Thoughts that count

When considering colour, try to stick to a palette of four or five hues in each room. You could reference any number of sources for inspiration, such as a favourite artwork, the scenery outside, other interiors you’ve admired or, given ambience is equal to aesthetics when creating a welcoming home, you might like to put pen to paper and journal what you’d like your spaces to feel like.

When selecting materials, Working with what Mother Nature has to offer will improve the health of your home and reduce your impact on the environment. Man-made has long been lauded as convenient and affordable, but the inconvenient truth is that many of the industrialised ingredients and processes involved come at a high cost to the planet. And that’s before you’ve even brought things home. Take synthetic textiles, for instance. Once in use and with regular washing, their plastic-based microfibres continue to poison us, our waterways and our food chain.

Four eco-friendly fabrics that are both beautiful and better for everyday use include linen, hemp, cotton and wool. Not all natural materials are equal, though, so do your research on their origins and the methods involved in their production. Commit to sourcing organic and ethically grown options, asking questions of the brands you’re keen to buy from. For lots of companies, sustainability is a journey, not a destination, and many are continually bettering their practices behind the scenes to ensure they tread more lightly on the Earth.

Responsibly buying only what you love and need and the best quality you can afford are just the first steps in the process of creating an enduring interior — central to it all is maintaining your finds. Turn the page for expert advice on how to do so.

OPPOSITE