Designer Tips on a budget 2

 

So you are feeling a little underwhelmed by the feel of your room. You want a change but where to start? Hopefully you have had a chance to take stock of what is there and, out of that, what you want to keep. Now try and think of these items as a “lot”. They probably say a lot about you. Are they “vintage”, “modern”, “sleek-lined” or “sumptuous”? Are they colorful or muted? Are they all about busy chintz and flowers or are they chrome and leather?

If you have a “lot” of many different styles then just think “eclectic” and look for things that seem to compliment each other.

Now it begins…

Ideas to start with

1. A clean slate is best to start with. Take as much as you can out of the room you are thinking of doing up. Pictures off the walls and all of the small things like lamps and ornaments. Look where the light falls and take a good look at the walls (if they badly need painting look away immediately. In Europe where most walls have been plastered over time and again for centuries they are quite happy with lumps, bumps and discolorations. In Australia, if you rent, you are not allowed to paint anything or even put new picture hooks in the wall. What you see is what you get so you have to work with that. Trying to make little changes to a room badly in need of a change never works. You have to empty it out as much as possible.
2. If you haven’t space to move everything out then at least try to push it to one side of the room.
3. Give everything a good clean and dust. Everything looks better on a clean surface.
4. Now look at the furniture you either need or really want to keep.
5. Put the funiture you like the most back, and think of the different ways they could fit in the room. Could a favorite sofa be put in a better spot? Is there a pretty chair that might look better near a window? What will people see first when they walk into the room?
6. If you put the things you like in place first, then you may find you have to rethink other furniture. A TV stand may have to go if it is too big. Maybe a neater desk might be worth considering. Is the old coffee table well past its use by date? Is the sofa looking suicidal?
7. Obviously, if you were a person of means you would then go out and buy exactly what you wanted. “I will have that Boulle Escritoire and that Chippendale sofa table which will be ideal for my television.” but dream on most of us! we may just have to put some of the needed but unloved items back for the time being but at least we know that we are now “on the search”.
8. By no means put pictures back on the walls yet!

By now you have totally surrounded yourself with confusion. Books and gee-gaws will be covering your dinner table and possibly the floor, and you will probably be in despair. But at least the room is clean and the furniture is ready to use.

And here I leave you for the moment, amongst the piles of belongings to ponder the next major question. What should go back in?

Until next time my budding fashionistas.