Curtains/cushions/fabric - revamp sitting room- inspire me please- on a budget

[frazzled74]

I want to revamp my sitting room, at the moment it has lovely Laura Ashley floral tapestry style curtains, various cushions in reds and greens, brown leather sofa. I like it but want a change from traditional, shabby chic look. I probably can't afford more than £100 max , but can sew. I was thinking along lines of Orla Kiely/retro 70,s or Art Deco style but open to suggestions. Can anyone inspire me , or find me some bargain curtains/cushions ?

[dynevoran]

I have used both of these fabrics in my house. Everything else is quite neutral. Ikea fabric is nice to sew with and cheap!

[frazzled74]

Thanks, I didn't think of ikea for fabric. I will have a look.

[TremoloGreen]

Sounds like quite a wide range of 'looks' you are considering! I don't like so-called shabby-chic at all, my own house (30s rural cottage that has been hugely extended) I am going for a mix of original features (in the parts of the house that have them) and little nods to the period with plenty of '20th C design' and 'traditional handicrafts' in the decorative features.

I like geometric prints and they are easy to find good quality printed cottons at a reasonable price. Prestigious Textiles and Clarke and Clarke are the brands I come across most. You can get their older designs at very reasonable rpices (£7-10/m) online at sites like Terry's Fabrics and Just Fabrics. They both do free samples services and free deliveries on big orders.

Also, if you fall in love with a particular design, I recommed searching for it on EBay. I just got a 5m roll end of a fabric I had seen for £11/m online for £6/m including postage on Ebay.

[TremoloGreen]

Price-wise I have just bought enough fabric for the sitting room, dining room, kitchen and large hall/stairwell for £350. That includes a door and some big windows - about 20m of fabric, linings (and interlinings for some) and tapes/haberdashery. I've budgeted about £600 for the whole house including some large window seat cushions and reckon I'll be in budget - have to be on something :-/

[TremoloGreen]

Orla Kiely-ish?
Or this?
Both come in other colour ways.

Stuff I like
Geometric, easy blend-in
For a window seat in same room
Something a bit bolder for the hallway
music room

[frazzled74]

Ooh lots of lovely fabrics,thank you. I like lots of different styles but seem to have fallen into too many twee catch kidston style accessories. You've now inspired me to revamp the whole house,
Sitting room - brown leather furniture and cream walls have to stay, am now thinking tartan curtains and cushions, maybe fern and heather colours.
Dining room and kitchen need to coordinate , I have pine furniture, 2 grey/duck egg painted dressers and gloss white kitchen cabinets. At the moment I have lots of twee accessories which I want to minimise , not sure whether I should go for a Orla kielyish look or a bit more traditional .
Bedroom - pine furniture cream walls, dusky rose carpet that I can't afford to change. At the moment it's a bit cluttered vintage rose look, but I'd like to go a bit modern . Any more ideas would be lovely .

[TremoloGreen]

I like the sound of the sitting room, traditional but not too twee. Try not to go overboard with a 'theme' but take elements of it you like and mix with more neutral/classic ideas. A few scandinavian design elements would work well. You will see lots of inspiration if you look at the autumn and winter issues of interior magazines like Ideal Home etc. Your local library mihgt have some back issues. Type hygge into google images or pinterest for some inspiration.

Dining room sounds like a bit of a mish mash at the moment! Can you repaint the dressers at all? Repainting them in a just off white like Little Greene Slaked lime with a modern (Kiely-ish?) wallpaper to the backs of the shelves might make everything more cohesive. Look at Scion range of wallpapers as well as Orla Kiely but there are many copycat styles to be found online. Car boot all the accessories you don't love. Look at the ones you do and decide what unites them, what it is you like.

Bedroom, again I might be tempted to paint some furniture. A more modern scheme that can take pink is to team it with sympathetic pale grey and chalky whites and use copper metallic accents. Look in Dunelm, Ikea and also the supermarkets Tesco Direct, George for cheap and cheerful accessories (for any of the schemes really). Go to Pinterest and type in grey pink copper bedroom and loads of inspiration will come up.

[frazzled74]

Thank you, love some of the designs on pinterest under hygge. I think I will go for blue and red as my colour theme for kitchen and diner, and go for a more Scandinavian look. And I'm tempted now just to stick to country cottage vintage rose in bedroom, then i can use my lovely Laura Ashley curtains and re home some of my accessories , I don't want to get rid of everything as some accessories were gifts from the dcs .