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What does an Interior Designer / Decorator / Colour Consultant do? It’s easy to be confused with all these different titles. Unfortunately this industry is not well regulated & pretty much anyone can all themselves these titles without much formal

#22 Go Big Proportion is fun to play with. Over-sized art & décor like large potted plants are a great way to dominate a space & distract from not so pretty areas. Be careful not to dominate the purpose of

#21 Edit A good clean out is like a breath of fresh air. Look at an item & if you question it for a few seconds then take it away. Put these items in storage. In 6 months time revisit

#20 Incorporate Technology We all use it, so make it work for you. Interior Design & technology don’t always mix but they have to live together. Design around functionality. Comms rooms in newer houses are on the rise. This is

#19 Lines We have a load of lines in your homes without even noticing. This could be straight lines from timber flooring or wall tiles, stripes in wallpaper or furniture, or the way our kitchen cabinetry has been laid out.

#18 Mix & Match If you know YOUR style, it will be easy to mix & match items for your spaces. When buying a new piece ask yourself – will this work in three areas of your home? Although some

#17 Decorate for Years It’s best to layer your decorator for years. This means adding pieces you love over time, & mixing them with newer items. If you go out & buy everything for your house today, it will all

#16 Add Nature Every decade of Interior Design styling has had multiple elements of natural indulgence. This may be indoor plants, vases of cut flowers, herb pots on the window sill, wicker baskets, wood logs by the fireplace, stone clad

#15 Add to the Architecture The best way to give personality to a room is to build it in. Add a fireplace, clad a wall with timber, cut out a wall niche, add a bulkhead or add a sky window

#14 Lighten Up Are you loving the fresh look but have a dark house? Paint is a quick way to brighten up a room. Light colours reflect more light, however it can look stark. Consider a white skirting board colour

#13 Storage This is important in every space as we have so much ‘stuff’ now days. Think cleverly about your room to find under-utilised space. Under bed storage tubs, the tops of wardrobes, inside staircases, under island benches. Each room

#12 Rug or no Rug If you have hard floors, a rug is ideal. This is not only to soften the space but it adds warmth & dulls the noise as well. Rugs are great for zoning lounge room spaces

#11 High – Low Styling This refers to having some expensive items & teaming them with cost effective pieces. For the best result invest your cash in functional elements, like sofas, beds & fixed pieces like kitchen cabinetry or carpet.

#10 Vertical Décor With décor we can feel limited to just plopping a vase on a coffee table. Think vertically. Our walls can be quite a blank space for art. Have a focal point in each room & decorate it

#9 Add Texture Homes are meant to be felt. Thicker carpet or rugs underfoot feel decadent, soft cushions give us something to hug & knitted throws let us wrap ourselves in love. Texture adds depth to a room. It adds

#8 MISDIRECTION There will enviably be unattractive things in a home… power cords, the old comfy armchair, kids toys or exercise equipment. The key is misdirection. Adding a focal point in a room draws people to it. This is usually

#7 Flow The layout of your room is important. Can you access all areas? If not, think about why. Maybe the furniture is in the wrong place, it’s the wrong size or shape, there’s too many items hanging around or

#6 Get FREE Advice Many décor or finishes stores have qualified decorators or employees on hand who have seen it all over the years & know the tricks of the trade. Use them. They are usually happy to impart words

#5 COLOUR When paying attention to YOUR sense of style you will find your colour palette. Most people live in white or neutral now days & add pops of vibrancy in décor. If this is the case, make sure you

#4 LIGHTING Always have 3 sources of light – Natural, Task & Ambient. Every room should have natural sunlight through a window or door. This is the cleanest light, it brightens up our day & keeps indoor plants alive. Task

#3 SPACE When ‘filling up’ the room with décor keep in mind – less is more. The feeling of open space is loved by all & will give a relaxed approach to your home. Have clear walkways in all rooms.

#2 LAYERS When setting up a room there are a few basics. First – the layout. This is the structure or shape of the room. You may need to employ a builder to remove a wall or change a door

#1 – Be You Anyone who tries too hard to make their home look like a magazine spread, gets it so wrong. Your style is usually a combination of a few themes giving an eclectic & quirky look which is

Many of our suburban homes have bricks either on the outside or interior. Unfortunately these bricks can be very dark & look amazingly dated. Paint is the easiest, & usually most cost effective way to jazz up most surfaces. Painted

The past week, my office has looked like a jungle. I have been traversing through the floor plants, as I have a funky office job in the centre of town who requires plants for their design. So I have become

We spend hours & sometimes days agonising over a colour for our walls. “Is that too cold, should it be more brown-ish, and do we run this colour all throughout the home?” As a designer I know there are no

The end of winter is approaching & by jolly it can be COLD! This morning all the rooftops are covered in ice, as I sip my hot coffee on the way to the first job of the day – one inside a house,

We’ve all seen the reality shows lately that have the contestants plastering the walls with (most of the time, badly hung) wallpaper. And before you start cringing at the memory of our 70’s-styled houses with all its dated orange &