Avoiding the Trend Trap and creating a timeless interior – Our Top 10 Tips
When it comes to designing or renovating your home it’s often difficult to strike a balance between expressing your own sense of style and following the latest home design trends. Sure, it’s fine to go with what’s ‘in’ but never forget your home is about you! It’s a reflection of you, how you live and what you love. If you create a style within your home that reflects your personality rather than your Pinterest board it will be easier for your home’s style to evolve and remain looking chic for years to come.
So here’s our top ten tips on avoiding the trend trap…..
1. Be inspired but not bound by trends –
We will always be influenced by trends but the key is not to feel pressured by it. A timeless interior looks beyond temporary trends and focus on a style that you love and will last. The shear fact of the matter is, your home is about you! This should be your absolute core focus when it comes to selections. Sure, if there is a trend that you absolutely love, incorporate it but don’t be bound by it..
2. Invest in Good Design –
Investing in good design is paramount. A well thought out design should always ensure functionality, elegance, adaptability and durability, as these design elements are key influences to creating a timeless interior. The most successful interiors that withstand the test of time are those that have been well planned so don’t skimp on getting the right professional advice
3. Quality over quantity –
A well balanced room with quality furnishings and materials will present better than and overcrowded space with poorer quality décor.
4. Balance is crucial –
Timeless interiors have a balance and symmetry. Rooms are often centred around a focal point and furniture is scaled and proportioned to the size of the room.
5. Mix old and new –
A timeless style is subtle adaptable and is able to pull items from yesterday, today and tomorrow to create a look that is unique. Add personality by incorporating family pieces and antiques into your space, whether its Nanna’s antique dresser or Dad’s retro record player, everything old is new again. The trick is to mix these pieces with new finds to keep it from feeling like a film set. An antique furniture piece under a contemporary art piece on beautiful crisp white walls can look incredible and current. Just as an older rug under a modern sofa can create a timeless feel.
6. Tell YOUR Story –
Buy decor items while travelling, a blanket from India, or a mirror from a French antique market tells such a better story than yet another trinket from Zara Home and will add layers and stories to your home. The idea is that your home feel curated not decorated!
7. A classic colour palette –
Without a doubt in timeless interiors neutrals have a strong presence. Beige s, greys and whites in particular, have a way of accentuating and interior and creating continuity. But opting for a neutral palette does not mean you can’t add personality and feeling – play on texture and natural materials if you want to add depth.
8. Don’t be afraid of colour –
There is no need to be afraid of colour or worse yet, feel restricted to the latest “it colour” when incorporating colour into your home. The trick is to find a colour that makes your heart sing and work it into your interior. Throw in a trend colour you love with artwork or a decorative elements like a throw or cushion, strategically working the colour in will ensure it coexist beautifully with your interior.
9. Lets talk materials! –
Embrace natural materials in your finishes, fixtures and furnishings such as timbers, stone, marble, metals, and linens. Especially when it comes to flooring and ceiling selections as these design elements will be an ongoing occurrence throughout the majority of the home and will essentially create the ideal canvas for your furnishings.
10. Future Proof –
No one holds a crystal ball, so it’s impossible to predict what our tastes, desires and needs will be in the future. When approaching the design of our home, all we can do is look at our current lifestyle and ensure that whatever we design tries to cater for how these needs and desires might change in the future. So rather than being a slave to what is “in” and fashionable now, focus on designing a home that is sustainable, adaptable and flexible as we and the world around us change.
