How to Up Your Interior Design Game
Do you ever walk into a room and feel like something’s just... off, but you can’t quite put your finger on it? You’re not alone. Often when clients come to me with spaces that don’t quite sing, and more often than not, it’s due to a few simple missteps. The good news? With a bit of tweaking, you can completely transform a room into something that feels beautiful, effortless and uplifting. I’ve put together a few essential troubleshooting questions to ask to yourself, based on my golden rules for creating a balanced and characterful interior.
1. Is there more than one element of natural wood in your room?
Real wood is a vital component of interior design, bringing personality, craftsmanship and natural materials into your home. If your room lacks personality, it could be a lack of natural materials. Perhaps you only have laminate furniture, or metal and glass, or all your surfaces are painted. Adding in more real, natural wood helps to create softness, character and soul.
Biophilic design is about harnessing the benefits of nature in an interior space. Many studies have shown that having natural materials in your home boosts your wellbeing. For example, this study scientifically proved that “touching wood with the palm calms prefrontal cortex activity and induces parasympathetic nervous activity more than other materials, thereby inducing physiological relaxation.” - this is a relaxation measured by brain activity, not just self-reporting so I think that’s pretty amazing. No amount of LVT flooring is going to do that for you!
Natural wood furniture is not a luxury purchase either; whilst new solid wood furniture is very expensive, much antique, vintage or pre-loved wooden furniture costs the same or less than new basic laminate – so no excuses!
2. Do you have more than one fabric element in the room?
A room without fabric can feel soulless and uninviting. If your only fabric is your sofa or your bedding, you can make it more welcoming by adding in more textile elements. Avoid matching as this doesn’t add anything to the picture – aim for different fabric textures and patterns. For tips on making sure these work well together, check out this blog.
This rule goes for hallways, kitchens and bathrooms too! Hallways can be particularly hard to make warm and welcoming, but will always benefit from a rug and a door curtain. For kitchens you can add curtains, blinds, rugs, lampshades, upholstered chairs/stools, or chair/bench cushions. For bathrooms you can add lovely fluffy towels, bath mats, blinds, shower curtains or lampshades.
3. Do you have a matching suite of furniture?
Matching furniture doesn’t bring any character to a room; it can make your house look like a shop display, not a home! Your home should tell the narrative of the people who live there, so it needs to reflect your personality. A room always looks best when it feels like it was put together over a lifetime and every piece in the room tells a story. This creates a meaningful, layered look which feels genuine to you.
Choose pieces that have the same visual language but don’t actively match. For example, you might be drawn to elegant shapes, slender forms and pretty details. Or you might prefer solid, chunky pieces with a sense of humble craftmanship.
4. Does your room lack tonality?
This means, do you have multiple tones of the same colour? Whether you have a scheme based around one/two colours, or lots of colour, you need multiple tones to stop it looking flat.
If you have a simpler colour palette, nothing will date your interior faster than a neutral base with accents all in the exact same shade! Choose varying tones within your tight colour palette (lighter, darker, subtler, more vibrant) to create a more considered look.
If you have a scheme with lots of different colours, this needs tonality to avoid it looking inconsistent and messy. Choose a hero colour (actually, up to 3 hero colours works) which will appear in multiple tones, and layer other colourful accents over this.
5. Do you have multiple lighting options at different heights?
Lighting is integral to creating a positive atmosphere, and the way you light a room creates different moods depending on how you want to use the space. Therefore, it’s important to be able to control your lighting options by having multiple circuits, dimmers, and/or individually switched lights.
Make sure you have lamps at different heights within a room. This creates rhythm so feels better visually, as well as helping light the right thing. A low-position light source (0-90cm from the floor) creates a sense of warmth and atmosphere, or depth. A mid-position light source (90-170cm) is good for task lighting such as a reading lamp, lights around a bathroom mirror, or a light over a dining table. High-positioned light sources are good for all-over light, as well as accenting specific spots such as a picture light or a pool of light washing down some beautiful curtains.
6. Are you the oldest thing in the room?!
Much like a matching suite of furniture, an all-modern interior looks like a shop display and doesn’t have a narrative. Even a new-build home needs non-new elements to give it character (mid-century furniture and old kilim rugs look great in new-builds).
Whether it’s your nan’s old eiderdown or the painting you bought to adorn your first home, these are the elements that are deeply personal, uplifting and comforting, fostering a sense of belonging and allowing you to feel truly at home.