Once you have decided on your personal style of clothes, shopping becomes so much easier, you know exactly what suits you, regardless of to-days fashion. It is the same with your home. In this chapter you will learn which style you feel most comfortable with, so buying for your home becomes so much easier.
We have all bought clothes that ended up sitting I the wardrobe, rarely worn. There was nothing wrong with them, they just were not us. By going to a clothes/colour//style consultant we learn what suits us, and expensive mistakes are a thing of the past. It’s exactly the same with our home.
Using an interior designer
Some interior decorators are known for a certain style, and you choose them, because that is the look that appeals to you. Most good interior designers will help you find your style, a few will impose their style on your home. It might look great, but you may feel uneasy, it’s ‘just not you’. And in a short time you will want to make changes, and it will all have been a costly mistake.
If you want to use a designer, ask to see their portfolio or website. Is there a wide variety, or just one look? Ask for their qualifications. In many counteries any one can call themselves a designer. Some people do have a natural flare, and you can trust their judgement. But I would rather have a professional who had done at least a two year full time course as I did. A course where you learn how fabrics shrink or bleach, how well a carpet will wear, which paint to use in a damp bathroom, how to make a piece of thrown away junk furniture look like a work of art [for next to nothing!] What is the correct way to decorate for the period of your home? They should also be able to get the best deals in town on your paint, wallpapers, carpet and furniture.
The knowledge in this book will help you decide-
a if you really need a designer,
b which designers really know what they’re talking about, ask them what the triadic colours for blue are [red or yellow]
A good designer will be sympathetic to your needs, give you great ideas, work within your budget, and actually save you money.
They should show you photos of rooms and ask you lots of questions about your preferences. You should also have a budget in mind. You don’t have to do the whole house, or even the whole room, at once. Get the style and colours sorted first, then you can start buying items as you find them, and know that they will fit in. Many of my clients stay with me for years, doing a room at a time as they can afford it.
Why does style matter?
Style matters because it is a reflection of your personality, ideas and taste, you would not feel ‘at home’ living in a house that was not your style. Its is also important because a room needs flow and harmony. Just as you would not mix a power suit with a peasant shawl and hiking shoes, you would not mix a rough hewn country dining table with a black leather settee and Rococo chairs!
Some unusual pieces work well together, and give depth and character to a room, too many create an irritating mess.
As with clothes, shopping becomes much easier. Certain stores cater for your particular style so you don’t have to visit so many shops.
You know that your pieces will all work together, you only have to decide on the colour
Part of the reason that Habitat and Ikea were so successful when they opened was that they gave customers a style that was instantly identifiable and easy to buy for. Just about everything in the store harmonised, the settee, dining table, cutlery, vases, and lights. Shopping became fun, because it was easy. Most of the lines were also classics, they still look good today.
With clothes you also have classics in your wardrobe, jackets that you paid a little more than usual for, but will last you for years. They can be up-dated by the judicious use of accessories, a silk scarf in this seasons colours, the right belt.
In your home you need to buy a well made and comfortable settee that will last you for years. You can update it with cushions in this season’s fabrics and colours.
Having a definite style also makes you easier to buy presents for, as your friends will be more aware which vase will complement your home.
How do I start?
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Start collecting photos from magazines to help you find the styles that you are drawn to. Try to narrow it down to one, or two at the very most. Also look at the style of clothes that you wear.
Decide what the common elements are, and work with those.
You need to find the style that you and your family feel at home with. This makes furnishing and decorating your home much easier, and you won’t waste money on things that don’t look right because they don’t blend with your existing possessions.
I think that what the clothes you wear, and how you decorate your home are strongly linked. Someone who wears peasant’s dresses, frills and shawls is unlikely to feel comfortable in a modern minimalist loft. Equally an old cottage with herbs hanging from exposed beams wouldn’t appeal to a woman in a sleek business suit and severe man’s shirt.
Look at the list below and decide which of the groups appeal to you. You can settle for one or two groups, but any more and the style becomes to diluted or confused.
All style comes down to combinations of influences. These can broadly be described as-
Era
Class
Country
Location
Age and style of the property
The occupant’s personal tastes.
Budget
Combinations of the above.
ERA
TRADITIONAL
This is typified by historical influenes and eras of design, for example-Bauhaus, Rococo, Arts and Crafts,Victorian, Edwardian,Gothic. The list is endless, Some of this ‘old’ furniture still looks modern in today’s rooms [e.g. Bauhaus] Traditional furniture uses natural materials-wood, cane, rush, and leather.
Traditional is also the timeless quality of an English country house with chintz curtains and leather settees. Some people find its mixture of patterns and textiles too busy.
Clothes-
Clothing-simple cut, tailored jacket.
Flat fabrics with little texture.
Classic jacket, navy blazer,
Knee-length a-line skirt
Twin-set , Guernsey wool jumper.
Lambs wool, cotton, linen
Pearl necklace
Barbour rain-coat and green gum-boots
Home
Good quality, timeless furniture, made to last.
Wood, marble, leather
Subdued lighting, chandelier, central pendant, table lamps
Old master oil paintings in the style of Rembrandt
Floral, checks, stripes material
Traditional flower arrangements [roses]
Velvet, wool, cotton, chintz
Floor-carpet [possibly patterned] wood
Oriental rugs
Symmetry
Comfy
Curves
Garden
Box and yew hedges, roses, Stone statue of lady in flowing dress. Pond with fountain
Herbs
Stone arches, balustrades and urns make this English garden very special.
CONTEMPERARY
This means what is current today. Some will become famous and given a name, the rest will be forgotten. Contemporary can have off-beat shapes and designs as newer materials can be used in different ways. Metal, vinyl, chrome, stainless steel and plastic are all popular.
A modern house using glass, concrete and metal with strong bold lines and no fussy details.
Minimalism, is a popular style which is the epitome of contemporary it has been ‘the’ fashion at least three times in the last thirty years. It is ‘The art of living with the least’, or ‘when is the rest of the furniture arriving?’!!!! All the clutter is hidden away, and just a few choice items are displayed. This gives them more impact. It also makes cleaning easier as you are not wasting time moving and dusting objects.
Minimalism combines well with many other styles to give your home a unique look.
Done well the room should have clean lines and look streamlined. Done badly it looks cold, stark and bare.
A more extreme form of minimalism is the industrial look with bare concrete, bricks, metal and rubber or vinyl floors.
Clothes
A lot of black and neutrals
Sleek and uncluttered lines without fussy details
Power suits, straight skirt above the knee.
Tailored dresses
Leather, wool, cotton.
Plain fabrics, or geometric stripes or checks [not floral]
Hair-Sleek short bob
Home
No clutter, everything is out of sight behind cupboard doors
Few colours
Clean lines
May have an industrial feel.
Windows-blinds or unfussy curtains on metal poles or wires
Plain, striped,or check fabrics
Leather, cotton, wool
Floor-cement, vinyl, wood, carpet, studded rubber.
Rugs [flokati or abstract pattern]
Mirrors and pictures in metal frames
Metal
Lots of storage to keep everything out of sight.
Striking lighting
Modern art and abstract paintings.
Modern flower arrangement.
Asymertery
The clean lines, monochromatic colours and asymmetric furniture placement make this room modern minimalist.
Garden
River stones, concrete, lawn. architectural plants, flaxes, yuccas. Grasses. Large piece of modern sculpture in stone or metal
Although this is a small garden, it appears larger because there is little planting, with only a few species.
CLASS
RUSTIC
This can be rough plaster walls, tiles, or flagstone floors, rag or flokati rugs; few ornaments; shutters on the windows; distressed paintwork on the furniture; black wrought iron handles; and lamps. Furniture made from wood, rush and cane. Earthy colours that don’t show the dirt, so don’t need frequent cleaning.
MIDDLE CLASS
This is the most popular choice. Fitted carpets or polished wood floors, smooth plastered walls, painted or wallpapered; pendant and recessed lights furniture made from wood, stainless steel, chrome. Broad choice of colours, only yearly carpet cleaning require
RICH
Chandeliers,Marble floors, oriental rugs, gold plate and leaf; expensive materials[silk, damask] ; antiques;light colours that need cleaning or renewing often.
This beautiful English manor house is over five hundred years old.
COUNTRY
Each country has it’s own design influences. This is usually linked to the resources that are to be found locally. There is also the country simple peasant style, and more ornate and richer style within each country.
English with chintz curtains and leather settees.
You could opt for a country’s style.
e.g.African
Grass/bamboo on the walls
Masks and figurines
Ochre and earthy colours
Animal print fabrics
Mosquito net over bed
Flower arangement-dried grasses
Animal skins on wall or floor
Scandinavia-
Scandinavian clean lines, use of light wood [usually pine] for floors, ceilings and furniture and distressed paintwork; rugs on the floors.
In Scandinavia pine trees abound, so it is no surprise to find wooden floors, ceilings and furniture in this Swedish home.
Asia-
Red and black lacquer finish on low-level furniture, oriental rugs, tatami mats, silk cushions and silk scrolls. Ikebana flower arrangements.
Greece-
White walls, wood furniture, wrought iron bed, white walls, flagstone floors, flokati rugs, Greek urns, columns and busts.
Mexican pueblo houses made from mud dried by the sun, colourful geometric rugs on the floors and walls, earthy colours.
LOCATION
The tropics, city, beach, mountain, and country homes have different characteristics and requirements. They cannot be transposed without thought. In very hot countries blues and greens make rooms feel cooler.
This house on a Hawaiian island is painted a cooling aqua. As it is raised off the ground, air is able to circulate around and under the house to help it stay cool. Large verandahs give a shady place to sit, and stops the sun shining into the windows.
Country
This stems from the home in the country that some of us remember from our childhood. Where there was always a smell of fresh bread baking, and large dogs lounging. They vary from country to country, but they are always warm and comfortable, and less formal than the other styles. Laura Ashley and Sanderson immediately comes to mind, chintz and cotton floral prints. There is often old, slightly worn, items, but they add to the timeless feel.
It would be a sacrilege to rip out the old beams and destroy the character of this charming English cottage
Country living implies a lot of time spent outdoors, going for walks in muddy fields, riding horses or bikes. This requires a different style of dressing, and a home that takes kindly to muddy feet.
- Clothes
Mid-calf gathered skirts, peasant dresses. Worn with a shawl or scarf.
Guernsey wool jumpers, jeans.
Barbour rain-coat and green gum-boots
Long hair, often worn with a scarf.
Home
Colours-floral and/or earthy terra cottas, cream
Patterns-small floral [like Laura Ashley], small checks
Wood furniture, fourposter, brass or iron bed.
Soft furnishings are cotton, linen, and wool.
Settees are deep and comfortable that you sink into, They are covered in leather, calico, wool or chintz They often have throws over the settees, [ because of the dogs!]
Swags and tails, Austrian and festoon blinds.
Floor-polished natural wood, cork, rush matting stone floors or terracotta tiles.
Huge, open fireplaces.
Exposed beams and thatch roofs.
Patch work bedspreads.
Rag rugs
Distressed, crackled , rag-rolled and sponged paint finishes.
Floral stencils.
Dado rails or borders.
Flowers-bunches of flowers and herbs hanging down from kitchen beams
Floral and/or twig wreaths on walls
Grandfather clocks and dressers with crockery
Saucepans hanging on the kitchen walls
Furniture-wood covered in cotton or chintz. Rush/cane seating.
Wood doors on kitchen cupboards.
Curtains on wooden poles
Artwork-floral prints, paintings, embroidery, and rugs.
Flower arrangement-dried flowers and grasses
Garden
Old-fashioned cottage garden with roses, honey-suckle, lavender, daiseys, Stone pathways meandering around flower-beds. Pond with gold-fish.. Herb and vegetable garden, fruit trees …………………………………………..
The occupants
Age, sex and personality of the occupants will have an influence on their style.
For example, if you are young and Young and unconventional
Funky appeals to the young and or unconventional. It breaks all the rules,it is bright and daring.
Layers of clothes
Exterme skirt lengths,
Brightly coloured hair with streaks, beads,plaits and material.
Wild mixtures of pattern and texture.
Room
Bright, bold, even clashing colours., for clothes and rooms.
Weird curves and lines
Unusual window treatments [e.g beach mats]
Striking lighting
Modern art-Picasso
Weird flower arrangements [pipecleaners]
Floor-lino/vinyl
Vinyl or inflatable furniture
Bean bags……………
After I chose colours for an offbeat vegetarian restaurant did this window display. It was a white jacket with wire and vegetables, very eye-catching!
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| FEMINE
Clothes angora, silk, lace, cotton Fabrics-soft, flowing and lightweight
Colours-Soft pastels Patterns, floral, swirls Window-swags and tails austrian blinds Fabrics-soft and lightweight silk, lace, cotton Floors-wool carpet Rugs-flokati Lots of curves Throws and cushions Lighting-table lamps Table-draped cloths Floral paintings-Renoir Dainty furniture
Garden Daiseys, lavenders, in soft pastel pink mauve and blues |
Masculine
leather–denim dark bro wn, green maroon, grey
blinds roman, vertical and horozontal
Geometric, checks, tartan and lines
leather, denim, thick cotton, wool vinyl, industrial rubber straight lines few accessories spot and angle-poise smoked glass abstacts chunky furniture River stones and architectural plants |
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With it’s pink frills, lace and bows, this bedroom is far to feminine for most men to feel comfortable in.
By using Roman blinds, brown fabric and paper, this spare room cum study has a masculine feel.
Dramatic and extrovert occupants.
A dramatic will use colour, pattern and texture in exciting ways. They use fun combinations that are totally original. They are often creative, extrovert, and artistic people with a good eye for design and colour. They quite like being the center of attention. Others might find their creations a bit over the top and theatrical.
Clothes
Wide variety of textures, fabrics and patterns.
Any skirt length.
Thigh-high boots
Unusual accessories
Bold jewelry
Asymmetric hair, streaked shocking pink
Home
Bold colour combinations
Metallic,or sequinned materials
Geometric patterns
Silk saris swagged over bed, or mosquito nets
Animal prints
Boat instead of a settee
Interesting finds from junk shops, garage sales, and the beach
Strong,clashing or bold colour
Art- Modern abstracts or Klandinsky
Garden
Wind chimes, dramatic night lighting,
This blue is a very bold statement, and is off-set with the white of the settee, and enlivened with the orange dish and flower.
BUDGET
If you have the time, you don’t have the money. And if you have the money, you don’t have the time. It’s rare to get the balance right. Even if I was a millionaire, I would still like to go to auctions, because you never know what you are gong to find. It’s the same reason I like going to secondhand clothes shops, the fun of finding well made, unusual items at an inexpensive price.
Of course it’s easier if you can walk into a showroom and order the settee you want in the material that matches your new carpet. Six weeks later it arrives in your room. But it costs a fortune. For the price of that one settee, you could do the whole room [and possibly the whole house] in good-as new furniture, paint and maybe carpet. You can make changes more often without feeling guilty!
Being rich does not always equate with good taste, nor does it mean that you get a good designer and take their advice. A certain famous American millionaire had one of his rooms given the full treatment of gold leaf, red velvet, Louis Quinze furniture, and chandeliers. It was so over the top, it looked more like a brothel than a home.
A pot of paint is the same price, no matter what the colour is. Any one can make room look interesting.
For inexpensive and exciting ideas, read the section ‘Making the money go further’
Eclectic
The Eclectic loo
k is a mixture of styles, countries and eras. A Roman bust on a Rococo table, family heirlooms with Habitat furniture. Of course they don’t have to be authentic, expensive antiques, cheaper reproductions work just as well. There needs to be a consistency of backgound, i.e. carpet and wall colours, to make the room flow and to unite the different elements. By keeping it simple, it canall work together. Mix it up to much and it becomes confusing and untidy. The decorator, Mary Gilliat told me that by adding a bit of history to a room, you give it depth, and I think that she is right.
This is often a good way to marry and old period house with your modern furniture, or vice versa.
Clothes
A total mixture of styles, that vary from one day to the next
Antique dress
Grandmothers shawl
60s miniskirt
Home
15th century oak chest hiding the stereo system [I know someone who actually did this]
Old family heirlooms
Russian samovar next to a Victorian bust
.This bedroom is in a modern minalmist home. It has an antique sleigh bed, an old Victorian print on the wall and an antique gilt mirror. The floors are polished wood, and the same colour as the bed and the picture frame. The print is yellow with age, almost the same colour as the bedspread, which tea same yellow as the gilt on the mirror. So although there is over 100 years difference in the furnishings, the overall impression is white, yellow and wood, all working in harmony. Simple, yet brilliant.
Although this is a bit of a generalization, I hope that you can see the permutations.
One style will probably appeal more than the others. Two can be combined successfully.
Contempary and country
This modern home has been given and oriental flavour from the pattern in the fabric and the Chinese silk painting.
Minimalist + Ethnic an old African mask gives the modern look more depth.
Minimalist + Country is difficult as country tends to be to fussy
Minimalist + Feminine could work with care as minimalist tends to lean towards the masculine, so this a bit of an oxymoron. Floaty voile curtains, and a silk bedspread would look good.
Minimalist + Classical –marble floors and chandeliers with a modern settee would look very striking.
Minimalist + dramatic-can work very well. Metallic materials and paints are common to both groups.
The key to all these combinations is to be restrained- always remember, less is more.
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Or choose an era.
This is especially important if you have a period house. Although you can but modern interiors into old houses, it is easier when the periods match. You don’t have to have every single piece of Victorian style furniture in a house of that era, just a couple of pieces would be enough to create the link with the past.
Country with traditional Greek
Or combine two or three
i.e. traditional European with ancient Chinese.
There are so many different countries and eras that you need to go to a library and do the research, but that is only the fine –tuning. The most important part is that you know which of these basics styles is the true you.
These are only guidelines, and you must choose what feel right for you.
What if you and your partner do not like the same style?
Surprisingly, this is not often a serious problem. People are often attracted to each other because of similar styles, the way they dress, the people they mix with,things they have in common. Often a compromise can be reached, by merging both [see above] Or one partner may not feel as strongly as the other, and is happy to go along with their ideas.
When two people start living together, and each brings their own furniture and family heirlooms, the same compromises need to be made. Or could both people switch to a third style, and bring in elements of their choice, this gives an eclectic look which can work well if it is kept simple.