These ideas will come in handy when decorating your home

Many desire to re-decorate their homes but procrastinate, not knowing where to start.

As the saying goes, Rome was not built in a day and neither will your great idea strike at one go.  So rather than be paralysed by fear of failing, here are a few ideas on how to get started and how to slowly build up on a decorating theme.

First, find objects in your home that give you visual pleasure. It could be a scarf, a vase, a carpet, a painting or food spices such as tumeric and red chilli.

It does not matter whether small or big, sentimental or not but the colour or texture should cause you to constantly draw your eyes to it.

Gather the inspirational objects, colours and textures together and mix and match them to see how the textures, colours and patterns work together.

Give each combination a name or title based on the dominant theme such as “seashore” for a coastal theme or “fruit salad” for a tropical colour themed collection. 

Collect samples

Continue collecting sample objects and observe each theme over a period of time to understand which colour blend is appealing to you.

Keep samples of each concept either through photography or actual samples before trying out another combination.

For extra inspiration, browse through magazines and online sources to view how experts have coordinated their colour schemes and set their rooms.

No need to copy and paste the “picture perfect” https://cdn.standardmedia.co.ke/images into your space as the room dynamics could be different but the concepts should help guide your selection.

Keep various clippings of ideal pictures or photos in a scrapbook of each room in your home. Be alert when you visit hotel rooms and restaurants to observe how they set up their spaces and keep clippings of ideal pictures in a scrapbook for each room in your home.

Also, wildlife offers another array of colour combinations that are safe to try out, from the leopard spots to the contrasting shades on the spiky quills of a porcupine.

The exotic colour combination found on a proud peacock showing off its bejewelled turquoise and green feathers are a great concept for a Coast themed room. 

Alternatively, use the colours of your favourite flower such as the yellow and brown hues, which sit cosily together on a sunflower.

Colours

For the room to hold together, decide which primary colours will take up the large surface areas such as walls. Choose a secondary colour to use on a smaller scale such as the sofa set and select a third accent colour, which should appear in at least three items such as curtains, scatter cushions and an ottoman for the room to hold together. 

Using more colours than this will create a visual buzz so simplify your concepts. Carry your inspirational sample objects when making your purchases and use them to select the exact shade colour of paint, curtain and upholstery fabric and enjoy watching your inspirational dreams come alive.

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