Do you need to redecorate?
Getting a bit bored of your living room? Tired of the same old bedroom? Other half totally sick of having to redecorate? Welcome to my world! I like change, it gives me something else to look at and as a wannabe interior designer I enjoy change, but my husband is not quite so keen, especially when it involves him doing it! However, I’ve found that I can feed my decorating habit without going the full hog. By moving things around a bit, adding some new accessories and reorganising shelves I can make quick a big differences to how my room looks and feels.
The key to being able to reinvent your space is to ideally have a good solid (and fairly simple) backdrop to work with – i.e. your walls and flooring. I use wall colour to make the items in my room to stand out more or to create the illusion of space in smaller rooms; I tend not to use them as a focal point (i.e. with feature wall colour or wallpaper). In my lounge for example, I have dark walls, painted in Farrow&Ball Downpipe Estate Emulsion, which although a little pricey is well worth the investment. As a quality paint it goes on well and subtly changes in different lights. It also tolerates my fairly constant game of furniture chess quite well! We’re lucky enough to have quite a large lounge in our 60’s box and we find the dark colour removes the boundaries – you don’t focus on the walls, you focus on the furniture and accessories, which is how I create my changes. Light walls work in a similar way but are much less forgiving as you can imagine.
Choosing what to switch around is also important. Obviously changing sofas, cupboards etc is tricky and expensive. In our lounge we’ve got a plain grey sofa and a chesterfield chair at one end of the room, which makes things much easier to restyle. I can change the cushions and throws whenever I like, usually just switching them with others that I already have in the house. I recently added yellow to our lounge and I was able to quickly do that with accessories.
Flooring is obviously a pricey thing to change. We recently looked at some lovely flooring examples (check out our flooring inspiration post here) and some of them will create a feature on their own – such as the colourful tiles. Parquet wood and geometric tiles are far more flexible and amenable to change. In our lounge we’ve got pine floors topped with ’the’ La Redoute Berger Rug which is white/cream with black detailing, which has meant I’ve been able to introduce new colours more easily.
Styling is so important. Mixing up styles and themes in a room can has as big and impact as colour. Here are a few suggestions on quick changes to sooth your redecorating itch:
- Change your pictures and wall hangings. I hang all my pictures on picture rail hooks (hanging from my picture rail) which allows me to easily move things around without having to patch holes.
- Display items as well as pictures. Hang the throw or rug on the wall! Textiles on a wall add texture and create a boho vibe.
- Changing a light shade to one that creates patterns and texture on the walls, or introducing lamps to create lighter and darker areas in the room.
- Mix up your cushions. Add in some new ones or just move them around. Try different ‘stacks’ and maybe introduce a throw to the back of the sofa to give them a different back drop.
- Introduce a focal point. Perhaps a new coffee table or add something new to the mantle piece that cannot be missed! Changing how you view your room can have a big impact.
- Hang a mirror! Mirrors can throw light into dark rooms and when place opposite a window, bounce light into the room, creating interesting shadows and tones. We’re just putting a blog post together on this, so watch this space!
- Go green! Plants are fantastic inside. Not only do they clean the air but they metaphorically brighten up a room. Even dark rooms can accommodate plants (such as the really structural ‘Mother in Law’s Tongue – which I use a lot) and light rooms are perfect for them. You can also get indoor trees which add height and interest.
Have a go! Try it out at home tonight. Do some research on Pinterest and Instagram and then move stuff around, be brave, you can always move it back! Don’t forget to post your comments and feedback below. We’d love to see some photos on Instagram too!
Have fun!
