Decorate

A how-to guide for making your home a cohesive and stylish zone

We share expert tips on how to choose a theme and style your space accordingly
Eve Wilson

With the change of season upon us, now is a perfect time to start thinking about refreshing your home. Update the look and feel of your home with these five top tips.

Research

Therese Moussa, creative developer and stylish behind the beautiful spaces at The Grounds of Alexandria recommends the following process. The first step is to research and then research again and again. Browse the web and social media for imagery and inspiration, read books and magazines and even visit inspiring places until you feel as though you completely understand the theme and vision for the space you’re working with.

Create a moodboard

As you find pieces of inspiration that resonate with your vision, begin to curate a moodboard of image references either using an online tool or a classic board with cutouts and pins, and keep it close by so you can access it easily. As you begin to see your moodboard come to life, think about the colour palette you see forming. This should be consistent and complimentary through all of the elements you’re bringing in – from the wall colour to the furnishing and finer details. 

For dream homes, cleverly designed kitchens and beautiful bathrooms our Pinterest page has some great moodboards to inspire you.

 

For coastal inspiration, see here.

Fill your space

Next, begin to fill in your space with furniture, big props and installations that bring the feeling of your theme to life. These items are large scale and will have a big impact on the overall look of the space so make sure the colour of these items are on par with the theme. Continuously look to your reference board to ensure you’re on track with the overall vision. For example, if you wanted a brown antique chesterfield lounge it would have quite a heavy, masculine effect on a room but works perfectly in themes such as a Speakeasy, Western Saloon, or a class Oxford Library feel.

Add furnishings

Once you’ve placed your key pieces in the room, source items that tell the story of your theme and layer pieces to create little stories within themselves in the smaller spaces. The rules of layering are to work with odd numbers, so try to cluster pieces in groups of three or five items.

See it at a distance

As a last and final tip, Therese Moussa recommends stepping back and looking at your space from a distance. It’s very easy to get involved with all the little details when you’re working so close to the project. Add more layers or eliminate certain pieces and switch up the positioning of items to change the dynamic of the room if it’s not feeling right. It’s very important for the process as the tweaking stage will see your project really come to fruition and fulfil your initial vision.

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