Earlier this month on Instagram Tales, I requested you to submit any and all inside design questions you had for me. I answered just a few questions on Instagram and needed to share my responses to 5 extra in at the moment’s weblog publish.
In at the moment’s publish, I’m sharing my solutions to your inside design questions, together with tips on how to add shade to a impartial dwelling, tips on how to prioritize desires vs. wants, tips on how to make open areas really feel cozy, and extra.
I’m additionally providing one-on-one consulting periods, must you be all for discussing your private inside design questions with me. Yow will discover extra information and schedule a session through Calendly.
1. I’ve a small dwelling with white partitions and impartial furnishings. How do I add shade in a considerate approach?
That is when textiles are your finest buddy. I’d first take into account rugs, to floor a impartial room with shade. My favourite choices are Swedish kilim rugs. (I shared twelve of my favourite locations to buy rugs on this weblog publish, should you’re interested in the place to start out your search!) I additionally like to take a block-printed quilt or throw and drape it over the again of a impartial couch. It creates a beautiful layered look.
Moreover, I’d take into account bringing in shade via a lighting possibility like a lamp. You would even take a look at the waters in a small approach by swapping out a lampshade you have already got for a colourful model. In case your model is extra conventional, take into account making an attempt a patterned pleated lampshade. If it’s extra fashionable, take into account a colourful glass lampshade.
Lastly, I’d advocate bringing in a bit of artwork in a shade palette you like. There are a variety of enjoyable prints on websites like Society6, which can also be an inexpensive approach to experiment with bringing colourful artwork into your house.
There are such a lot of great methods so as to add shade to a impartial house. Attempt one or two out for your self and have enjoyable with the method!
2. When is it a good suggestion to color the ceiling the identical shade because the partitions? We’re redoing our small however pure light-filled kitchen.
There’s no proper or fallacious reply on this state of affairs. It’s extra about the way you personally need the house to really feel. Would you like it to really feel extra intimate, cozy, and separate from the remainder of the home, or would you like it to really feel tall and expansive? If the previous, paint the ceiling! If the latter, go away it as is.
Must you wish to outline an area in a approach that’s completely different from the remainder of the rooms in your house, portray a ceiling can do that. Plus, if the colour you’re utilizing is extra of a medium hue (somewhat than a very darkish shade), it’ll nonetheless really feel like a vibrant house, significantly if it’s stuffed with pure gentle.
3. How do you prioritize desires vs. wants when spending cash on a house?
Deciding tips on how to prioritize dwelling purchases is private to each particular person. It’s about figuring out what you worth most, understanding the lifespan of any given piece or materials, and making decisions that construct upon your private inside design model.
If there are a variety of stuff you wish to buy or tasks you wish to deal with, it is perhaps troublesome to prioritize every little thing in actual order. If that is so, I discover it useful to deal with one factor at a time. Ask your self, What issues most to me to replace proper now? What change could have the most important affect on my life at dwelling proper now? Let that factor be the precedence; whenever you test that off the checklist and have the price range for one thing else, you may resolve on the subsequent precedence.
It’s about figuring out what you worth most, understanding the lifespan of any given piece or materials, and making decisions that construct upon your private inside design model.
When you resolve in your present precedence and try to find out how a lot you wish to spend, I feel that is the place it’s useful to think about longevity. Should you’re contemplating a kitchen transform and are questioning whether or not it is best to begin with a brief makeover (e.g., portray the cupboards or switching out the {hardware}), take into account the prices and timeline. If the price of the non permanent makeover isn’t very excessive and it could permit you to save up for the kitchen transform you actually wish to do in just a few years, it might be price ready and doing the non permanent makeover first.
In the case of smaller purchases like decor, it can be useful to have a basic understanding of the place you personally wish to spend extra money and the place you wish to spend much less. I prefer to spend cash on issues I do know I’ll have for a very long time, like rugs and artwork, and fewer on issues I’ll wish to swap out with extra regularity, like lamps and throw pillows.
4. What are your ideas for designing a room round low, angled attic ceilings?
I like the concept of utilizing the shorter areas in these sorts of rooms (the place you’re not capable of stand) as alternatives for storage. It could possibly be as elaborate as hiring somebody to put in customized built-ins or it could possibly be so simple as placing collectively cupboards from IKEA. If there’s room between the highest of the cupboards and the angled ceiling, use it as a possibility to show lovely espresso desk books or trinkets that talk to your character.
I additionally love the concept of portray the partitions, trim, and ceiling the identical shade in a room like this (or overlaying the partitions and ceiling in the identical small print wallpaper). I feel this is able to make the house really feel so cozy and alluring.
5. How do you make open areas with excessive ceilings really feel cozy? I stay in a house constructed within the ‘90s with tan partitions in all places.
I’d first take into account the lighting in these areas. When you have hanging lighting fixtures, I’d advocate hanging them at a decrease top than you would possibly initially assume to do. This may even be a fantastic alternative to herald a fixture in a bigger scale with a heat texture or form (e.g., a globe gentle or a lightweight with a rattan shade) that emits a softer glow. And don’t neglect about lamps and activity lighting to actually up the comfy issue!
Subsequent, I’d take into consideration format. If the footprint of every house is giant, take into account methods to create smaller nooks inside every room. Dividing up the house into a number of zones is one approach to obtain a cozier ambiance. In a household room, as an illustration, there could possibly be a possibility to create two or three particular person nooks. Listed below are just a few choices: a sitting space, a studying nook with an opulent chair and an ottoman, or a nook with a small cafe desk and chairs.
Kate is at present studying to play the Ukulele, a lot to the despair of her husband, children, and canines. Observe her on Instagram at @witanddelight_.