INTERIORS
Giving a room a style revamp is one of life’s joys – but it can also be a daunting task if you’re not sure where to start, or lack confidence in your colour choices, for instance.
To make things even easier – to mark their 10th anniversary, leading homewares haven, Homesense (homesense.com), have invited a host of industry experts to share some of their personal top tips for curating fabulous settings.
Curious? Here, six interior style pros reveal simple tricks and secrets, along with some examples of how they’ve style up items from Homesense’s eclectic – and largely budget-friendly – range for inspiration... the blue books together, or all the green books etc, you will make your shelves look more uniform and it will create a real visual impact.” Simplicity is key: “I love colour but one of my best-kept photography secrets is to go back to basics. Make sure you leave empty space when putting a room or area of your home together. It will naturally create a focus, a balanced setting and gives an opportunity to let the product speak for itself.” Do neutral with a twist: “Sage is becoming the new neutral, which works perfectly in a bedroom. Curate your space using a muted colour palette; use velvet for a statement soft furnishing in trending emerald green or ochre,” suggests Cassandra Lisa Marie Doyle, whose work includes creating trend-led set design and sourcing props for photography and TV advertising. Picture play: “If you want to create an arrangement of different picture frames on the wall, cut sheets of paper the size of the picture frames and stick those out on the wall first with Blu-Tack. This will allow you to test and try different heights. It will also allow you to step back and decide if it’s correct before drilling into the wall. Make sure the paper is a different enough colour to the wall – for example, brown paper on light walls, white paper on dark walls.” No fail colour scheming: “If you’re
em a you ove or e room – for example, a patterned cushion or curtain for the living room, or duvet cover for the bedroom, then use these as the template for the room scheme,” says Diana Civil, whose career includes stints as art director on magazines including Good Homes, Ideal Home and House Beautiful. Seasonal switch: “Getting bored with your living or bedroom? Change your cushions and rug seasonally. Update your rooms with pretty summery cushions in linens and cottons for your summer look, and replace them in the colder months with velvets, weaves and woollen cushions. Don’t stress about where to store the extra set, use the same cushion inners, ideally feather-filled pads, for both summer and winter sets, this way you only end up having to store the cushion covers, nicely folded up with the rest of your linen.