How to plan and organise your home- A quick guide

Planning and decorating your home to reflect your tastes doesn't necessarily have to be an expensive affair. It does however, require careful planning and execution. Your success will depend on how to bring together elements of form, space, colour, texture, pattern and light.

1. Determining your style:

Keep it basic. Style your room so that it has its own character, thus creating a mood using matching colours. You can find endless information for free on Pinterest, Instagram and by using internet search. You can have a fun and colourful room while at the same time maintain simplicity.

2. Mixed furnishings:

Gone are the days when all the furniture needed to match. I often find that room with all matching furniture makes the atmosphere quite formal, whereas mismatched furniture and furnishings can often add a certain bohemian charm to it. It's also an excellent way of re purposing furniture.

The key to unifying the different furnitures in a room is to bind them together to a central piece like a rug/carpet, walls and the ceiling . A large carpet can connect the mis matched pieces to create a more even flow to the room.

3. The scale and shape of the room:

Using dark colours and heavy fabrics and / or furniture can make a room seem small. Whereas light walls, light colours and light fabrics and furniture can make a room seem airy and light. It is important to note that your colour palette for your room will look different in natural light and in artificial light.

You can use colour to change the perception of space. This is especially true if your room has features that you are unable to get rid of.

4. How to use colours to enhance your room:

There are certain ways you can enhance the look and feel of your rooms using colour.

South facing rooms usually get the most sunshine. Provided you have large windows in these rooms, you can accomplish the look using cool colours like blue and green as they reflect little light.

The key colour in the room is usually the area rug or the carpet. The colours of the rest of the walls and furnishings should be chosen either to harmonise or to contrast with it.

5. Textures:

Textures add depth and character to a room. It helps bind in all the elements such as lighting, walls and furniture. The textures you decide to have will determine the overall feel of your room. Try mixing a variety of textures to help create the ambience. For example, combining a woven rug with knit throws on the couch and crochet tapestries on the wall would really bring a warm and casual feel to the whole room.

6. Materials:

Materials are just as important as the other elements in the room. Natural materials like wood, leather, stone and brick can create a beautiful traditional charm akin to a farmhouse or a country house. Others such as glass, steel and acrylic can help to create a more modern or sophisticated feel to a space. Carefully balancing both would help create a perfect mix of old and new.

7. Patterns:

Patterns and textures together play a very important role in giving definition to a space. Patterns attracts us towards an important or a central feature. Tapestries are an excellent example of using patterns to create interest on walls.

I hope this post was able to help you better understand the different elements that go into making a room. I love to hear feedback and I would love to hear what your thoughts are.

Do you have any tips for how to plan out your rooms?

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