped by a glass coffee table. They could all be in neutrals and it would still look divine. This technique is great for creating timeless appeal that wont date quickly.
5. Does it match? Please don't be too matchy matchy...nothing looks more amateur and less chic. This applies to materials, colours and styles of furnishings. Don't buy armchairs in a set with your sofa or side tables that match the coffee table. We even prefer the dining chairs to be in contrast to the table such as having stainless legs with a timber table. Furnishings should all be members of the same "family" (think cousins) but have subtle differences. For example the timber pieces in a room might all be medium to dark and range from matte to rustic. You would not however have dark and glossy ebony matched with white washed shabby chic. Eclectic mixes are in so go for what you love and tell the matching police to go away!
Written by professional interior designer Cris Bucknall of MEI http://www.manniganedwards.com.au who also runs an online furniture store selling eco friendly homewares http://www.ecochic.com.au
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