Creating a personal home is rarely about how much money you spend. Noticing the small things that make your home look cheap is often the easiest way to transform your space without a costly renovation.
The most meticulously styled rooms will fall flat with quick fixes, crude lighting, or overly matched colour schemes. Avoiding these interior design mistakes will get you to an intentionally designed, deep and layered space in no time.
A rug that’s the right size for your space is essential. Without a generous surface, your furniture will appear disconnected and isolated.
Related: Spicy tacos to fire up your summer
Zara Bolingbroke-Kent, rug expert and founder of Bombay Sprout, says, ‘A generous, well-proportioned rug instantly helps to anchor a room and makes everything feel more considered and cohesive.’
Select the biggest rug possible that fits the confines of the room to cluster your furniture together. If two sizes seem like likely candidates, always choose the larger one.
We all love to purchase pretty sculptural candles, but it’s kind of counterproductive to leave them on display and dust-covered until they acquire a layer of grey, dusty coating. When your room contains things that feel untouchable, it’s going to feel a bit neglected and immobile.
Homes are meant to be lived-in and comforting, not like a museum display. Light those candles. A melted candle flickering away adds a quick layer of atmosphere, comfort, and everyday luxury to mantels and coffee tables.
Related: Mattresses may exacerbate hot flushes in women
Stuffing a room entirely full with the same shade of grey-walls, carpet, sofa, drapes, and cushions is not the way to go. If the walls, carpet, sofa, drapes, and cushions are all exactly the same shade of slate or charcoal, a room will become dull and tired very quickly.
Bring in warmth, texture and contrast. If neutrals feel like a natural direction for you, intersperse grey walls with warm woods, natural linen, and brass fittings to introduce a bit of natural warmth.
Using plaster pink as a neutral colour is also a great modern way of transforming interiors while still keeping things calm. When shopping for furniture, a coffee table can often end up being viewed primarily as a functional object – somewhere to rest a coffee mug or dump the remote control.