Welcome to Part 1.  Combining Fabric Patterns.

Today we are going to cover 5 basic principals in combining fabrics just like the designers do?

Are you struggling with your rooms in your home at the moment.  Just can't get it quiet right??

Lets work step by step together over the next couple of blogs to try and work out your patterns.

Step 1.  Always find one basic fabric you like and work around it!   Whether it be a solid, striped, floral design.

This design will be your foundation for the room.  Then we shall work from this piece.

Step 2.  Golden rule of design try not to use more than 3 design patterns in the one room.  Otherwise, the effect

will be of mess & distraction rather than calm & balance.

Step 3. Be creative and think outside the square.  Vary your style of the patterns.  Instead of choosing 3 striped fabrics,

throw in a floral or geometric pattern.  Or one of each.   Bearing in mind the colours co- ordinate together.

Step 4.  Unite the patterns with a common colour.  If your foundation colour is Olive green,  all of the chosen fabrics should have

this Olive green as the prominent colour.

Step 5.  Don't cluster the patterns in one area of the room.  Spread them out in at least 3 different areas of your room to give visual

balance to your room..

I do hope these tips help and give you something to think about.

Step 6-10 will be available very soon on my blog.

Happy decorating!!!!

Part 2.

Traffic Flows.

Hi welcome back to a continuation of my previous blog about How to Arrange your Furniture.

We are looking at traffic flows and how important it is to get this right.

Things to look out for are doors.  Do you have doors in this space??? Which way do they open???

In living rooms always take into account the size of the Television and if people are going to pass through your viewing area.

Group your seating in a television area close together to help prevent someone passing by whilst your watching your comedy show.

Place your chairs and sofa close enough to give your room a feeling of intimacy and every body can be heard.

As a guide the coffee table is usually set a minimum of 60cm - 70cm  from the sofa.. Not always to be treated as the golden rule.

If the coffee table is closer that this your special table becomes  a foot stool.

Your Television needs to be set back at lease 3 - 4 times the size of the screen.   Too large a screen will dominate a room.

Your pathway for traffic is best to be a lease 1 metre wide.  The more used pathway the wider it should be.  Up to 1.5metres wide is extremely comfortable.

A pathway of 75cm  is acceptable for infrequent used pathways.

Be smart when purchasing furniture.  If your rooms double for multi purposes than think hard about the furniture you should choose.

Does your TV room double as a toy room???   Mine does.  Then put in a coffee table with storage draws or baskets for all the toys.

Create a toy box (chest) to hold the toys, then add a simple cushion padding on top to then transform this to aseat or as a coffee table with out the padding.

Throw in an ottoman which provides additional seating when guests come over.

Our Office becomes spare room when visitors arrive.  Throw in a sofa lounge that can be whipped out to be a sofa bed.

The office desk then can double for a dressing table.

Think smart you can utilise valuable space wisely.

I do hope all this helps with your arrangement of furniture.  Keep an eye on more exciting blogs coming up in the near future.

My next blog will be about Combining Fabrics just like the Designers do!

Happy rearranging your home and creating your unique style for your family.

Don't forget to look at my new stock which arrives from time to time at

www.retrohomefabrics.com.au

www.retrohomewares.com.au

Are you planning on moving into a new home or tired of your existing look of your home.

The best way to get a new feel to your special space is to work those muscles and start moving your furniture around to create a dramatic difference.

Firstly if you don't want to move the furniture around on your own  (No doubt your husband doesn't know what your planning) then its time to be creative by drawing your room and furniture to scale on paper is a great way to get things started.

Cut to scale the furniture pieces then you can easily move the pieces around without pulling a muscle.

This is such a useful method I use for my clients to get the feel for the visual look we are trying to achieve.  Before you go out and spend money on furniture that is too big or too small.

Tip 1.

Remove the Clutter.

This helps you see the true shape and size of your room.  A room without clutter makes you feel more organized at peace & relaxed.

Tip 2.

Create a Focal Point.

Place your furniture around a focal point.   This can be a fire place a piece of artwork or a large window leading to a view.

Always take in account the size of your room.  If you have a small area there needs to be at least one conversational area.  For larger areas in the living room there maybe more than one furniture grouping.

Tip 3.

Keeping the Room Balanced.

Stand back and take a look at the balance of the furniture and artwork in the room.

If most of your furniture is top or bottom heavy your room will appear unbalanced vertically.

If the smaller pieces of furniture  are to one side and the heavier to the other side the room will look unbalanced horizontally.

To balance a room up its easier to use Artwork, Sculpture & Plants.  Also using rugs can separate and define specific areas.

Tip 4.

Traffic Flow.

This is an extremely important part of the process of changing your space.

Traffic needs to flow easily giving your home an ease to move around and enjoy.

No side stepping around furniture, pot plants or coffee tables.

We need to consider the waistlines of your friends and family and allow for the direction of traffic that will take to get to one area to another.

I hope you enjoy these tips.  I will continue this blog over the next couple of weeks.  This will however give you the opportunity to take in all this information.

Move a few things around and see what you come up with.  Just remember to stick to these basic rules and your should make quiet a difference to your space.

Drop me an email to let me know how you have succeeded through my website at www.retrohomefabrics.com.au

happy home decorating.

Don't forget I have lots of fabrics & cushion covers on sale at the moment at www.retrohomefabrics.com.au  & www.retrohomewares.com.au

Understanding what is your decorating style is will be the first step in figuring out & creating your own style.

1.  When I am styling one of the first questions I ask is what Hotels do you like staying in?  This usually gives me a clue of what decor style my client may be.

If you always stay in a cozy  B & B there's your answer already.  You will probably then find lots of quaint possibly french pieces of furniture around the home.

Love your family vacations by the beach and have jars of shells in your bathroom then maybe a Coastal cottage style is your thing.

Holidaying in the Mantra's which are extremely modern than a modern decor would be more appealing to you.

Lets face it how many times have we been on holidays and our own home is more funky quirky and expressive than the hotel we just stayed at.  Often the decor can be extremely disappointing not to mention daggy.

So there's a few clues.  Whats your style???

2.  Now look around your home and see what you have a lot of.

Yes maybe lots of the same colour, shape or style.  Its really simple I look around my home and all I see is bright large prints of coloured shapes.

Lots of Oranges & Reds & Olives in my fabrics & Wall colours.

Lots of textures within fabrics.  Texture bits & pieces of sculpture.

My furniture is modern but a twist of Retro.    I have combined the two.

My style is Retro.

3.  Art work what is hanging on your walls.

Artwork certainly says something about you????

Art is purely personal and is not tied to function or need.  It is an expression of ones self.

A Vintage poster means you like the classic lines of furniture.

An abstract photograph tells me your in to the modern design.

Wall hangings of coastal beaches than your feel at home with a beachy feel to your home. There fore the shabby chic distressed white / cane furniture is for you.

4.  Where do you shop??? is a goodie for working out your style.

Do you browse through the same store time after time?

Does a flea market of Vinnies store make your heart race???

Where you look for your furniture speaks volumes about your style.  New, Used , found, handed down through generations.

5. What is your favourite room in the home??

Create this room to what you think your style may be then repeat it.  There is nothing wrong with having all your rooms designed similarly.

This can bring an organised calmness to your home.

Soon I will be posting more tips on Choosing & Combining Patterns to make your home quirky and inspiring to your friends and family.

Enjoy decorating.

Drop me a line if you have any questions.