At my spring Secret Design Party, one of the guests came with the interior design dilemma of ‘how do you create a cohesive flow in your home’. It’s an important question to consider if you’re extending or you’ve just moved into a new home and want to make it feel homely, if you’re planning on selling your property and need to attract buyers, or if you want to make your current home feel more spacious.

 

The key to a cohesive space is to firstly understand the space that you have and then recognise the needs of the people within that space. (If you’re selling your home then you also need to consider the needs of your potential buyers.) Here are my recommendations to help you create a co-ordinated and cohesive space.

 

A COHESIVE DESIGN

Let’s take a look at Laura who has recently moved into a new home with her partner. Like Laura, when I moved into my first home with my hubby, I remember how exciting it was for us both. It was a period 2-bed property with wood chip wallpaper, badly worn brown carpet and the kitchen was barely big enough for a goblin, but we loved it all the same. I particularly remember how relatives wanted to give me their leftover furniture and I still have a hand me down 1940’s utility sofa that’s been lovingly recovered so many times to keep it looking modern and fresh. It’s even been showcased in the Sunday Times ‘House Proud’.

 

Whether it’s your first home or you’ve been rattling in your property for many years, it’s important to  constantly review your space to make sure everything is complimenting each other, particularly if you’ve been gifted different pieces of furniture from those well meaning relatives. Over time, an interior can become diluted as we add more things into the space, so it’s advisable to take stock once a year to make sure your home is how you want it to be. This will stop your space from feeling cluttered and dated, keeping a balanced space that’s suited to you and your lifestyle. For example: I kept my vintage sofa because it’s angular lines and simple style looks modern and suits the design for my lounge, but I let gave away a drop leaf table that looked dated and didn’t compliment my new  contemporary lounge furniture.

 

To achieve cohesiveness, a great way to begin is with a clearly defined style. Choose one piece of furniture, a favourite picture or a stylish wallpaper as your inspiration.

 

Laura designs and creates the most beautiful handmade wallpaper, which I have in my own master bedroom, and it’s a great starting point when planning a cohesive design for her new home. Wallpaper will add texture, colour and style to your home. It also elevates a room with added interest and appeal. Laura can use the style and colour scheme of her wallpaper to create a beautiful room.

 

For example, in her master bedroom Laura could take inspiration from WallpaperFurniture that compliment each other, such as her Dotty Bird collection with its soft romantic style. Taking the base colour from her wallpaper she can create a monochromatic colour scheme, using shades that are slightly darker and lighter than her base teal colour. She would co-ordinate this colour scheme into her bedroom using accessories such as cushions and bedding. This creates a coordinated master bedroom that looks absolutely #gorgeous.

 

If Laura wants to create a home, rather than just a room, that’s coordinated then she could blend the colour scheme and the style from the master bedroom through to the rest of her new home. A blended colour scheme is where you take 3 colours and use them throughout your home in different proportions. For example, Laura’s colour scheme is based around the soft blue-green teal colour. In her bedroom she could use the soft teal with a clotted cream colour that’s romantic and relaxing, but in her lounge she could increase the proportion of blue, through her accessories, for added drama and depth to her room design. Keeping the same colour palette throughout your home but using different percentages of the colours in each room will create a cohesive space with individual interest in every room.

 

Like Laura, when you’re creating a cohesive look and feel in your home, focus on a consistent style with a blended colour scheme. This will make your home flow and feel balanced which creates a calming and relaxing space.  Good luck and if you need my help or guidance then I’m always here to help.

 

Wishing you a Stylish & Healthy home.

 Gwendoline

BIID Interior Designer

House Doctor

Radio, Conference & Event Speaker