A GOOD SPRING clean, decluttering session or even a thorough assessment of what sparks joy will make a big difference to your home.
But there are some common layout mistakes that are potentially holding your home back more.
Reorienting your rooms can give the space a better focus, a more functional flow, or it might just give it a lift from the same old, same old you’ve had for years. We spoke to interior designers Elaine Verdon of Leo + Cici, and Sara Thompson of Thompson Clarke to get an idea of what to do about the big offenders.
Let’s face it, we all flop down in front of the TV of an evening, but the whole room doesn’t have to revolve around where your television is.
“I think it’s always really nice to focus on a hero piece in the room,” says Elaine. “If you have a fireplace in the room, focusing on that can really bring warmth to the room. Or if you have a piece of art, or a big mirror – position your furniture towards that like a focal point, so you don’t end up defaulting to the TV. If you want a refresh, focusing on another element of the room, and ideally a hero piece, is so much nicer. It’s a lovely way to look at the room. You could even focus on the window, if you have a beautiful view.”
We hate to go all feng shui on you, but when it comes to getting a good night’s sleep, we’ll try anything. “I think as you come into a bedroom, it’s good to see the headboard, a decorative lovely headboard, facing you and not a big ugly wardrobe,” says Sara.
This is something Elaine echoes: “The bed is the first thing you want to jump into, you want to be able to see it as you come into the room. The worst crime you can do is shoving a bed up into a corner. If you can, position it in the centre of the room, backed up to the wall so there’s good flow,” she says.
The kitchen is one of the most functional spaces in your home, and yet many people have things set up in a dysfunctional way.
“If your kitchen is fixed and you can’t move it, it’s about being really clever about how you store things,” says Elaine.
“When you’re looking at a kitchen, you should have it in three zones: prep, cook and eat. All the relevant things for each of those should be at that station, so you don’t end up running around the kitchen while you’re cooking. It’s about making it more streamlined and a better space for you to be in, by making it organised, and relevant to the tasks at hand in each area.”
Your living room isn’t a doctor’s waiting room, so don’t feel your seating, coffee tables and everything else has to be pushed back against the walls. Despite creating a bigger clear floor space, it may actually be making the room feel smaller.
“Having your sofas against the wall isn’t great,” says Sara. “But equally you don’t want to walk into a room and see the back of a sofa either. So putting a console table behind the sofa, perhaps with some lamps on top of it – that’s a much better look than having the couch and the console against the wall.
“The console table means you have something interesting to look at when you walk into the room instead of the back of the sofa. Moving them all away from the walls gives the room a better flow, and it usually feels a lot more spacious.”
Sure, we’d all love to do a home refresh every season with new accessories and even furniture, but most people don’t have the budget for it. The only thing for it according to Sara? Shop your own home – and don’t be afraid to mix and match.
“Ultimately if you’ve bought well in the first place, you should be able to enjoy it and love it for the rest of time. Beautiful things always go together so don’t worry too much about matching everything together,” she says. “If you’re reusing and you have beautiful pieces, these things often go together if they’re well-made, so don’t be afraid to bring a piece from one room to another. It can look totally different.”
Lighting can completely change the atmosphere of a room, so you may be surprised what a little consideration when it comes to your lamps can do. “It’s really important to use a mix of overhead lighting, floor lamps and table lamps – and wall lights are also so on trend right now too,” says Elaine. “Having a mix of those immediately changes the atmosphere of a room, and makes it feel more inviting and cosier. It can also be much better for your wellbeing.”
Sara adds: “Table lamps in particular are a great way to change a room. Look at the proportion of the room to know if you need tall lamps or small lamps – sometimes it’s nice to have the light coming over your shoulder on a seat instead of something you’re going to hit with your elbow, if you want to relax in the space. So think about how you use the space when you’re placing the lamps,” she says.
Elaine believes people often disregard their landings and hallways when decorating, and don’t utilise the space – which doesn’t take much to refresh. “Adding a small console table and a lamp can make it feel like an actual room instead of just a corridor,” she says. “Or if you have the opportunity, a client of mine has a beautiful bookcase on their landing, and now we’re adding in some chairs and lamps because they wanted to create a reading nook.
“If you have a bit of space, consider using it for storage, but making it functional as well so a space you can actually use. Could you add a small office desk? It doesn’t have to be a massive piece of furniture, but it’s a space that’s often overlooked. It could potentially become another little room, and we forget about that.”
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