It’s been a hectic time in the design world lately. Winter has many people making changes at home after being bitten by the seasonal ‘nesting bug’ and the end of the financial year has meant that there have been plenty of great sales around town. Last month saw many of our retailers and designers visit Furnitex in Melbourne. This exhibition is Australia’s largest industry furniture and furnishings trade fair and the exciting part is that over the next few months we will begin to see many newly released products for 2010/2011 filter through into our stores, so get ready for plenty that’s new.
Apart from being exceptionally busy, this month I’ve had a few people write in through my website to ask advice on some decorating dilemmas that they are facing in their own homes. I thought that this month would be a great opportunity to share those questions and answers with everyone.
Q: I have just purchased a new home with a separate home theatre. It’s currently painted cream and I’ve found that after arranging my existing furniture it all looks lost and unfortunately very bland and boring. Can you suggest a good colour to paint my room to give it a lift? – Debbie
A: You said in your question that your theatre room is separate so that’s all I need to hear to tell you that you can have some fun. Home theatres are for relaxing so you might as well set your self up with a really great relaxed space, which means that it should feel calm, intimate and cozy. To anchor your room, you should consider going dark on your walls and if you are feeling really adventurous why not paint the ceiling in the same dark colour. Think of a cinema, dark colours look great there and you can easily recreate the feel on a smaller scale. As to which colour will be right for your room, its hard to be exact without seeing it but I would suggest going for something that’s almost black – just make sure it’s a warm black that’s tinted with brown or gold and you should find that it works with just about anything that you want to put in your room.
Q: My unit was built in the 80’s and as you can imagine its typical dove grey kitchen is looking really dated. My problem is that I don’t have the money to replace it, are there any tricks that you can suggest to bring it more up date? – Joanne
A: Kitchens are notorious for costing money but there are a couple of clever solutions which may work for you. Although your cabinetry may be dated in its color, as long as it’s in relatively good condition structurally, you should be able to work with it. There are companies who specialise in giving your kitchen a completely new look through re-spraying the whole lot on site. It’s an extremely fast process, not to mention a good looking, durable finish and the budget comes in at relatively small change. I have seen the work of a company called Unique Renovation [Phone 9450 4717] and I have to admit that I was pretty impressed at the result. They re-spray cabinetry and tiles in both kitchens and bathrooms with a range of colours and finishes.
As an alternative, you may want to consider replacing just your bench tops. To finish of, add new stainless steel handles to your cupboards and drawers, perhaps a new splash back with clearance centre tiles or maybe splurge and go glass, replace dated tap ware, update room lighting etc. It all depends how much of a new look you want and what budget you have to work with.
Q: We are redecorating our lounge room and want a retro look. We have just purchased a long chocolate brown leather low sofa and our walls are off white. Are there any rules that we need to follow with the next pieces of furniture that we buy i.e. does the entertainment unit need to match the coffee table and so on? – Michael
A: Retro is such a broad term now, so there aren’t exactly any rules I can give you. I’m going to take it from the point of view that you are trying to create an interior with a cool 70’s vibe, which is what most people aim for. Keep your white walls and use grades of tans through to browns for your colour scheme. Your chocolate low-line sofa is a good basic piece to begin with – dress it up with a couple of sheep skin furs and some geometric print vintage look cushions.
Your entertainment unit and coffee table don’t have to match at all, in fact you’d probably get a better look if you play it up a bit more. Why not look around for a teak Danish inspired buffet on tapered timber legs – use that to put your flat screen television on instead of a traditional modern low-line TV unit. Yes, it’s a bit higher but it works well and looks great. Hunt around for a coffee table with a bit of character – choose timber or marble (white or black) in a large square or round shape to compliment your buffet. Add a large string sphere pendant over your coffee table, a cool occasional chair to break up the look, a casual shaggy rug on your floor, mood lamps with big shades and you’re just about done.
So there you have it, problems solved. Winter is a great time to re-invent your home, in fact it’s the best time of year to paint rooms and enjoy whatever changes you make. This month I’ll post some new links on Matt Tucker Interiors Facebook page to get you inspired.
If you have a design question you can contact Matt at www.matttuckerinteriors.com.au
Matt Tucker
***
