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It's Only Paint - Jo Robinson
As a nation, we are increasingly interested in our home environment.
DIY stores are doing record business, tradesmen are ‘busier than
ever’ and we take great pride in the looks created in our homes.
Maybe you are planning to decorate one room, work your way through your
entire home or, in fact, be moving to a new home which however well decorated,
the chances are it is unlikely to be entire to your own taste. So, now you need
to get started on your room transformation, your most important decision being
what colours to use.
Colour – bold, subtle, contrasting, harmonious, fresh,
muted, period, country, urban, ethnic. We
are told there are no rules defining colour combinations and anything goes!
Great! But unless you have very definite ideas of the look you wish
to create, where do you begin?
There are numerous starting points you can use to create
your personal colour palette. There
are a wealth of interior magazines on the market, such as Ideal Homes, Homes and
Gardens and 25 Beautiful Homes. They
offer fantastic decorating schemes, which not only give you ideas for colour,
but go on to show a range of fabrics and accessories which compliment the décor.
Another interesting feature are the articles showing readers makeovers on
rooms transformed from average to spectacular, listing
the cost and suppliers of the items used.
It is advisable to collect interior magazines over a period of time to
avoid being influenced only by this seasons look.
If you want to get started immediately and do not have any previous
issues, try your local library for archive copies.
Why not produce an ideas board? Cut out a selection of ideas from magazines, add fabric
and colour swatches by using paint sample cards.
Play around with the colours you think look attractive together.
Choose a theme – Mediterranean, oriental, minimalist.
At Stone Homes, we offer our purchasers the opportunity to
customise our interiors to their own tastes.
This is achieved by initially visiting their current home to get an idea
of their taste, colour schemes and to be aware of the furniture and accessories
that will need to be incorporated in their new home. The next step is to produce two or three ideas boards
illustrating different colour schemes. It
may be the customer wants a complete change from that used in their previous
house, therefore it is important to come up with more than one option.
If you have moved into a new home, you are going to have a lot of
decorating decisions to make, and an ideas board helps to clarify your thoughts.
The kitchen is always the room that involves the greatest
number of decisions. The whole
theme may begin from one focal point – for example the colour of an Aga.
If it is cream, should the look be cool and classic with a pale shaker
kitchen and colour washed walls? Or
how about deep blue painted units and rich red walls?
At the end of the day, it’s all down to personal choice.
A good way to tie in your selected colours in the kitchen
is to use contrasting tiles. Melanges
are popular whereby you select four or five colours which reflect the colours of
the walls, units, curtains flooring and if applicable, the cooker. Most tile
ranges available have decals or edgings for that extra design feature.
If you are having new curtains or blinds, it is advisable
to source your fabrics first. This
is because it is far easier to match paint to you fabric then try and find a
fabric that is a good match to the lovely terracotta wall you have just painted!
It is possible to have any colour mixed to your requirement and in a
variety of finishes – matt, silk, soft sheen, eggshell and so on.
Once you have decided on a colour, purchase a match pot and
see if it actually will look right in the room. What may look great on a small swatch may start to look too
over powering when painted on the wall. Match
pots are also a useful way to determine exactly the tone of the paint, as with
the best will in the world, the colour printed on the tin differs from the paint
inside.
At the end of the day, the main thing to do is to enjoy
your decorating. Try something
different and if you don’t like the finished result – leave it for 2 weeks.
It may be that you have transformed a neutral room with a very bold
colour that can take some adjusting to. If
it is still not to your taste after two weeks, it’s only paint!
Try again with a different theme. It’s
amazing what you can achieve through the use of colour.
TRADITIONAL CHARM vs MOD CONS - Jo Robinson
If you are
thinking of purchasing a newly built house, don’t be under the misconception
that it must look ‘21st Century’.
There is certainly a fantastic choice of modern apartments and
contemporary housing in the region which are both stylish and innovative, but
what if you desire a traditional exterior blessed with ‘state-of-the-art’
services and conveniences within?
Stone Homes
mission statement reads ‘our aim is to build new homes that when completed
look as if they have stood for 100 years’.
This is achieved by always constructing our properties using reclaimed
Northumbrian stone, coupled with welsh slate roofing. Calling on the expertise
of our stonemasons, a skill learnt over many years, our houses are built to
extremely high standards using a block inner leaf and an outer layer of stone.
It is rare that a new build can contain any history, bur Briarlea (as
featured) boasts a frontage of reclaimed stone from Alnwick Barracks which is
over 200 years old. The fireplace
built within also contains stone from the same era, so there’s something to
talk about at the dinner table!
The advantages
of choosing a new build are generally, not only does it come with a 10 year
warranty but you should also have little to spend on the property once you have
moved in. The plumbing, heating and
electrics have all been newly installed and should require minimal attention for
many years. Many times we have
heard friends complain that having just moved in to a new house, the boiler has
packed in, or the house needs rewiring or a carpet has been removed to reveal
rotten floorboards. Repairs of this
nature are expensive and it can be difficult to locate the necessary funds when
you have just purchased a property. None
of these problems await the occupier of a new build, where both maintenance and
expenditure are minimal. On a more
personal note, it is a satisfying feeling to move into a home which is truly
yours – no-one before has lived there and it has been built especially for
you.
Moving onto
the interior, just because you favour a traditional exterior, it does not mean
you cannot be adventurous on the inside. No
longer do barn conversions and cottages require an interior of pine kitchens,
floral curtains and subdued colours. Timeless
items such as Agas can be incorporated into modern living by careful choice of
kitchen units, tiling and paint colour.
At Stone Homes we like to work with our clients to
create an interior scheme tailored to their personal tastes.
This involves co-coordinating a paint palette, tiling, kitchen units,
various fixtures, fittings and flooring. Success
for Stone Homes is when our customer opens the door to their new home and feels
like they already live there. |
