How not to decorate

How not to decorate – Part 2

read part 1 of how not to decorate your home

6, Reproduction

 A house or a piece of furniture should reflect its own time. One of the worst interiors I’ve seen was a traditional look created in a modernist 60’s building. All furniture looked “antique” – reproduced ceiling roses, picture rails and cornices were used to make to house look old. WHY? What is the point of making something new look old? If you want old – buy old. But don’t make new furniture/buildings/decoration look old. You should always try to be true to the age of your building – don’t add unoriginal features. However, new and old can work very well together – but you must be careful in order to get toget the balance right..

7, Ornaments

 Most of us like collecting things and display them around our house. In fact all of us have some sort of collection (even if not intentionally). They don’t have to be all over the house though. Put them in a stylish glass cabinet or create a zone for them – and display them in a controlled way. Select your ten favourites – then box the rest. (I know, it’s hard – but think of the dusting – the more you have on display the more you have to clean!) Then there is the issue of pictures and photos – again, if you just hang them on the wall without any discipline they will look messy and chaotic (making you subconsciously restless!). Create visual order by using the same size and/or style frames on all your pictures for each room. Family photos are best kept in an album, but if you must frame them – again, use the same kind of frames. Or better still, allocate a wall, a door or a corner somewhere in your house for a feature wall where you could get creative: you could pin, hang, stick your favourite holiday & family pics alongside of recipes, magazine cut-outs etc… call it the live scrapbook of your life

8, Laminated floors

They are cheap and they look cheap. They actually look OK in a magazine but in real-life they really look and feel their price. Avoid them. Engineered wooden flooring is similar to laminated floors (they come in “planks”, so they are easy to lay). The top layer is real wood and normally it’s sealed with a resin-based varnish, so it’s very hard-wearing. They are more expensive than laminates but they are getting cheaper and cheaper. An alternative is the mosaic parquet floor tiles – it’s as cheap as laminates but at least it’s made of solid wood.

9, Neglecting the Bedroom

In Feng Shui the bedroom is one the most important areas of the home. Why? Because we spend at least a third of our life in the bedroom. OK, this time is mainly spent on sleeping, but during sleep our mind reorganises things, our cells are regenerated and our body is resting. So it’s important to decorate this room appropriately. Despite being a popular choice, a bedroom should not look boudoir. The colours red and purple over-stimulate your mind making you fell stressed. Don’t use your bedroom as an office, or a storage room – use your sitting room or kitchen instead. The bedroom should be the sanctuary of your home where you escape to relax, chill and rest.

10, Odour

You really have to consider your pets when you decide on decoration. If you have cats and dogs it’s best not to use carpets – particularly light carpets. Your floor must be easily wipeable. Your sofa and armchairs should have washable covers, and make sure you clean properly after your pets. Same goes to smokers – when you decide on furnishing your home you must remember that textile take in the smell of cigarettes. You might not be able to smell this yourself – but one of the most off-putting smells is that of a smoker’s home. Use sofas with washable covers, don’t have carpets and have venetian blinds instead of curtains. Don’t use wallpaper in rooms where you smoke. You’ll also need to redecorate more often as the smoke yellows the paintwork in time.