As with fashion, there are a number of ‘rules’ that dictate interior design. Most people tend to stick to simple and plain styles when designing their personal spaces. For the bolder among you, here are five decorating ideas that break the interior rules – and do it well.
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Clashing Patterns
Not everywhere, but tastefully done it can be look truly elegant. Using patterned cushions on a plain coloured sofa will spice up the room a bit and add something extra.
Try to keep the colour scheme of the room in mind when choosing your patterns; making sure that at least a little bit of that colour goes through. Small areas of patterned wall paper can set off the colour scheme and patterned theme really well.
Mixing Woods
Gone are the days where everything in the room has to match perfectly. It is okay to mix a few different shades and types of wood together. After all it is so difficult to match together wooden floors and furniture when they are from different shops.
Choose a shade of wood that will be the most prominent, usually it’s your flooring, and then use similar tones to fit around it. Rugs and soft furnishings can break up the different shades and soften the tones.
Darker Colours
For big rooms dark paint doesn’t have to be avoided. Covering every wall in a dark colour will make the room seem smaller but only painting one wall or smaller areas will bring a flash of colour into the room.
Contrast the furniture in the opposite colour so that the two can play off each other and then smaller accessories like cushions and ornaments can pick up the darker colour again. They can make a room feel cosier and are good to warm up bedrooms or living rooms, especially if you opt for deep reds and purples.
Mismatched Furniture
Furniture doesn’t all have to be from the same shop, show your creativity. Like with the mismatched wood tones, furniture can be brought together with colours and matching soft furnishings like cushions. Keep the styles similar to maintain a sense of uniformity without everything being exactly alike.
For example, Victorian or vintage kitsch style furniture shouldn’t mix, but kept within their era different styles will work well together and create a more diverse and interesting space. You can switch up the cushions and colour schemes to make it truly gel.
Ceiling Fans
Ceiling fans are no longer a seventies cliché. Modern fans have taken a chic turn. Designer ceiling fans don’t have to look clumsy or intrusive in a room; new designs are sleek and sophisticated.
Make sure you choose a suitable size for the room, as something too big can overshadow everything else. Always opt for a good quality fan as well, cheap ones will wobble and can eventually affect the ceiling, as well as creating unnecessary noise issues.
If you are decorating a new room, don’t shy away from everything you thought was a faux pas. Take inspiration from the past and give them a modern twist, such as mixing patterns and block colours or monochrome or introducing a ceiling fan into a room you spend a lot of time in.
What is the best decorating faux pas that you have pulled off successfuly? Share in the comments.
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Bio: Katie Hopkins is a lifestyle writer who has a self-confessed obsession with interior design.
