Tag: redecorating

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Decorating 101 Design DIY Expert Tips Styling

Make the best of your lockdown at home with these 5 styling tips

Entering the second week of Sydney’s latest lockdown, we reckon you may be feeling the cabin fever or getting the urge to improve your surrounds! But rather than feeling suffocated and restless within your abode, property stylist Justine Wilson, reckons now’s the best time to give your home its long-awaited makeover.

“Take charge of this period at home to do the little touch-ups that have been nagging at you,” she says. “Having a  well-presented home can have a wonderful effect on productivity and mood.”

Try her five essentials tips to refresh and reinvigorate your home during this lockdown.

Introduce a nice ‘work from home’ space:

A work from home space can be a full room, or just a designated zone set up for your needs. Consider unused areas like under the stairs, or corners in guest bedrooms, so you still have the dual purpose of the room when lockdown lifts.

The key with any study nook is to ensure you have good task lighting, comfortable seating and a great work surface be it a full desk or a console table. Add something uplifting like nice art, a pinboard, or even plants to help you feel like it’s a nice space and to help with inspiration. 

Declutter and organise your utility areas:

The good news is retailers like Kmart and IKEA can still deliver,  so you can find many affordable storage solutions or organising products. Try introducing nice wicker baskets, acrylic containers, pretty boxes, or tubs to have all your products neat and accessible

“Consider DIY  jobs like putting up floating shelves which can be useful storage or display,” says Justine. “There are many great home DIY projects and youtube has many wonderful tutorials on every subject!”

Bring life into your home:

Feeling stuck indoors can be frustrating, so try to bring the outside in with real plants. Having beautiful floral arrangements, or potted plants can be a great way to bring cheer into your home and provide something beautiful to look at. Now is a great time to learn about potted plant care, and you’ll find arranging them around the home provides a nice distraction. 

Refresh your living and bedroom zones:

This can be as simple as doing a deep clean, shaking out rugs, vacuuming, cleaning skirting boards and dusting, and washing your blinds. Having a clean space can create a clear mind. Swapping out scatter cushions, sofa or bed throws, and refreshing your decor by moving things around can really change up the feeling of your rooms.

You can use a lot of what you have just rearranged or change placement for an instant refresh. Lighting candles and having ambient lighting like floor or table lamps on can create that cosy calming environment we all need right now. 

Paint:

We all say if only I had the time! Well, now we really do. It’s the perfect time to do the more psychically demanding home improvement tasks.

Repaint your front door, the fence, or your walls. Or consider painting your kitchen or bathroom cupboards for a dramatic yet cost-effective change. Other options are feature walls or give older furniture a fresh coat to breathe new life into it. Easy jobs like swapping out handles and hardware are also a great excuse to keep your mind busy and can make a great impact.  

-Justine Wilson is a leading property stylist from Vault Interiors, located in Sydney.

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Decorating 101 Expert Tips Furniture Living Room Shopping

How to furnish your place from scratch on a tight budget


Starting from scratch in a new home, whether you’re renting or buying, is not cheap! Winston Tu, founder of Luxo Living, shares his top four tips for feathering your nest on a budget.

Choose bigger items first

“It’s easy to get carried away and add a number of mismatched items to your cart at the start of your journey,” says Winston. “I’m sure you’ve felt that pang of regret once everything arrives and it doesn’t exactly match up.”

To avoid this, Winston says it’s best to decide on your style and vision for your home from the get-go. Will it be Scandinavian, Hamptons, industrial, Art Deco, French Provincial, or even a mixed style? Once your vision is set, invest in the bigger furniture pieces first, such as this leather sofa (pictured above). Soft furnishings such as mirrors, rugs or side tables can always be sourced later on and cater to style.

Rank pieces by priority

In a dream world, we would buy every furniture piece that our hearts desire. However, the reality is that we have to make sacrifices so that every room has at least one piece that fits our style. “Rank each item in order of priority and then decide how much you could realistically spend on it,” Winston says. “Keep this list handy as you may acquire more money down the track and you could purchase that piece of artwork or bar stool you had your eye on.”

Go bold with key furniture items

Each room typically has a key furniture piece that attracts the most attention. This can be a couch, dining table, or bedhead. If you choose bold colours, textures, shapes, curves or fabrics for these pieces, such as the mother of pearl Inlay coffee table (pictured above), the room will feel instantly elevated.

Once you have your statement piece, you can tone the room down and add warmth through more neutral décor. You’ll also find that you won’t need to invest in as many styling pieces, otherwise, the room will feel cluttered and ‘busy’. Let your statement piece do the heavy lifting!

Find pieces that serve multiple purposes

If you’re short on budget or storage space, an excellent idea is to find items that have more than one use. For example, this velvet ottoman (pictured above) acts not only as a centrepiece but can also keep your spare throws or cushions. Sideboard units can be used as a living room credenza, bedroom storage, or hallway and entryway console table. The options are endless!

Luxo Living is an Australian owned business offering a wide range of furniture and homewares to buy online.

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Decorating 101 Expert Tips

Expert tips: Avoid these five common decorating mistakes

By Liz Hayward

You know that feeling as a kid when rearranging your room made it feel like a completely new space? Well, as we grow older, we never lose that feeling; it just goes from rearranging a single room to a whole house. Redecorating your home helps personalise any given space and gives you complete ownership and pride when you walk into a room.

Redecorating is a great opportunity to make a home feel clean, clutter-free and like an entirely new space. So, to help you out with achieving the right look and feel, I’ve put together a list of mistakes many people make when redecorating and how to avoid them.

Photo: Dominic Loneragan

Stop focusing on the minor details

Not focusing on the big picture is the single biggest mistake people make. Homeowners fall in love with one cushion or one piece of artwork, but don’t think how about how it fits within the rest of the space. If you have already purchased a range of pieces in one style, and then purchase a piece that is in complete contrast, you are going to disrupt the cohesion of the room.

Not budgeting appropriately

I am a strong believer that you can have a beautiful home on almost every budget. However, if you spend a small fortune on a new TV setup, but don’t have a sofa to sit on, the room doesn’t quite achieve its purpose. It is important to map out the space, decide what you need and how much you can afford for each item. It doesn’t all need to be done at the same time, but keep in mind feature items that go hand in hand. It’s like buying a designer top but having no pants to wear it with!

Photo: Dominic Loneragan

It’s not entirely about the visual

When redecorating a room, it is important to think past just the aesthetic, and take the time to contemplate how the space will sound and feel. The acoustics of a room can be altered drastically by having more or less furniture in a room, and by specific materials e.g. timber vs. cement flooring. Music can really help to evoke sensations or emotions in a room, and brands like Naim Audio provide excellent quality sound in their premium music systems.

Choosing the wrong size rug

This one is niche, but imperative. Often people will underestimate what size rug they need to fill a space. 2x2m sounds huge in theory but a perfect sized rug should anchor the room and allow for at least the front legs of all sofas or armchairs to rest on it. A quick guide to work by is to have at least 45-to-50cm of exposed flooring around the edge of your room. 

Photo: Rachel Tagg

Artwork hung at the wrong height

This can make or break a room. The rule of thumb is that the centre of the artwork should be at an average person’s eye level, unless hanging above a mantel or furniture. In this case, you want to leave about 20cm clearance from the bottom of the frame. This creates space for the artwork and helps it not look cluttered. Alternatively, if you are doing a gallery wall it should be treated as one piece and mapped out clearly before hanging. It is almost impossible to build a gallery wall over time and looks much better if you can plan the layout from the get-go.

Liz Hayward is the founder of interior design company Hayward & Co.

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Interviews RENO ADDICT Styling

How to create the right mood in your home with colour

By Nikki Donald

Have you ever wondered why you feel really energised in some rooms and subdued and introspective in others? Or why some rooms feel cold and expansive while others feel cosy and comforting? Chances are it has to do with the colour choices and where those colours have been applied.

If you’re renovating or redecorating, colour is one of the most powerful elements you can use in your space to enhance a specific mood or visually manipulate the space. And if you’re being brave enough to tackle this all yourself, there are some essential insider tricks you need to know about before you run off to the paint store!

Di Swinbourn, head of colour at Sydney Design School, has compiled her top go-to tips to help you create just the right mood for your home.

Bright colours advance the most

roomido.com brights advance
Photo credit: Coco Lapine Design

Di says that in the past there was a belief that warm colours like red, yellow and orange were the first colours we noticed – or, the colours that ‘advanced’.

This is actually untrue! It’s the bright vibrant colours that we see first, regardless of their temperature. For example: a bright blue wall (blue being a cool colour) in an interior will jump out to meet us before a light or dark wall.

This is good know if you are trying to bring the walls visually ‘closer’ to create cosiness, but should be avoided if you are trying to make a room appear more spacious.

Dark colours advance next

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Photo credit: Stylelingual

If brights aren’t your thing, Di suggests trying dark colours and tones. Walls – and ceilings – painted in dark colours like chocolate-brown, charcoal, dark navy and even black, will also give the impression that they are closer to you than light walls. Like bright colours, darks ‘advance’ but they’re just not as attention grabbing as their brighter counterparts.

Light colours recede and create spaciousness

cocolapinedesign.com light interiors
Photo credit: Coco Lapine Design

Think of looking off into the distance at a mountainous horizon. Everything starts to look very light and the further it is away from you the lighter it becomes. This theory also applies to interiors. If you need to widen a narrow space or just want to create an open expansive feeling, stick with light colours. Di reminds us not to get stuck on white – your scheme can have colour but make sure it’s a muted pastel colour. The secret to this one is to make sure there is little to no contrast in terms of colour or tone.

linenbath.com black bedroom
Photo credit: Coco Lapine Design

Not really a fan of all white interiors? An all dark space can feel almost as spacious as an all light space. Dark or mid-tones can create spaciousness, just as long as the space isn’t broken with contrasting colours or tones.

Extra tip: Di says don’t be afraid of black or charcoal walls in the bedroom. They can add a sophisticated look that is very timeless and also create a cocooning ambience that is great to lull you into a blissful sleep.

A room with contrast will appear smaller

sbraathen.no more contrast makes room smaller
Photo credit: Sbraathen

If you want to lessen the impact of an overwhelming large, open space, then fill it with lots of contrasting colours and tones. It will feel smaller and cosier. Remember, darker/brighter hues will ‘advance’ towards you.

Visually lower a ceiling

sfgirlbybay.com painted ceiling
Photo credit: sfgirlbybay

A terrific way to add drama and to visually lower a high ceiling in a cold, open space is to paint it brighter or darker than the walls. And if you’ve got picture rails, bring that colour down to meet them!

— Nikki is a surface designer who teaches colour at Sydney Design School. She was taught by Di in 2001 and now works proudly alongside her as a fellow colour-aholic.

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Kids Rooms

Top 10 tips for decorating a kid’s room on a budget

By Christie Blizzard

1. Keep it simple and add playful decadence! A neutral colour palette is the key to a great child’s room because you can subtly or dramatically change the room by adding cost-effective accessories like bed linen, cushions and throws.

2. Something new. Not just pink and blue. Paint is your best friend. Use it. Don’t be scared. It’s cost-effective, has loads of impact and can be modified over time. Think outside the square and embrace some new not-so-predictable shades. A playful orange tone is a hit with both genders and very on-trend is monochrome — so black and white is great for both boys and girls too. If you’re not sure about making such a bold statement, a feature wall is a great way to inject some colour into a room while still playing it safe. To do this, simply map out your artwork on the wall using a soft lead pencil and get ready to splash some colour!

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3. Growth spurt! There’s a lot of paraphernalia that comes with kids so good storage is essential. Invest in something that can adapt as your child grows with shelves, drawers and hanging space so you can hide the contents behind closed doors.

10 best places to buy Aussie kid’s linen online

4. Wall stickers. Create an artistic focal point in the nursery with wall stickers. When they’ve served their purpose they can be removed easily and you won’t have to repaint the wall. Love Mae is a charming online store which has a great selection of fabric wall stickers – we’re particularly drawn to the Little Critters and Floating Feathers designs. I also love the team at Urban Walls and Vivid Wall Decals too. Lots of simple options here that don’t lock you into a themed room.

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5. Upcycle. Markets and garage sales provide a day out for parents and children to explore charming pieces that can be brought back to life. I recently sourced a beautiful wicker bedside for $4, sprayed it with gold spray paint and now it has become a beautiful signature piece for the home!

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6. Frame it. Art can be found anywhere. Special wrapping paper, tea towels or a big sister’s painting. Different sized frames will add texture and dimension to the room and inspire conversation.

7. Layering effect. Have some fun with the bed and go OTT with throws, cushions and special toys which will add a punch of personality to the room.

8. Future-proof the space and makes sure it can grow with them. If you buy a throw for your cot linen, be sure it will match what you have in mind when they jump into their big kid bed.

9. Budget stretch. Make your budget go further by buying key pieces of furniture that are versatile. For example, many cot styles adapt into junior beds and the right chest of drawers can double as a change table.

10. Blackboards are a novel way kiddies can draw on the walls (without being scolded!). Select one wall to feature (ideally opposite the bed) and cover. Such a dramatic injection will capture your little one’s personality and art can be updated each day. All you need is the chalk!

— Designer, actress and mother Christie Blizzard, is an established and well-regarded member of the design community. A big kid at heart, Christie specialises in enchanted children’s design projects, creating modern spaces where children (and their dreams) can grow.  

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RENO ADDICT

Shaynna Blaze’s 10 Commandments of Colour

Picking a colour to paint your home isn’t easy. In fact, for 70 percent of the nation it can be so daunting that they just choose white. Boring! But Taubmans want to change that so they’ve launched two new digital tools: the Paint Your Own Room tool and Shaynna Blaze’s 10 Commandments of Colour, in the hope that Australians will embrace adding that little splash of colour to their home.

Shaynna Blaze Blank Canvas

The 10 Commandments of Colour were created to help give consumers the confidence to get started on their DIY projects this Spring. Written by Taubmans brand ambassador and colour creative director Shaynna Blaze, it features the 10 tips that debunk common colour myths and arm consumers with the knowledge they need to get painting with colour right, every time!

“It always surprises me how many homeowners resort to painting with white despite the catalogue of over 5,500 Taubmans paint shades available,” explains Shaynna. “It’s obvious that, despite Australia’s vibrant culture, people lack the confidence to use colour in their homes. It’s my mission to provide DIY novices with a better understanding of how colour can transform a space. By breaking down the paint selection process into simple steps, my 10 Commandments of Colour help people to tackle their fear of colour head-on and feel empowered to choose the perfect colour for their home.”

The visual guide (see below) provides quick and easy rules to follow when selecting a paint colour. Colour theory is broken down into bite-sized tips, including how to manipulate a space with colour, getting the colour proportions right and choosing the correct colour combinations for your home.

Once consumers have narrowed their selection using the 10 Commandments of Colour, they can head to the Taubmans website to virtually test out colours in their room using the Paint Your Own Room tool. This allows users to upload an image of the room that they plan to paint and digitally re-colour the walls with the hue of their choice.

Taubmans is also offering personal colour consulting services on the weekends of the 4 and 11 of October at 50 Bunnings stores. Visit their website to find the dates and locations or to download the 10 Commandments of Colour, try out the Paint Your Own Room tool and discover more expert decorating tips and tricks.

Taubmans 10 Commandments of Colour Infographic