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Home decoration

finishing touches and general styling

9 replies

TheoneandObi · 05/08/2020 08:49

I don't have an artistic bone in my body. My house has some really nice furniture - collected over the years, very little of it new. My tastes err towards mid century (although our house is victorian). But no matter how I rearrange things it always seem to look slightly off. Lacking in style, a bit scruffy rather than eclectic. I have no colour schemes as such. Are there rules I should follow? I'd post pictures but I am paranoid that a stylish friend might spot my house!

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lockdownsunflowers · 05/08/2020 08:53

Be interested to see replies. Maybe it's something about soft furnishings pulling it together. And lighting, what lighting do you have?

TheoneandObi · 05/08/2020 09:53

we have inbuilt spots in the ceiling which can be switched on and off in lines if you see what i can, and we also have side lights. I don't think its lightning that's the problem.
I do fight a losing battle with people putting stuff down everywhere where it doesn't belong! Drives me nuts. Bags and jumpers on tables. No! Keys not hung up on the key pegs. Letters opened and envelopes discarded where they opened. It all contributes to a scruffy looking house. But mainly it just doesn't look harmonious!

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Wildwood6 · 05/08/2020 19:44

Ok, so grab a tea and a biscuit... This is long, but this is how I would do it :)
Firstly look at how your furniture sits together, just because its all mid century doesn't mean it all works together. Has a chair got delicate legs whilst a sofa is a huge, monolithic block that sits on the floor? Some people can make contrasty things work together beautifully, but if you want to keep things simple try to make things complement each other, and have an edit if necessary. Does your furniture have similar 'visual bulk' in the room, do the shapes and colours and colours each other?

I'd then spend time finding a lovely neutral to paint the walls in, something that really complements the direction the room faces and underlying tones in your midcentury furniture. This can be hard to gauge if the furniture is predominately wood, but hold a sheet of white paper against it- do the undertones looks slightly orangey, or red or yellow?
That would give me a starting point. Lets say for example your furniture has a yellowy undertone and is south facing. In my imagination I've just painted it something like Farrow and Ball 'Wimborne White'. Its a neutral with a tiny hint of yellow and it enhances the light bright feel of south facing rooms. Next, if the room doesn't feel tied together and you don't feel very confident putting together a 'scheme' I would instead pick an accent colour or two that complement the yellow toned neutral that I'd established for the room and start threading touches of it through the room. A dark teal blue and mustard yellow can look good with mid century, but you can pick anything really! Personally I think its best to weave it through quite subtly, maybe find some artwork with the colours you like, then a cushion in that colour, then a neutral coloured curtain with your second accent colour as a pattern- you get the idea:).
So at this point the room is predominately neutral with your one or two colour accents. My next step would be to add lots of texture in the room- for some reason this just really seems to help. So say, a knitted throw, a slubby linen blind at the window, a wooden bowl, a seagrass basket, things like that. You don't have to go overboard, a couple should do the trick. Then if I haven't done so already I'd add houseplants and artwork, it seems incidental but it really does make a huge difference. It doesn't have to be fancy- a plant from the supermarket in a nice pot, a picture you've bought in Ikea or from Etsy (remembering your accent colours of course!). If the room is still not working, the room probably needs a touch of black. It can be as simple as a black picture frame, or a black lampshade. I've no idea why this works, but it just does! It makes the room look more 'finished'.
Good luck! And take your time and enjoy it! Think of building it up in stages or layers, rather than trying to do everything and find everything at once.

Ohchristmastreeohchristmastree · 05/08/2020 20:14

There are good books on this out there. Abigail Ahern has a few books. She talks about styles, layering lighting, focus points etc.
Just a few tips I like to stick to are -
I personally like to keep to either off white or black walls as I feel they give a backdrop to everything else. I want things in my house to be a feature - not the walls.
Stick to similar colours in your whole house, that way you can move stuff from room to room without worry.
I’ve heard that grouping things in three or five is good too. I think it works, but don’t stick to it rigidly
I personally don’t like a lot of colour, my house feels calmer with whites, blacks, charcoal, creams, woods, wicker, slate, bamboo and muted greens and golds.
Plants - honestly plants just make a space for me.

Ohchristmastreeohchristmastree · 05/08/2020 20:25

And wildwood6 says it doesn’t have to be fancy or expensive my house is a mixture of charity shop finds, Ikea bits, and garden centre plants.
H and M home and Laredoute are good too for those slightly more special bits.

TheoneandObi · 06/08/2020 08:10

Lots of good advice. Thanks. We actually don't have any very new or expensive furniture. One set of sofas is what was passed on to me from my parents a decade ago when they'd finished with them. New covers though. Actually I lie. The other sofa set is a lovely Ercol one which is new to which I have added a couple of Wallace and Sewell throws. But that is definitely the best room in the house! I kind of think our problem is that we're too eclectic and nothing pulls things together. So looking for a single colour to highlight in a couple of areas is a good one.
I did move my plants around yesterday. I've put a tall one in a corner and it really looks good

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Bluesheep8 · 06/08/2020 16:45

Personally I try to by sympathetic to the period of the house. As in bear it in mind rather than be a slave to it. Just my opinion, but I wouldn't put spotlights in a Victorian house. I'd suggest more elaborate/statement light fittings/ some lamps?

burritofan · 06/08/2020 16:52

I agree with @Bluesheep8. I'd never actually switch on the big light, but I think you need the architectural feel of a central light – pref with plaster ceiling rose – to pull a Victorian room together. Spots are cold and a bit clinical.

Eclectic furniture and decorative items can totally work, OP, and actually sounds more cosy and homey than when people say "I've got X colour big item and X colour accessories", like they've bought everything new from the Next catalogue but don't have anything personal.

I think furniture has to be the right size for the room and not too "bitty". Big rugs help – they should fill the room and your furniture should cover the edges, not a miserly little sliver of rug in the middle. Floor-length curtains, particularly on Victorian windows. Using the same colour paint on skirting boards, doors, architraves, picture rails and coving looks sleek and considered. Ceiling too, if you're daring.

TheoneandObi · 07/08/2020 07:38

We've started to use the same paint colour on woodwork at walls (and sometimes ceilings). MY OH is still sceptical but I think its the way ahead. He still thinks outside windows should always be white as well. I have also changed his mind on this.

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