Ask Alex Styling 101

Good interior design is equal parts passion and knowledge. Alex shares her top tips on how to create great rooms

Hi Alex

I love interior design, and recently my partner and I bought our very first home. This is really exciting as we can now start applying what we have seen to our house. Could you possibly outline the common pitfalls of home decorating? I’m sure you have seen many mistakes first hand! We just want to go into this armed with some good advice.

Alex and Nik, Auckland Hey Alex and Nik

There’s nothing more exciting than getting your own space to design and plan for. Design is about what feels good for the person who lives in the space but, in saying that, there are a few things to remember.

> Budget This is numero uno. Having a set budget to work within is the most important first step and it’s always the first thing I ask my clients about. It is easier to work within a budget, especially when choosing products – for example, a sofa can cost anywhere between $1000 and $10,000.

> Planning Setting a budget goes hand in hand with good planning. Failing to plan each room can lead to inefficiencies with your design process. For example, it’s screamingly obvious who has planned and who hasn’t on The Block NZ!

> Cohesion Once you have a bunch of ideas, make sure you break them down and work on identifying a cohesive design thread. Using a visual platform such as PowerPoint can be a great way to create a digital moodboard of all your ideas. Consolidating them will help to clarify your vision.

> Scale and proportion Many design mistakes come down to inconsistent use of scale and proportion. The brain is hardwired to want order (in some form) and when these ratios are off, it can all feel very unbalanced. > Communication Once you start to involve tradespeople and contractors, you really need to be able to convey ideas and make sure they are understood. So many good ideas get lost in translation or aren’t recalled or remembered by the right people. Write a ‘scope of work’ which itemises what needs to happen in each room so that all the specifications are there in black and white and nothing is left to chance.

Dear Alex

I’m really interested in styling and I know there is a science to it. Can you offer some advice and rules around styling? I see beautiful images everywhere and I know a lot of it is based on gut instinct, but are there some tips that I can use for my own home?

Karen, Wadestown, Wellington

Hi Karen

I think styling comes down to equal parts instinct and knowledge. Quite often I listen to that instinct when I’m trying to work out why something works and something else doesn’t. Along the way, I’ve discovered one fail-safe rule for styling: the rule of three.

Three is the lowest number that can form a pattern. There’s evidence that people are better able to consume information when ideas are grouped in threes. Phrases such as ‘ready, steady, go’ or ‘body, mind and spirit’ are commonly used. In literature there are the three little pigs and the three musketeers. Photographers use the ‘rule of thirds’ to compose their shots. It’s no accident that we’re drawn to the number three so it makes sense to use it when styling our homes, too.

Now that you know my secret styling tip, you will start noticing threes everywhere and can try it out for yourself!