If you’ve been following this series, you’ve likely noticed that I'm a great proponent of using colour and pattern in unexpected ways for maximum impact. That doesn’t mean that sometimes a tone on tone neutral scheme is just what the doctor ordered.
I’ve spent more than a decade developing a signature look that is focused on creating restful retreats that blend timeless style references with modern influences. While I love to play with new ideas and experiment with never-tried combinations, I fully understand the comfort and sensibility of playing it safe.
If daring and edgy design schemes are your idea of scary, then I suggest you stick with the classics, dress your room in the never fade glory of silvery light neutrals, and sleep easy knowing that you’ll not need to revamp any time soon!
Lay on the linen
Once you’ve decided to go natural and neutral, might as well go the distance and incorporate a healthy dose of my all-time favourite colourless standby – linen! The nubbly weave, earthy texture, and timeless classic appeal pure linen infuses luxury and sophistication in an understated fashion.
It looks better wrinkled, and comes in varying weights from handkerchief to heavy. For this room I found linen stitched with a whimsical motif of a birds footprint, embroidered with trees, and even embellished with polka dots.
Be a bargain hunter
Great style doesn’t have to come with a big price tag and no one loves a great deal more than yours truly! But here’s the trick – the best deals usually come with a challenge. In order to score the bargain, you need to be able to look beyond some sort of flaw, and this is where your imagination needs to kick in.
After all, if it were in “take me home” perfect condition, the price tag would no longer seem so appealing, would it? Call me an optimist at the core, but it’s the rags to riches, ugly duckling to elegant swan effect that always gets me when I'm combing our favourite haunts for vintage treasures.
I’m compelled to have that inner monologue where I challenge myself to dream up how I could make this piece, that piece, any piece better with a coat of paint, some fresh upholstery, and a healthy dose of TLC.
Break the rules
Some say never put the bed under the window. I say put the bed wherever it looks best, and in the location that helps you make the best use of all the space you have to work with. The window in this particular room was nothing special to write home about – just an average sized, average quality suburban home slider with a sill that sat too far off the floor for my liking, so I wanted to dress around the window in a way that made a better visual statement.
Now, you walk directly into the room and are drawn directly to the view of the bed, the sky beyond and the entire vista is surrounded by sumptuous silk drapes. I say that if the rules of design aren’t working for you…break them! An added bonus of the bed relocation was that we also managed to sneak a pair of lounge chairs into the scenario, fulfilling our goal of adding comfort and plush touches to the scheme.
Give it a wash
Next time you’re debating which shade of brown to choose for your hardwood floors, why not go in an altogether different direction? Forget trying to mimic mahogany or walnut and take a page from the greyed or whitewashed tones of the Gustavian influence? I was aiming for a room that would be serene, restorative and whisper soft on all surface, so I deliberately shied away from any dark-wood accents.
