How to style your rooms like a designer

The living room is generally considered the heart of the home and where a chosen style comes to life for all to see. Below are a few tips to help create a stunning living space.

Coffee table sizes and shapes

Choosing the right size and shape for a coffee table is crucial to creating balance and a focal point. Round tables and fluid shapes work well in a setting with slightly more angular pieces, such as an L-shaped sofa. This combination allows the curvaceous lines from the coffee table to work in perfect harmony, providing contrast in the overall space.

For a more defined and formal setting, using rectangular or square coffee tables to create symmetry will help to style a living room with a strong, sleek look. An L-shaped sofa or sofa with prominent straight lines could be considered as a pairing and to break the rigidity, armchairs and accent chairs with curved profiles could be used in the same setting.

Flowers and books as coffee table decoration

Decorating your coffee table creates a feeling of warmth and a personal signature on a living room space. A few hardback coffee table books, either in a neat pile or with one on a book holder, and beautiful floral or foliage arrangements that are in season, can be used to add a decorative touch.

White flowers always bring a subtle elegance to a living room without being too overpowering. Keep the colours of the flowers to one or two tones that reflect or complement accent cushions or artworks, to bring together the overall theme and complete the perfect setting.

The dining room is often where guests gather, and even outside of mealtimes it is a space to share stories and laughter and to host celebrations large and small. Here are a few guides to bringing an extra spark of magic into any dining area.

Oversized mirrors or artworks

A beautiful, oversized mirror helps brings extra depth into a dining space, with the reflection of the guests at the table adding warmth and fullness to the space.

A unique artwork or a series of wall art pieces not only helps add colour and enhance the mood to the overall space, it can also be a conversation starter as a talking piece. Wall art can literally frame the space and create a clear focal point.

Dining room rugs

To define a dining room space a rug of the right size, a simple rule to keep in mind is that the rug should ideally be around 60cms (23.5 inches) wider than the table on all sides. A simple sleek wooden or glass top diing table with a sculptural base feature design works well with a luxurious plain rug, perhaps in silk to give a subtle sheen. A rug with a graphic pattern can be used with a more subtle dining table design with sleek, clean lines.

The bedroom is a place to relax, rewind and take a rest from the outside world, a room that offers comfort, peace, and a personal sanctuary. To create a ultra-luxe, cosy bedroom here are a few guides.

Colour Palette

Choose a soothing and soft palette to create a calm environment. Ideally, the wall colour should be of a light shade rather than strong dark solid tones. The headboard and bedframe fabric should work in harmony with the wall colour. Use upholstery fabric that is soft and comfortable on the hands, whether a smooth silky satin or sumptuous deep pile velvet, and pair with fine bedlinen of a high thread count, and a cashmere, mohair or alpaca throw either folded over the bed or draped on an armchair for a touch a luxury.

Lighting

A warm glow, and indirect lights help give a bedroom space a feeling of comfort and intimacy. Use ambience lighting, ideally on walls or in recesses when it comes to the main area of the bedroom. Table lamps can provide focus lighting for reading and other activities, while accent lighting helps to wash walls with soft illumination. All bedroom lights should be adjustable with a dimmer.