Improve the quality of your life. Design series 2.

Everyone deserves to feel calm and comforted, and after a long day I can think of nothing better than heading home and relaxing. Living in a home where we feel suits our personality and our lifestyle will actually improve the quality of our lives. If we are constantly coming home to a space that doesn’t reflect our needs or nurture us we are more likely to feel tired, sad, and negative about our lives. 

It is a bit like any relationship, if we come home to a partner who does not support our needs, nurture our spirit or comfort us, then coming home feels pretty terrible. Well it is time to have a more positive and healthy relationship with our home as well! It is called a ‘home’ for a reason, we don’t just want to feel we are coming to a house, we want to come home! 

In my previous post “The room in your home that shouldn’t be overlooked” I started looking at ideas to create a beautiful living space or lounge room and why it is important to create a space you enjoy. My first tips were;

• getting your ideas together
• choosing a sofa or lounge suite
• working out colour choices

Today I am going to share some more tips on making your living space work for you. Making the right choices in your living room is really important, it is one of the rooms you will spend most of your awake time in and one that you will entertain your guests in. You want it to reflect your own personality, be comforting and suit the lifestyle you like to lead. So my first tip today is to work out what you will mostly use the room for.

What reflects your lifestyle.

Think about what you want most out of a living room. What do you use this space the most for? Are you a big TV watcher? Are you someone who uses a living room as a space to work as well as rest? Are you a big reader? Do you entertain a lot or is it mostly just you? Is it a space for adults only, or will it be a family space that will also be used for children to play? These questions are hugely important, there is no point decorating a space that you have no idea how you want to use. Ideally your living room should be a relaxation space, but if you have a small home that only has one living space and you have children then clearly this will be a shared space that needs to accommodate many people. Or if you don’t have a home office then you again need to make this space work as both a living room and workspace. 

Whatever you decide this space is most used for there are some things you shouldn’t overlook. The main one being your style an personality. Your living space needs to reflect you! It needs to feel beautiful for you. It needs to make you want to be in it. This is your space, yes it is lovely if your guests love it too, but you are the one who has to live in this space, so make it a place you want to live in.

Hopefully you have had a look at my tips on getting your ideas together, if not check out my tips HERE. If you have already figured out some ideas then great you are ready to get started. If you still haven’t a clue and you have looked through Pinterest, googled ideas and flipped through magazines then I suggest you hit the shops!

Window Shopping.

Now if you are anything like me you may find it hard to window shop and not buy, So a great tip is to actually leave the credit card at home whilst shopping for ideas. Window shopping is a chance to gather ideas, see pieces you like and take a photo of them, look at the colours you are attracted to, and take note of how they have styled the pieces you like most. Sometimes we are drawn to a piece of furniture because of the way it has been styled. High end stores are great at styling, (they can afford proper stylist to style for them). So looking at what they have done is great for inspiration. Unfortunately we can not always afford their furniture but don’t lose heart! After seeing what the professionals do you can now do it yourself on a budget. Look at stores like Target, Kmart or Ikea, they offer pieces that are similar but much cheaper!

Take a look at these two table lamps

One is $20 and one is $300. Is it really worth spending an extra $280 dollars just to have one from a designer store? That is an extra $560 if you buy two of them!

Check out this cool lamp from Kmart. $20. Or it comes in a floor size lamp also for $39.

 You can get this coffee table for $600.

Or a set of two at Kmart for $39.

Yes some things may not be as great quality, or have the designer’s name attached to them, but does that really matter when you can make a room beautiful at an affordable price? Spend your money on the things that really count like a great quality, comfortable sofa and save in other areas. This is why window shopping is a great idea, you can compare products and get styling ideas and then go away and make a well though out choice. I always think it is worth buying a few stand out pieces if you can afford it, but if you can’t don’t worry, you can make a big impact on a small budget when you get the styling right.

Stick to a budget.

Once you have a clear idea on your taste, the feel you want for the room, and what the room will be mostly used for it is time to start buying. Always shop within your budget, ALWAYS. Spending up big on your credit card means over the long term you will pay much more for your items. Unless you can pay off the credit card straight away I would suggest lay-buying items or waiting until you’ve saved up. As much as we need a beautiful space it will be ruined if we sit in that room stressing out because we can’t pay our bills. Work out what you can afford before shopping. 

Buying Key Pieces.

If your budget permits I always recommend buying a few pieces that you LOVE! You know that feeling when you walk into a store and just fall in love with something, it is like it speaks to you. You walk away and you just can not stop thinking about it. The thought of someone else buying it before you can just breaks your heart. I recently had that feeling when I found my coffee table. I wandered into a store and thought wow I love this table, my hubby felt exactly the same way. I asked the store owner if they always had them in stock, he looked at me and said “no this is a restored piece from the 1950’s by Lucian Ercolani.” I knew then I had to have it, it was totally my style, a little quirky, I looked at Steve and knew he felt the same. It is a little indulgence, well a not so little indulgence, but it is a piece that we will keep forever and if we decided to sell it at least it will hold its value. Sometimes a piece just fits, it feels like it reflects your personality and I think it is important that your living space reflects your individuality. We don’t want to design a room purely for visitors, it is our home after all. 

Find your key piece. This can be a piece of art work, a quirky sofa, a luscious rug, or even a really cosy throw rug that you love to snuggle with. It may be a chair that you really love and never want to get out of, or a vase that takes your breath away. Listen to your heart, when you see it, you will know it! Make sure it reflects who you are and what you want this space to mean. 

A great piece of art makes a huge impact and can really create the mood your are looking for. I love this piece Sandstone Patterns, Maria Island by Loic Le Guilly.

Or this piece Nuvole Scure, by Steven MacKenzie. 

Choosing a key piece of furniture or art as a starting point can really help you design a room. It gives you an idea of where you want to go, the feel you want to create and even the colour scheme you want to work with. 

So far over the two articles we have covered.

• getting together ideas. Pin ideas or look through magazines.
• choosing a great couch or lounge suite. Buy a comfortable piece that also reflects your taste and style. Don’t buy cheap leather.
• making colour choices. Choose a base colour and add colour with cushions or art.
• what reflects your lifestyle. What will you use the room for? Does it need to double as an office or playroom? Will it be used for TV watching or reading?
• window shop. Look before you buy, can you get a similar product for cheaper? Budget! Always work within a budget.
• key pieces. If you can afford it, choose a couple of key pieces that reflect your personality and style the room around these.

Take some time to read over these tips. Part 3 to this series will be out next Wednesday. Between now and then you may want to re-read Part One. I would love to hear your styling tips! Do you have some advice? Please leave me a comment below. Don’t forget to subscribe to receive my emails so you don’t miss a thing, that way you can read the ones you like and skip those that don’t take your fancy. 

Thanks for joining me, love Mac xx

The Nuvole Scure, by Steven MacKenzie, is available for purchase. Feel free to contact me and discuss the size you would need, whether you want print or canvas, and pricing, or leave a message for Steven on his Instagram feed @photoglanville. All other images on this Instagram account are also available for purchase.

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