Home Sweet Home

There’s no magic formula for decorating a home. There are no foolproof instructions that can beat your own instinctive knowledge that you’ve got what you want and that it suits you. What you do need is confidence, and the aim of this is to give you that confidence, with guidelines to help you discover your own taste as you make the basic decisions involved. Working your way through it, you’ll be able to build up a clear picture of your likes and dislikes in colours, fabrics, patterns and furniture design, and gradually put together a style of your own.

A first home isn’t quite like any other — it has all the excitement of a new beginning, and you can’t wait to put your own stamp on it. And the big advantage you’ve got over more experienced decorators is that you haven’t already amassed too many possessions and furnishings to limit your options.

GETTING TO KNOW YOUR HOME

Establishing your own style means starting at the beginning — with the house itself. Before you can make any decorative plans for it, you need to form a clear idea of the character of the place, its layout, the existing decoration and furnishings.

Is the building old or new? Are the rooms four-square and practical, or crooked and cottagey? How high are the ceilings? How big are the windows? Are there any built-in features like fireplaces and picture rails to be taken into account?

Try to look at the house completely objectively. It may be difficult if it’s already painted in a colour you can’t bear, or fitted with a carpet you know you can’t afford to replace, but don’t be put off: at this stage you mustn’t let yourself feel limited. The only things that are more or less fixed are the size and shape of the house. Your furniture, your colour schemes, your curtains and pictures and ornaments are going to make it your own.

When you have a clear ‘map’ of the place outlined in your mind, you can start filling it in with the elements you already know about. That carpet you can’t afford to replace, for instance — if you’re happy to keep it, bear in mind that your other furnishings will have to match it. (Even if you’re not happy to keep it, make sure that you check the condition of the floor underneath before you tear it up!) Have you a favourite picture you want to hang in the sitting room? A set of china you’d like to display? Even a cast-off sofa inherited from relations? All these will have to fit into your plan like the pieces of a jigsaw.

PLANNING HOW YOU’LL USE IT

Practical and lifestyle considerations need to be taken into account too. Which rooms will be for relaxing and entertaining? Do you want a spare bedroom, or would the extra space be better employed as a study or separate dining room? Which areas are earmarked as workspace? In a small home, work and play areas may have to overlap, a single room doing double duty for both. If you’ve a bit more space to play around with, you can afford to be bolder with your decorating plans.

As your ‘map’ takes shape, it’s building up a framework within which you can start to experiment with your decorating ideas. Keep a running list of all the basics you’re going to have to buy: table and chairs, a sofa, beds and bedding, carpets if necessary (remember that, even if you prefer stripped floors, flat leases or residents’ regulations often insist on carpeting to reduce noise levels). Is there enough built-in storage to cope with clothes, linens and cleaning equipment, or are you going to need extra cupboards and shelves of your own? As well as starting to think about suitable styles, you’ll find it useful to begin planning your budget as early as possible, taking account of unavoidable expenses so that you have a clearer picture of where you can cut corners and costs.

Remember that there’s no hurry to get started. The longer you give yourself to get a feel for the house, the easier you’ll find it to make decisions that will work both practically and decoratively — and the less likely you’ll be to make expensive mistakes.

The only real factors likely to influence the speed you want to work at are practical ones. You’ll need a working kitchen and bathroom from the beginning, for instance. They may not be quite the way you envisaged them, but as long as they’re serviceable you can leave the decorative decisions until you’re more sure of what you want. And of course if there is any structural work to be done this should be got out of the way before there is any decoration for it to interfere with. There’s no point in painting and wallpapering a room and then having to dismantle your handiwork to make way for a damp-proof course.

GETTING TO KNOW WHAT YOU LIKE

When it comes to decorative decisions, what matters is that you like the result, so the most important thing is to get to know your own taste.

This helps by suggesting styles for each room, with advice on how to put together a similar look in your own home, but to make the most of it you also want to start assembling your own style, finding your own pointers and references from among everyday objects and possessions.

It takes a while, but you’ll gradually find yourself trusting your judgment more confidently — and there’s plenty of room for the individual view. There was a time when you hadn’t really any choice: tables had four legs, chairs came with arms or without, and you painted your house whatever colour everyone else was painting theirs. It was easier in some ways, but ultimately much less satisfying, and it didn’t allow for any variation in the style of the building — or in your budget. Now that furnishing has broken free of the rules, you have to make the decisions for yourself, but that means you can devise a scheme tailored exactly to suit your home.

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