Captions from top left to bottom right: Naked Kitchens Cabinetry; Two styled images from Turner Pocock Interior Design; far left image of Mr Blue Sky, Rock ‘n’ Roll; Strawberry Meadow Peacock, Alternative Flooring with Liberty Fabrics; Margo Selby Hastings bedlinen; Quirky Lattice, Ben Pentreath for Alternative Flooring; Flowers of Thorpe Summer Garden, Alternative Flooring with Liberty Fabrics; Liberty Fabrics and Make Me A Rug.
New Year, New Looks for your Home
Christmas is over for another year, and as we sweep up the last few straggling pine needles – top tip: wrap a piece of duct tape around your hand, sticky side up – we’ve put together some New Year’s resolutions in the spirit of home improvement to inspire you. From patterned carpets to unusual shades, unleash your creative freedom this New Year.
How to Add Space
Once the Christmas clutter is cleared, the next step is to think about how you can streamline your space. We all dream of building up, out or down, but there are other ways to unlock the space that you already have. Ever thought of storage under your stairs? What about supersizing all doors and adding a striped carpet runner like our Mr Blue Sky to give the illusion of space? We think 2017 will be the year of beautiful bespoke cabinetry and cleverly inbuilt storage.
Why not try a New Shade?
Go outside your colour comfort zone and try a new shade on your walls and floors. Be brave in living areas or try out a new colour in a small area first – treat your floor as the fifth wall! One of our favourites is Strawberry Meadow carpet in exotic Peacock blue. Take a look at interior designers Turner Pocock, who are named in the House & Garden Directory of the 100 leading interior designers. This dynamic duo has a passion for colour and is leading the revolution away from the beige years.
Don’t be Scared of the Dark
Most of us prefer to play it safe and opt for lighter shades on walls and carpets when decorating our own spaces. In Kate Watson-Smyth’s book Shades of Grey, the interior designer Abigail Ahern tells us how she started by “painting just one alcove in Down Pipe and ended up painting the whole house from top to bottom. It was the best interiors move [she] ever made.” Down Pipe is a soft lead grey shade from Farrow & Ball.
Fall in Love with Patterned Carpets
As a nation, we are becoming more confident with using pattern. If you use our quirky patterned carpets or bespoke rugs, then keep walls simple to maximise the effect. If you prefer to use a big pattern, contrast it with small scale designs; partner busy patterned carpets with plains. We love Margo Selby’s vibrant new bedlinen, Liberty paisley, and this year we fancy floral floors with Flowers of Thorpe in Summer Garden from Alternative Flooring with Liberty Fabrics.
Have Fun with Floors
This is our favourite New Year’s decorating resolution. The floor plays a pivotal role in any interior design scheme and if you get that right then everything else easily falls into place. But don’t forget to have fun, too, with our Make Me A Rug online service. We have a rug for each room so get designing! When you have made your personalised rug, you can order and get it delivered to your nearest Alternative Flooring retailer.
Why not browse Alternative Flooring’s collection and find some New Year inspiration.