Starting a new scheme

When you are decorating a room at home, pick your favourite colours and begin from there.

The starting point doesn't have to be from a paint card, it could be from 

- cushion

- blind 

- piece of amazing fabric

- vase

- art work

Kitchen makeover

I wanted to share this kitchen makeover with you.

I added pastel colour to a country kitchen using Annie Sloan paints and a new Ikea sofa cover.

Dior exhibition in Paris

I was fortunate enough to catch the Dior exhibition in Paris before it end at the

beginning of January.

The exhibition was full of amazing, beautiful dress, accessories and clothes.

The fabrics were just awesome!

So much detail in the embroidery.

The colours, fabrics and textures are so easy to transfer to your home.

For example an embroidered cushion and green throw would be perfect

accessories for Spring to update your home.

Autumn colour inspiration

I'm building up my inspiration board this week with Autumn in mind.

Golds, mustards, greens and grey all look great together.

I love different textures and have included silk and velvet fabrics.

William Morris has so many different prints but I love the colour

of this pattern Acanthus wallpaper.

How to use your decorating planner

My decorating planner is great for starting any project, a place to keep all samples and information together.

If you have purchased the Decorating Planner from my website, once printed out you can put the pages into either an A4 ring binder with plastic pockets or a document folder, using the pockets to store samples.

You can also print extra pages off if you need more for certain sections.

It can also be printed off every time you start a new project and will become your go to place to store ideas and inspiration for new projects.

London Design Week

I've had a fantastic time at the Design Centre, Chelsea Harbour for London Design week.

It was great to be somewhere so special with so much under one (3 domed) roof.

I loved the paint and fabric displays and spent several hours pouring over different fabrics and wallpapers choosing samples.

The 3 domes had a different feel but were so full of character.

Love this wall of trimmings.

Coolest cowboy I've ever seen demonstrating his mattress making skills.

There was so much inspiration here, loved my visit!

How to create a moodboard

Make sure that your choice of furniture, paints and fabrics work well together

Mood board

1. Gather your materials 

Gather together all your decorating ideas, any inspiring images, fabric swatches and wallpaper samples and create a storyboard on an A3-size piece of plain card or in a large, plain notebook. 

2. Choose your base colour

Whether it’s flooring or a wall colour, this represents the largest area of colour in your room, so it’s important to add a large sample of it to your moodboard. Adding carpet samples helps you think about texture, too.

3. Add an accent 

This is an important decision. Do you go for a dramatic contrast, or an accent just a few tones away from your base colour?

Use your moodboard to play around with options and layer up the board with swatches and scraps.

4. Create mood with accessories

These will really set the tone for your decorating scheme – go for accessories which share a vibrant accent colour (say, blue, as here) and stick to a single theme; maybe vintage, or country or eastern. Don’t get carried away and mix up different styles, or your scheme will end up looking messy rather than eclectic. 

MPU 01 Desktop

MPU 01 Mobile

Paint and wallpaper 

Group paint colours with wallpaper and flooring samples.

Fabric and furniture 

Pin fabric swatches nearby and paste on photos of any new furniture.

Curtains and accessories 

Include curtain fabric and pictures of new accessories cut from catalogues.

Adding the final stages to your moodboard 

Look at the moodboard with fresh eyes a few days later to be sure that you’ll be creating the look you want. If you’re happy, move a stage further and paint tester pots onto the walls.

Then move around the room and look at colours in different lights as paint colours appear to change in daylight and artificial light. If you’re happy with your choices at this point, then you’re ready to put your ideas into place.

Source: Ideal Home