2020 Home Inspiration Tips

 We are often struggling for inspiration with either full house renovation projects, or room by room décor ideas and tips. One of the most challenging to get right is what is rightfully called the ‘heart of the home’ which is of course the kitchen.

During the modern era, the kitchen is one of those spaces which arguably receives the most amount of money and investment. It is a busy hub for the family and social gatherings alike, so therefore has multiple uses and getting the balance right, including the versatility needed needs some thought. The normal everyday hustle and bustle of the family hub, with teenagers grabbing toast, while parents make cups of tea or coffee and the dog is whining to go for his morning walk, may be a familiar type of scene up and down the country and beyond. With this practicality in mind and the reality that the kitchen also invariably becomes the social hub during parties and events, where a touch of opulence or stylish home décor is required, poses an interesting interior design challenge. The growth of choice from kitchen units’ manufacturers has helped tremendously, with interesting and often stunning colours schemes to work with.

Darker grey kitchens for example, have become hugely popular and different coloured and textured work tops has a significant impact on how we decorate and accessorise the rest of the room. As a simple rule of thumb and easy to achieve tip, matching in with everyday items like kettles and toasters should be carefully considered as a properly thought through layout which includes these more mundane items, can make all the difference!

For example, using matching inspirational dark grey pendant lights along with the dark grey units or sprinkling the room with chrome accessories, lighting and items like chrome-based breakfast bar stools and chrome light switches makes a difference and is inexpensive, but effective.
Living rooms, or ‘the lounge’ is an design area which is often a relaxing room, which needs to accommodate the ability to switch off, relax and watch a movie in comfort, but we equally want this room to become a showcase of style and design excellence to our own tastes. Sofas can be hugely expensive items, so often this can become the focal point to a living room’s over all décor, so choosing a wallpaper feature wall on these occasions is useful, as it ties in, but is not overpowering. On many occasions though, the sofa is a neutral colour, so we have more opportunity to work with colour schemes, lighting themes and accessories.

One of the most simple and commonly used tips, is the use of scatter cushions, which mirror or compliment colours used and including the lighting to continue the theme, alongside wallpaper works well and makes the most of the investment in a decent sofa.

Bathrooms tend to be far more neutral and many people pay less attention to colour options and design layout generally. The bathroom suite is often the main design statement, with un-inspirational neutral tiling, but one tip which is worth considering, would be to seriously take a look for inspiration on waterproof wallpapers and make a real statement. Gone are the days, where a standard nautical theme will suffice, we have the options such as bold far eastern inspired prints as a fabulous feature wall, which can transform these often clinical spaces and create a real wow factor for guests and make the room something to be proud of.

Generally speaking, real thought for each room and proper research into patterns and styles is always worth properly doing, as free wallpaper samples are often available for you to try before you buy and get some inspiration and a feel for designs. The other major consideration for your entire house would be if you wanted a different look and feel in each room, or if you wanted a consistent theme throughout. It is absolutely possible to keep the flow of a basic colour scheme moving throughout the rooms, while being able to get inspiration that matches in, yet creates each room’s individual style.

Main advice is to ensure that we all take the time to look through our options and think through the themes possible.