Hints and Tips

Now that the Christmas glitter and baubles have been put away until next Christmas, your'e home may be looking a bit tired.  If your looking to refresh your space post Christmas, take a look at our interior design posts below for some tips and inspiration.

• Interior design bathroom series - shower solutions
• Interior design bathroom series
• Interior design advice for refreshing your space

Get into the mood!  Here are some tips from Room in a boxx to help you design a creative mood board.

Mood boards are an effective method of being able to visualise a design scheme without having to fully committ and spend money purchasing items, only to find that once they are in situ they no longer appeal to you.

Where do I start?

Use magazines for inspiration, tear out pictures of furniture, rooms, colours, patterns to create your mood board.  Images don’t need to be limited to those of interiors,you might want to use a colour of a flower or texture from of an image relating to nature etc .  Collect paint and fabric swatches.

Take a look at our interior design blogs below for further design ideas and inspiration. 

How can I arrange my board?

Lay your samples in the order of the room.

• Flooring/carpet at the bottom
• Soft furnishing samples in the middle of your mood board
• Curtains or other window treatments nearer the top of the board

This should help you to obtain a sense of what the room would look like when laid out this way.

What is the basic guide for sizes of samples for my board?

Size of samples should be based on the amount of space they use in reality i.e. large paint swatch with smaller fabric samples that represent cushion textures or colours.  This process should allow you to see how the colours and textures work together.

What next?

Once you’ve completed one board try doing this for each room in your home that you intend to re-design.

Remember the time spent planning in the early stages could save you time at a later stage and help you avoid costly mistakes.

General Hints & Tips

Here are just a few general hints & tips, which can be used whatever, the trend

Neutrals

Neutrals are one of the easiest groups of colours, or non-colours to work with. They are not featured on the colour wheel and include Black, Grey, White and occasionally Brown and Beige. As they are all compatible, they can be layered and mixed and matched. A neutral colour will never try to dominate over another.

Accent colours

An accent colour is a colour used in small quantities to lift or to add an extra dynamic to a colour scheme.

Accent colours should be in a complementary colour. They work best if they are a bright, vibrant colour.

The nature of an accent colours use is ideal if you are frightened of using strong colour – just add a splash of an accent colour with a cushion, a throw, candles etc.

Dos and don'ts to create the living space you have always wanted

Do

• Use magazines for inspiration. Tear out pictures of furniture items, rooms, colours and patterns and create your own mood board which you can use as a point of reference.
• Have furniture of different heights to add interest to a room making it appear more homely.
• Place lighting at different levels in the room, using a combination of uplighters, table lamps and standard lamps, which will help to add warmth and atmosphere to a room.
• Consider having curtains made to measure budget permitting, as this offers you the choice of selecting your own fabric and colours and the re-assurance that they will fit your windows perfectly.

Don't

• Keep lots of worn accessories, such as saggy cushions, damaged rugs and other items. Instead repair update with new coverings, fillings etc if possible. If this is not possible, it might be time to get rid and start again.
• Worry about what others will think this is your room so please yourself.
• Be afraid of colour or patterns. Experimenting can be fun and you can always change it back again.