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Decorating 101 Expert Tips Reno Trends Styling

Change up your seasonal decor with these autumn styling tips

Property stylist Justine Wilson shares her expert tips and tricks for her favourite season of the year. From colour palettes to adding some ambience, here’s how to create a cosy feel in every room of your home this autumn.

Colour palette

Autumn encompasses earthy and warm tones. Spruce up your interiors with colours such as rust, amber, mustard, brown, caramel, and deep greens. You can introduce colour through a variety of ways, such as artwork, accessories, florals, and soft furnishings. Or, go for rich colours like red, deep browns and tan across furniture, pillows and accessories. The trick is to not overdo it, rather work in small accents throughout your home.

Texture

Styling this season is all about layers. Think heavy coverlets and blankets on your bed, snuggly throws on your sofa, lots of plush cushions and warm rugs underfoot. You can also layer many textures together with materials such as velvet, wool, cashmere and flannel and thick natural linens, creating an inviting and cosy feel in your space.


“It is a time of year where there is the perfect mix of warm sun and cool breezes, coupled with the beautiful colours of the turning landscape,” Justine says. “When it comes to interiors, autumn is the perfect time to embrace this transitional feeling – and use it as a time to reset, refresh, and prepare your abode for the cooler months.”

Pattern

Expect lots of patterns in decoration trends; classics such as tweed and tartan will be back with force, especially as many embrace the ‘cottagecore’ aesthetic. More classic patterns such as gingham and check will make a comeback. As well as florals with more moody, muted colourways in dark emeralds, navy and warm rust tones. Try broadening your horizons and incorporating more woodland motifs and leather.

Ambience

There’s a number of ways you can represent autumn within. Lots of pumpkins and root vegetables displayed around the kitchen foster a feeling of abundance. Whilst pears in a bowl, jars of nuts and herb cuttings displayed in urns or vessels on your counters, and beautiful vases of greenery also set the natural fall mood. This time of year is all about feeling cosy and being prepared. As the light fades, use muted lighting with candles, and table and floor lamps to set the desired relaxed scene.

-Justine Wilson is owner of Vault Interiors and selected stylist for Space Invaders on channel 9.

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Decorating 101 Design Shopping Styling

Four great tips for a warm and welcoming atmosphere this winter

While Australian winters might not be the bleakest, this is a period when staying snug in the comfort of one’s home seems more appealing than heading out. As we approach that time of the year when entertaining and socialising moves indoors, it’s time to think about making the home more welcoming, using interior design to fill it with warmth and cosiness, and making it a season to look forward to. 

Here are a few tips from Great Dane to create a home atmosphere that is intimate and sparks joy this winter. 

Play with different textures

Make spaces look and feel more homely and inviting by using furniture upholstered with leather, velvet, sheepskin, alpaca wool and other textural materials. Sofas and easy chairs with leather warm up to match body temperatures, while chairs with canvas and paper cord maximise comfort. Add a finishing touch with woolly throws, plush cushions and rugs that enhance cosiness. 

Create intimacy and warmth with candles

Lighting candles makes the home feel more inviting, especially during the winter months. Candles add a soft glow to the space, making it appear more welcoming. Light candles in clusters of different heights, colours and shapes to add an element of interest, while also adjusting the level of brightness to suit the space.

Brighten the home with soft lighting 

The lack of adequate sunlight in winter can be harsh, and most houses can feel gloomy during the day. Chandeliers and lamps that illuminate with a soft glow help make a space feel more inviting, which is ideal when most evenings will likely be spent indoors. Lamps with pleated paper and textile shades lend a soft and cosy light to living spaces, exuding much-needed warmth. 

Connect with nature indoors

Celebrate the outdoors even while stuck inside by introducing greenery in the living areas. Flowers, garden cuttings and sculptural branches can be arranged beautifully in vases to introduce a touch of nature. Introducing natural elements also breathes life into the space, working as a source of inspiration especially if working from home will continue to be on the cards through winter.

For more information.

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Styling

Home happiness: 5 design elements that affect it

With Australians spending more time than ever in their homes, it is interesting to consider the impact our interior has on our wellbeing and how it makes us feel. The subtleties of interior design often impact upon our happiness in ways we don’t understand. From colour combinations to squeaky floorboards, The Design Paddock share five interior design elements that influence the happiness of our homes.

“It is generally accepted that Australians spend 90 percent of their time indoors. This
is an enormous portion of time so it’s imperative to consider the impact the built
environment can have on our wellbeing,” says Millie Alison, co-founder of The Design
Paddock.

  1. Lighting

“Don’t underestimate the impact that lighting can have on your mood, emotions and
wellbeing,” says co-founder Katrina Garrett.

Lighting in a room can either provide illumination for the entirety of a space or it can highlight specific elements. Having different lighting styles such as ceiling lights, wall lights and table lamps allow you to be able to alter the lighting to shift the mood. Flooding a room with natural light can instantly lift the mood, allowing a connection
to the outside. During the evening however, we also need darkness to create a cosy
environment with softer light – candles and dimmable lights are a great way to create
this calming ambience.

2. Colour psychology

The colour palette you select for your home should have a positive psychological
and emotional effect upon you. Colour choices in soft, neutral, warm
tones are not only timeless but also calming and relaxing, particularly when used in
living or bedroom spaces. White is such a popular choice for people as it often feels
‘safe’, but people need to be mindful of how much white they use as it has the
potential to make a space feel cold and clinical.

Colour palettes for homes have the ability to energise or make you anxious. It can soothe or motivate – depending on the colours and combinations. Red and oranges can stimulate, while blue hues are calming. We suggest using the same colours, tones and textures in connecting areas, such as hallways and stairways to give the home a sense of continuity.

3. Sound

Is there anything more annoying than squeaky doors and cupboards,
or creaky floorboards? These sounds can agitate, and a simple spray of a lubricant
can fix this daily annoyance. If footsteps on the hardwood floor are disruptive at night,
put down a runner with an underlay. On the other hand, music in the home can have a positive impact on those in the space. Music can be incorporated throughout the home discreetly by installing speakers in the ceiling of your living areas both inside and out. This can create a lovely ambience when entertaining.

4. Textures

Textures and finishes can offer both tangible and visual experiences which can be
associated with a variety of feelings and it is important to create a balance between
the two. Mixing up patterns in loose furnishings such as cushions, throws and rugs
in the same colour palette, varying textures and layering with different shapes to make the space interesting but not visually overwhelming. The best rooms are those that are restrained and not too over decorated.

Incorporating texture can elevate the overall spatial experience and ignite the senses without you even knowing it. Texture works in a similar way to colour, rough textures are more likely to make a space feel intimate and grounded whilst the smoother bring a sleek and more luxurious vibe. We like to balance the two by incorporating different materials, different weaves and different levels of softness such as a leather to create a more seamless space.

5. Express your personality

Ultimately the interior of your home should be a reflection of your story and the people living within it. Following trends won’t necessarily bring you happiness
in your home and sometimes the things we think we want don’t actually make us feel at home. When you create spaces in your home with things you love, that’s a gateway
towards a happy home.

–The Design Paddock is a unique interior design and decorating company that revamps interior landscapes for people in the bush and beyond.

Millie and Katrina from The Design Paddock

Imagery: Sheri McMahon Photography

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Designers Expert Tips Outdoor & Exteriors RENO ADDICT

The top 5 exterior trends for 2018

Shelter Island

About to take on a renovation or just revamp your outdoor space? Well put down that paintbrush and read this. The team at Nexus Designs have shared their predictions on what’s in store for 2018 and there’s a few surprises. Two words… red bricks!

Texture

Increased awareness of texture is coming to the forefront. This is being expressed in two key ways, contrasting textures and self-patterned textures. Contrasts between gloss levels of the same material are highly effective. This trend has been increasing in the interiors sphere and is now extending to the exterior.

Self-patterned textures are being seen with the increased popularity of bricks, particularly in the new, more elongated shapes that are now available. This textural trend brings a level of craftsmanship to exteriors which is a welcome relief to acres of render.

Embrace textural contrast by using COLORBOND steel Matt for the roof and standard COLORBOND steel for the gutters and trims.

Red bricks

They’re back! But they will be used in a more considered way. Red brick has been used beautifully in heritage buildings and not-so beautifully in generic suburbia where it was a default choice. Now this classic, ancient building material (the Romans used it exceptionally well) is coming back and bringing with it a warm, premium finish. It’s not being used for whole houses but rather to enhance the building’s form, alongside other curated materials in a very contemporary way.

Natural finishes

With the resurgence of interest in mid-century Modernist houses, we are flagging an interest in a more authentic, natural approach to building materials. Referencing the way ground-breaking firms of that era (like Merchant Builders in Victoria and Pettit & Sevitt in NSW) used materials honestly, timber is being finished with a clear, natural or lightly stained coat rather than being disguised by heavy paint.

Photography by James Geer | Architecture by Sally Draper | Interiors by Nexus Designs

Neutrals

The appeal of neutral colours – greys, beiges, off-whites – is not going away, but it is becoming more sophisticated. The neutrality is being subtly enhanced by the use of different materials within one colour palette ie silvery grey concrete, mid grey bricks and dark grey roofing, which links back to the texture trend.

Photography by Mark Roper | Architecture by Inarc Architects | Interiors by Nexus Designs

Upgraded landscape elements

We are seeing new attention being paid to the peripheral elements of the house including garage doors, fences, sheds and water tanks, and how they work with the house and the streetscape. The trend is for these to be integrated into the overall exterior scheme, rather than being less important afterthoughts. Their impact on the landscaping is being recognised and being used to greater advantage.

For more on Nexus Designs | Our favourite outdoor furniture