Whether you decide to furnish a room from scratch or radically change the decor, there is an algorithm of actions that will help you create the interior of your dreams. Our consultant designer-decorator Anastasia Muravyova tells where to start.
December 2 2016
Understand what we want and estimate the budget. The first step is to decide what kind of environment you want to live in – majestic classics, cozy country, modern loft. Then it will be clear what budget is needed for this. There is a priori not cheap environment. For example, the classics oblige: they require marble, velvet sofas, heavy curtains, carved parquet flooring, a majestic chandelier – and these materials will not be cheap. The most compromise in terms of price and quality are interiors in a modern Scandinavian style. It is worth considering whether the chosen style resonates with the architecture of the house itself and the external environment.
Create a rough plan of the future room. To do this, you need to look at where the sockets, light sources and switches are located. If we know how the electrician is located in the apartment, then we already understand how we will arrange the furniture. You can, of course, do the opposite: place the sources of electricity in accordance with the furniture arrangement plan, if you are not afraid of the prospect of cutting the wall.
Pick up the environment. It happens that work on creating an interior begins with the object you like – a spectacular carpet, mirror, sofa. If you have such a leader thing in mind, we begin to select the rest of the items so that they are combined with it. Let’s say there is a picture in which there are several colors, and we want to make it the most spectacular spot in the apartment. Then the rest of the things should repeat its shades. The same rule applies to multi-colored carpet. Afraid to make mistakes and make the palette redundant – keep within 3-4 colors or several shades of the same color.
Make a long-term investment. When buying furnishings for housing, you need to keep in mind: there are things that are better not to save on. These are the so-called three whales – floor, plumbing, kitchen. That is, capital items that are put, perhaps, once for a lifetime. Psychologists have found out: first of all, the gaze falls on the floor and curtains – this is what creates the impression of your environment. Parquet or laminate flooring sets the tone for the entire interior, like a good picture frame. Plumbing and kitchen are also objects that are built for centuries. Everything else – furniture, doors, textiles – you can change at any time if you are tired of them.
Looking for your style
When you want a change, but do not know where to start, interior magazines will come to the rescue – look through and see what kind of environment you would like to live in. There are times when a person does not even imagine this, he talks about a cozy nest, but the designer orders cold glass mansions with a reproduction of Andy Warhol on the wall. You can draw the room of your dreams yourself, as Anastasia did (photo on the left). Or you can start with the little things – to understand what colors are comfortable, and come up with epithets for the future home – “cute”, “wooden”, “functional”, etc.