If you want to give a room a face lift but are struggling for inspiration, there are lots of places you can look to for help.
Magazines
There are loads of glossy magazines in the shops that can be a valuable source of inspiration – Country Living, Home & Garden, BBC Good Homes, Grand Designs and other classics as well as some you may not be aware of such as Wallpaper, Elle Decoration, Period Living, The World of Interiors and many more. Don’t limit yourself to interior design magazines – travel and photography magazines are a great source of inspiration too.
This bedroom has a spring-like feel with the bright green and natural woods.
Nature
Bring the outside in – not literally, but with some carefully chosen colours and patterns you can give a room a really fresh feel to match the season, or to bring it on early. Use bright, lime greens and sunny yellows for a fresh, spring-like feel, or bold flower prints and bright oranges and pinks for a really summery feel.
Pick a Palette
If it’s colour inspiration you’re after, why not get a series of pictures to go on the wall, and pick out colours from the pictures to create your palette. It’s cheap and easy to get photos enlarged onto canvas now, so anyone can be an artist! Use holiday or family snaps, or get to the beach or a garden and take some arty close-ups of colours and textures.
Elegant antique furniture and Georgian style mouldings give this room a light and classy feel.
Take in Some Culture
Get yourself out to visit a few stately homes, and get a feel for decor of different periods. Be careful though – whilst a flamboyant, gothic dining room might look great in a high-ceilinged mansion, when transposed into your little two-up, two-down it might not work so well. Look at the history of your own house too – even if it’s a new build, look at older buildings nearby and see what sort of area you would have been living in 50 or 100 years ago.
Holiday Snaps
Alright, maybe not your Centre Parks family holiday, but if you’ve been abroad then take a look at the buildings and styles in places you enjoyed. Different cultures can lend us inspiration for a completely different feel. If you don’t have any photos of your own, get to your local travel agent and pick up a selection of brochures.
The Internet
Of course the internet is a huge resource for inspiration. There are thousands of sites and blogs dedicated to interior design, just do a search and see what you come up with!
At myhome mygarden, we work with a number of interior designers throughout the UK and can provide you with a design service tailored to suit your needs. For more details on this, refer to our Interior Design Services section.
If there is any specific information you can not find on our site, please use our Ask the Experts facility or e-mail us.