Fabulous festive styling and decorating tips

With outside like a winter wonderland for most of us, we are naturally spending more time indoors!

Make the most of the white landscape outside and make your home all cosy, inviting, fabulous and festive with simple, natural styling and decorating tips that won't cost a fortune.

Tip 1: Start the festive mood as soon as you come in with holly wreaths for a bit of tradition hanging on your front door, add some apples (real ones will last surprisingly well or artificial ones if you prefer and tie on with wire)add lots of red berries - it will look so inviting and festive!

Tip 2: Select just 2 colours for your Christmas decorative scheme such as
cream & gold, white & silver, silver & teal blue, white and fuscia pink. It creates maximum impact and looks more stunning!

Tip 3: For any windowsill or as a table decoration - use a garden obelisk and wind battery-operated fairly lights around for the perfect mood enhancer!

Tip 4:Make festive favourites something special by displaying them in
big sweetie jars - eg, mandarin oranges, walnuts in their shells, home-made biscuits and whatever takes your fancy!

Tip 5:Drape your hallway with icicle-like fairy lights for the ultimate winter wonderland entrance. Hang some large pinecones and twig birch stars from picture rails or ceiling - looks simply amazing!

Tip 6:Wrapping presents - use simple plain wrapping paper but highlight with pretty tape by winding it round your parcels - a great way of smartening up inexpensive wrapping paper and looks so original too!
Wrapping bottles is difficult to just tear off a sprig of from your Christmas tree and wrap around the neck of the bottle and add 3 inexpensive baubles with a gift tag... just adds that personal touch!

Tip 7: Decorating the dinner table: Candles are a must - experiment with different shapes and sizes - but try to use all white candles (which are the cheapest) but in volume they look stunning! Add colour to the table with quirky tree decorations as place settings.... to make your guests smile!


Most of all - have fun: get the kids to help you, listen to some Christmas music, pour yourself a glass of lovely wine while creating your magical Christmas home which family and friends will love sharing with you.

Fame at last!

Eco friendly Interior Design

We are all becoming much more socially conscious of waste and the need to recycle and to use more eco friendly products.

Eco friendly products are now much more accessible and affordable and certainly in the world of Interior Design companies such as Farrow & Ball Paint manufacturers have recently changed all their paint products to Eco friendly.  See http://www.farrow&ball.com/ 

 “You can choose any colour as long as it is Green”  ... the slogan used by the traditional paint supplier, Farrow & Ball, in a recent promotional campaign.    They now only supply paints that are eco friendly with the latest EU environmental legislation regarding the VOC  (Volatile Organic Compounds) content of paints.  These water based finishes are all low in odour and classified as either low or minimal VOC.

What is eco friendly furniture?

Furniture made from highly sustainable materials such as bamboo, which is grown without pesticides and replenishes itself within only one growing season.  It is furniture which is made using EU “EO” standard for adhesives and is finished with low VOC paints and lacquers. 

Does being eco friendly mean forsaking style?  Not necessarily – look at one of my favourite furniture suppliers http://www.4living.co.uk/ who have collaborated with a British designer, Jo-Anne Wright, to create a beautifully elegant range of occasional and bedroom furniture, crafted from sustainable Bamboo.

Recycling Furniture

I actively encourage my clients to recycle furniture – a pine chest of drawers that has gone a little “orangey” over the years can look amazing when given a wash of paint and new handles, dining room chairs can be given a new lease of life when reupholstered in a contemporary funky fabric and family heirlooms such as sewing boxes can stay a treasured personal possession if they are repaired and given some TLC.

We have a team of paint specialists who can also give that pine fire surround a new lease of life with a marble finish that would be hard to distinguish between the real thing! 

5 Essential Ingredients in Interior Design

1. Colour

Probably the most useful tool at the interior designer's disposal. Handled properly, colour can make a small room appear larger, make a dark room appear lighter, or bring about a complete change of atmosphere. It is important to plan your colour scheme carefully and to let your rooms lead visually into each other, in order to create a feeling of continuity throughout the house.

2. Texture

Pattern and texture play a part in creating the style and enhancing the colour scheme. There is an enormous variety of patterns available in wallpapers, fabrics and floor coverings. Your choice of pattern is just as important as colour, to achieve successful results.

3. Style

Style is often determined by the type of property you live in and the function you want each room to play. For example, a Victorian house may suit ornate furnishings in distinctive colours and patterns, while a contemporary apartment would be better with simple uncluttered lines, neutral tones and a stronger accent colour. However, there are no set rules and mixing traditional with contemporary can be perfectly acceptable, provided you find balance and harmony between old and new.

4. Lighting

The impact of your design can be totally changed by the way you light it. Unfortunately, lighting is often considered only at the end of a project, or even neglected totally. In my opinion, lighting should be the first consideration of any design scheme, especially with the recent advances in home technology and the wide range of lighting now available.

5. Accessories

Accessories add the finishing touch to every room, as they are the detail that sets your home apart from all others. Your personality can be reflected in artwork, artefacts or memorabilia to give your room culture and interest. A strategically placed mirror can reflect light and enhance space dramatically, while a simple vase of fresh flowers can add colour, scent, life and energy to a room. Again, balance is the key to achieving a successful outcome.