Eastlife January 2019

a painting or in a garden. Or of course my all-time
favourite, Pinterest. Or Instagram, but don’t say I
didn’t warn you, it can become very addictive! Look
for colours you love and you feel you could live with.
If you don’t like bright colours, opt for colours in a
muted tone. And remember, less is definitely more.
6. YOU DO THE MATHS
Now I’m no Einstein, if fact, I once asked my maths teacher
if he thought I would ever really use algebra, he apparently
thought he knew me well by replying: “No, you won’t, but
one of the smart kids might!” I did finally get over this.
However, it pays to brush up on it as decorating is all about
proportion and balance and it comes in very useful.
7. USE WHAT YOU ALREADY HAVE
This may sound like a simple idea, but when decorating
a new room, our instincts are to rush out and buy all new
stuff. That’s great if you have a healthy budget but what
if you don’t? Make a list and even take photographs and
attach them to a mood board. A mood board is merely a
piece of paper or card with images, clippings, colour ideas
and anything that inspires you. You could even make a
Pinterest board for it and ask your friends what they think!
Take photos of what you already have and add them to the
board, that way when you are out you are not tempted to
buy a replacement for an item you already own.
DESIGNER TIP:
If you already have an Ikea kitchen, leave
the carcass and purchase just the doors.
8. INSPIRATION
When you are faced with a blank canvas of a room, it
can be pretty daunting of just where to start. So if you’re
looking for inspiration, there are countless places to find
it. I recently was helping a friend who found a piece of art
she liked at Ikea. We formed the whole room around this,
matching the colours and finishes and she absolutely adores
it. Inspiration can be found in a beautiful scarf, a museum,
9 COLOURS
As far as colours go, if you have a reasonably good
sized room, pretty much anything goes. That’s great
I hear you say but what if my room is small or it has
to do double or triple duty? This really does not have
to be an issue. If you do have to divide the space,
then it helps to designate each area before you start.
That way you’ll know exactly how much space you
have to work with in each section. This can be done
by using different colours, finishes or flooring or all
of the above. It may help to use masking tape to plot
the area first and then measure. While we are talking
about colour, get yourself a compass, I will let you into
a little secret, light reflects differently on where it falls.
So, for instance, ever wondered why that beautiful
hue of cerise pink doesn’t look the same in your back
garden as it did in that fabulous riad in Morocco?
10. THE 60/30/10 RULE
This is definitely one rule you should apply. The
60/30/10 rule applies to the relationship between
three elements. Using colour components, for
example, one colour should cover 60%, another 30%
and another 10%. Decorating is all about balance. This
can be used for example by either three colours in
different shades or 60% as wall colour, 30% as covered
furniture and 10% as accessories.
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