Display

You don’t need special skills or loads of money but you do need to follow some simple rules to display collections effectively. By doing so, you will be surprised how you can breathe life into a dark corner or a dead area of your home.

Displaying your treasures well will add interest and individuality to your home. First you must decide what it is you want to put on display. You should exhibit items that are close to your heart – perhaps you have inherited some beautiful china, or you have collected silverware over many years. Here are some suggestions of ways you could display items in your home:

From http://www.grahamandgreen.co.uk/

• If arranging a small display of items always group things together in odd numbers and in different sizes. For example a round fat shaped teapot, with a small cup and saucer and a tall thin vase.

• Coloured glass looks best when displayed on window cills or near a natural light source as it sparkles to show its colours. Remember though that this also helps us to see any dirt or smudges on the pieces!
http://www.grahamandgreen.co.uk/

• If you have an odd number of identical items, place them at regular intervals along a shelf or coffee table to create a modern simple display.

• Display medium sized pieces at eye level, and small or large pieces below eye level. Very large pieces can look good placed on the floor, next to a fireplace perhaps.

• Leave enough space between pieces –don’t try to cram too much together in your display.

• If displaying lots of items on a long shelf think about balancing the display. Put the largest item at the centre, and try to group items symmetrically to each side.

• Pictures look best grouped together unless they are very large. Please see my separate tips sheet on displaying pictures.

• Don’t place tiny items individually on a shelf –they will always look better grouped together and placed on a table below eye level.

• If you are planning to buy new items to display in your room, think carefully about their size and colour in relation to the room. Small items will look lost in a very large room and will not make the impact you may be hoping to create. Equally very large items will take up too much space and appear over dominating.

I was catching up with my reading at the weekend and found an article from The Times newspaper title “Bed making the hotel way” I thought I would read on as many of my clients strive for the “hotel Bedroom Look” and any tips I could give them in order to achieve this would be great!

I quote directly from the article: “At centre stage is the bed. Sheets must be Egyptian cotton. Pillowcases should be in several shapes and sizes, while the duvet cover is not presentable unless draped in a throw and scatter cushions. Our new found love for dressing up what used to be a private part of the home, off limits to even the most prying dinner party guest, means that your bed linen thread count is now as eagerly scrutinised as celebrities’ red carpet dresses. Anything under 200 and you may not get an invite back!

Getting the look has become such and exacting job that John Lewis is now offering lessons on how to get it right. Over the next few weeks shoppers at the Oxford Street store will be treated to “hotel bed finishing” classes, Customers will be taken through the entire bed dressing process and learn to create the ultimately comfortable and luxurious bed.”

There then follows this advice from the visual merchandiser at the John Lewis store, who is in charge of bed making –“with a flat sheet you get a much smoother finish…..it may sound strange but you don’t get a proper fit with a fitted sheet. A flat sheet gives you that much tauter finish that is much more luxurious and comfortable. For best results use an oversize sheet with plenty of left over fabric to tuck under a hefty mattress. Start at one of the corners by the head of the bed and tuck the side of the sheet under like an envelope before doing the opposite side. Only then do you move to the foot of the bed. Give the linen a tug before tucking it in the middle and moving to the final two corners, Te real trick to this part wrestling part origami techniques is the economy of movement, one tuck one swoop under the corners is all it should take. Next the pillows. Start with two completely square pillows. These ones however are not for sleeping on. Think of them as base-line pillows, dress them up in a contrasting colour and props them up on the headboard. Layer on one plump pillow swathed in an Oxford pillowcase –the kind with the flaps around the sides, before adding a much flatter pillow in a plain housewife pillowcase.” The article then goes on with details on how to put on a duvet cover –it seems the best method is the inside out one –wash the cover inside out and then you can reach inside it, grasp the corners along with the corners of the duvet, and flip the cover on.

The article then goes on to say. “The rest is decoration. For the ultimate luxury a cashmere throw (£280) is hard to beat. Silk cushions complete the effect, but before you rush out and invest in half a dozen consider whether your other half shares your enthusiasm for them. Your bed may look glorious but there is nothing alluring about the sight of your partner chucking them on the floor in a huff.” If all this has inspired you in the bed making stakes then you could book a bed finishing class at John Lewis. Email events_oxford-street@johnlewis.co.uk If you think you could give this a miss but fancy some lovely cushions or a throw made especially to compliment your bedroom scheme why not give us a call at Design Focus! 01452 614087

Two elegant bed arrangements by John Lewis......

New delivery

I have just received a large parcel with some new wallpaper and fabric collections from Casadeco. These include some Bohemian style prints in really lovely colour ways including an embroidered cotton, a lovely velvet stripe that can be used both as a curtain fabric or for upholstery, a great floral cotton/linen, a really pretty small print fabric, and some lovely wallpapers to co-ordinate. These can all be mixed and matched to create a truly stylish room. If you are interested in seeing these or any other fabrics to select from for your home, please do contact us – Design Focus, 01452 614087, or for more information take a look at our website: http://www.interior-design-focus.co.uk/

Children's Rooms

I HAVE BEEN REALLY ENJOYING DESIGNING A CHILDREN'S PLAYROOM FOR ONE OF MY CLIENTS. IT’S A REAL OPPORTUNITY TO BE CREATIVE WITH COLOUR, PATTERN AND WITH WALL COVERINGS AND FABRICS. SO IN THIS NEWSLETTER I THOUGHT I WOULD GIVE SOME HINTS AND TIPS FOR CREATING GREAT ROOMS FOR KIDS –HOPE YOU ENJOY THEM
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IDEAS FOR CHILDREN'S ROOMS:

• Very young children don’t need really expensive wall coverings and fabrics in their rooms. In fact they will probably benefit from changing their surroundings from time to time. For example use posters to brighten up their walls, hang colourful mobiles etc.
  

• Once children get to school age, they will need their room to have a more personal feel. By creating somewhere they love to be you should have less trouble at bed times etc. This still doesn't mean spending the earth though. For walls what about painting in your child’s favourite colour and then using wall stickers to add interest and fun? Wall stickers are becoming really popular now, and are available in a variety of fabulous designs. Here are a few designs that are available from http://www.aspace.co.uk/
  

• Rather than spend loads of money on curtains and poles etc for your child’s room, how about a fairly inexpensive roller blind instead? You can personalise these in a variety of ways –from hand painting with your child, sticking ribbons on the bottom edge, using feather trim along the bottom edge, or stencilling all over the blinds.
  


• You can never have enough storage in a child’s room! There are so many things on the market that are really useful for toy storage, but if you are not careful the boxes and crates can all start to look a bit messy. Ideally buy enough of the same size box so that they stack well and look tidy. To help your child you can stick pictures of what is inside the box onto the outside. Ikea have some great storage ideas for young children that can actually be really useful for older ones too!
  
  
  

• Children spend so much time playing on the floor. Carpets are expensive to replace, but rugs can be a great way of adding colour and fun to the room, whilst giving your little one somewhere clean and warm to play. If you don’t spend too much on a rug, then after a year or so, you could replace it with something cleaner if required. These lovely rugs are from Aspace.

• Most children accumulate a large quantity of books from an early age. Buy a reasonable sized books case for your child’s room, and remember to fix it securely to the wall (some toddlers think bookcases are remarkably like ladders) When your child is young, the lower shelves can be used for soft toys and books whilst the higher out of reach shelves can be great place to store special toys and mementos. As the child gets older, the shelves can be used for more books, ornaments, collections in storage baskets etc.
  
  

• If your child is lucky enough to have a playroom as well as a bedroom then you may need to think about seating and work spaces as well. Consider buying a table top from Ikea along with the height adjustable legs that they sell. That way your table can start off low, and “grow” with your child.
  
  

• Any sofas etc that you have in your kid’s playroom will get a lot of wear and tear! Consider loose covers that are washable, and if possible buy a spare set so that you can keep the sofa looking reasonable for longer. Another tip is that although cushions look lovely all lined up on a sofa –your child will constantly throw them on the floor! Only have them if you don’t mind them looking untidy in between times.
  
  
• Of course if you really want to go to town there are some lovely children fabric and wallpaper ranges available to suit all tastes and budgets. Here are a few examples of these ranges that are available from DESIGN FOCUS. http://www.interior-design-focus.co.uk/
  

Top tips for choosing window treatments

Choosing window treatments for your home can be confusing as there are so many things to think about. Here are my top tips to help you get a great window treatment for your room.

1. Look carefully at your window in the context of the whole room. Small rooms do not merit over fussy bulky curtains as they visually take up too much room. Similarly very large grand rooms will look sparse if the curtains are too thin and flimsy.

2. Look at whether you have much “stack back” room for your curtains. This is the space either side of the window that your curtains fill when fully open. If you do not have very much stack back you may wish to choose curtains that are less bulky, a curtain heading that compacts well or perhaps a roman blind would be better.

3. When choosing a pole for your curtains make sure it’s up to the job. A pole with a small diameter will not look right with interlined luxurious curtains, and probably won’t be up to the job of holding the weight of this type of curtain.

4. Measure your windows carefully. Take down all the necessary dimensions as per the diagram below and give them to your designer or curtain maker. Better still if possible get them to take the measurements for you.

5. When choosing patterned fabric consider the scale of the pattern. Large scale patterns work better on large drop curtains or blinds where the pattern has room to be repeated. However on some occasions if a large design can be centred on a blind it will look really spectacular. Small scale patterns can look very busy on large curtains or blinds and are usually better suited to short length curtains and blinds.

6. Generally speaking curtains and blinds should be lined unless made from sheer fabrics that are designed to let the light through. Think about how your curtains will look from the outside and try to use the same colour lining throughout the house.

7. For bedrooms blackout lining is a good choice allowing less light to penetrate the room.

8. Silk curtains and very luxurious window treatments are better interlined. This means they have a layer of thick “wadding between the face fabric and the lining. Interlining curtains protects the face fabric from the sun, prevents heat loss from the room and helps the curtains hang well.

9. If you have set you heart on a particular fabric that works out too expensive when made into full length curtains you could consider either making it into a roman blind and using a less expensive fabric as curtains. Alternatively you could use a less expensive co-ordinating fabric as a wide border at the bottom of the curtains.

10. When deciding on the type of curtain headings you are going to have to think carefully about the atmosphere you are creating in the room. Pinch pleats, goblet pleats and cartridge pleats are more formal types of heading than tab tops, pencil pleats, slot headings or eyelet headings.

Spruce up your bedroom without breaking the bank.

Sometimes it's nice to make changes without having to completely redecorate a room. Here are some ideas to help you spruce up your bedroom without breaking the bank.

1) Cheer up your bed with a new duvet cover and pillowcases. This need not cost the earth -there are some lovely bed sets available for bargain prices. I thought this one from Dunelm would warm up the bedroom during the coming winter months.

Or maybe something more masculine: (Dunelm)

2) If you have an upholstered headboard that has seen better days why not recover it yourself. Choose a fabric that co-ordinates with your bedroom scheme and then using a staple gun simply staple this over the existing fabric. Carefully tuck the corners in to get a neat finish and you will have given your headboard a whole new lease of life.

3) Sometimes little things make a big difference -and no more so than lighting! take a look at your bedroom light fitting -is it past its best? There are some lovely inexpensive light shades available from B and Q to add a bit of glamour to the bedroom! Here are a few of my favourites, and all at under £30

4) Dressing tables are often quite large, but offer very little storage except from another surface to clutter up! An alternative would be to turn a chest of drawers into a dressing chest -just put a mirror on the wall above it and place everyday essentials on the top. Be strict about what you leave out on display - other items could be placed in the drawers in small baskets for easy access, or even better in the bathroom cabinet!

5) Add some new wall pictures. This can really lift a tired bedroom scheme and can cost very little. you can use anything you fancy to brighten up your walls - samples of colourful wallpaper mounted in frames looks great and these can be changed easily when you get tired of them. A collection of picture postcards from holidays can be carefully mounted together to create a collage, or photographs of family, friends or places can be grouped together. If you are feeling creative why not buy a plain canvass and paint your own abstract painting for your bedroom using the colours in your scheme using left over paint or inexpensive sample pots. The beauty of this is that when you get fed up with it you can paint something else over the top!

These postcard pictures are from Ikea and cost only £2.50 for the set:

A GUIDE TO HOME OFFICE DESIGN

Many of us work from home these days so that we can be near our families, avoid long commutes, or so that we can avoid having large overheads that are perhaps un-necessary. In our eagerness to get on with business home workers often take over a spare bedroom, corner of a dining room or small study room without planning what they need and where they are going to put everything. This haphazard way to setting up an office area usually results in mismatched items, overflowing storage and a bland and un -welcoming working environment. It has been proven that offices with a more stylish design, with good lighting and a comfortable desk area mean better productivity at work. If you are serious about your business, why not take a bit of time to plan your office, making it a welcoming, bright place that you are happy to spend time in. Don’t forget you have chosen to work from home so that you can suit yourself in many other ways - why not allow yourself the luxury of not having to work in a uninteresting, uninspiring office space as well. You can personalise your space, stamp your character on your home office and make your working environment whatever you want it to be. Here are a few ideas to help you get started:

• When painting the walls, a lighter shade will work best, reflecting any natural light and keeping the area bright -however allow yourself to choose your favourite colour –don’t be restrained by “normal” office colours of pale green or cream.

• In a home office cheerful wallpaper can be an attractive alternative to paint, but make sure you choose something that is not too wild and distracting, and something you will not tire of quickly.

• Wall decoration – brighten up your home office with some favourite photos or prints to personalise your space. If your room does tend to be on the dark side try putting a mirror opposite the window to reflect the natural light around the room.

• If your office is in a dedicated room of its own rather than in the corner of the dining room, you can choose window treatments to suit you. If your office is on the ground floor you may like venetian or vertical blinds for privacy, but you could add colourful curtains or a roman blind to add warmth and character to the room.

• Choosing the right furniture is important. Try and choose a matching desk and storage so that your office really looks like you mean business. Do you need a large desk with drawers? Do you need space for drawing and/writing?

• Before buying any furniture consider carefully what your storage needs are –do you need lots of filing space? Have you got lots of brochures and books that need to be on bookshelves? Maybe you need storage crates fitting onto shelving?

• It’s a good idea to draw a scale plan of your room to enable you to work out the best options for positioning furniture, taking into account telephone points, electrical sockets and position of natural light etc.

• Desk chairs come in all shapes and sizes and to fit all budgets. Make sure you spend some time finding one that you find comfortable, after all you are going to be spending a lot of time sitting on it!

• Lighting is very important when you are working all day in the same place. You need to make sure that your lighting is adequate for all the activities you undertake - for working at the computer, for writing, reading, sewing etc.

• Think about the type of flooring you use as well – durability, cost, style, maintenance and comfort and things to think about here.

With a little forward planning your home office can be turned into a practical working space that reflects your character and makes going to the office everyday and absolute pleasure!