For the past few years, I’ve been traipsing up and down the UK having a good old nose into other people’s homes for The Great Interior Design Challenge. While some houses are lovely, I have seen a fair few design disasters. Here are the most common mistakes people make – and how to easily turn them around.
1. Don’t go brilliant white
It won’t make a room brighter and lighter; that’s just wrong. Bright-white paint is a really poor choice for most houses in the UK. With skies that are largely grey, it just ends up looking dismal and bleak. Go for an off-white with some warmth instead. Or better still, embrace the darkness and try out a deep, dark colour on your walls. Contrary to popular belief, this can actually push walls out visually, making a room appear bigger.
2. Ditch the supersofa
Living rooms everywhere are losing the battle to elephant-like sofas. When a room is small, you’re better off buying a sofa with legs. The gap below helps to create the illusion of space (as well as the perfect storage space for odd socks, biros and Lego bricks). While I’m at it, the TV is almost always too big, not to mention those awful trunk-style coffee tables. All this super-sized furniture is choking up your room. Opt for furniture raised on legs, a glass coffee table and a TV that’s not ludicrously out of proportion.
3. Stop being a hoarder
You’ve picked out a rocking colour scheme. You’ve maxed out your credit card. You might even have got the builders in to realise your penthouse dreams. But then it’s time to move all the stuff back in. Big fail. Your Bruce Lee DVDs, your heaps of paperback books and every CD you’ve ever owned will kill off any stylish room design. Adequate storage (shallow shelves and cupboards so things don’t lurk at the back) must be allotted. Next, have a very strict declutter. Come into the digital age and ditch DVDs and CDs altogether.
4. Buff up your knockers
People have forgotten how to make an entrance. Britain has such great housing stock – streets full of Victorian and Edwardian houses with the most amazing facades. Our forebears knew the importance of appearance, and embellished their entrances with stained glassed doors, encaustic tiles and stone pediments. Now, you’ve got to have a run-in with the recycling bins before you even reach most front doors. Hallways are unloved, too, with an assault course of trainers, scooter helmets and kit bags. All this can be rectified by adding a little box hedging outside, keeping the bins out of sight, slapping a coat of gloss paint on the front door and buffing up your knockers. A fancy chandelier hung in full view and you’re ready to party.
5. Get low
Always think big with your accessories for maximum impact. A titchy rug floating in the middle of a room just looks stingy. Instead, go big enough that the feet of the sofa can sit on it. This helps to ground the space. Next, take that tiny pendant light over the dining table, upscale it and make sure it hangs nice and low. Grab a supersized piece of artwork and hang that low over the sofa or console, too. For an extra-luxurious look, supersize the headboard in your bedroom to hotel proportions.
6. Don’t go full footballer
Astonishingly, most people seem to redecorate to impress their friends rather than tap into their own sensibilities. This can result in anodyne interiors – a big design fail. I call it the Footballer’s House Effect. They all look the same and lack personality. If you want leopard-print wallpaper, go for it!
- The Great Interior Design Challenge is on BBC2 at 7pm on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday nights, starting from 1 February.
Comments (…)
Sign in or create your Guardian account to join the discussion