Five reasons to use an interior designer

If you’ve never used a designer before it can seem like a daunting prospect. I’ve listed my top five ways we can provide value to you as a customer

1. Buy your precious time back

   Even if you are awesome at designing and decorating your own spaces, do you really have that much time to do it? Hiring a professional designer will take care of everything for you, giving you the ultimate gift of spare time back - to relax or entertain friends in your beautifully designed space.

2. It could save you money

   It may seem a converse notion but spending money on hiring a designer could save you time and money by avoiding costly mistakes, keeping your projects on track and on budget. Working to specific timescales and budgets are the skills professional designers come with for which you will receive the benefit.

3. Knowledge is power

   With years of experience in creating interior spaces for a range of clients, your designer will come armed with the knowledge of what works for your customers and will interpret this in to a design that reflects who you are.

4. Bespoke, unique spaces are created

   Going it alone will often mean buying what’s available on the high street, hiring a designer will give you access to artisan makers of beautiful furniture, wallpapers, objects and art work meaning your space will be unique to you and your style.

5. Know what your space will look like before you start

   It can be scary embarking on a big renovation project but a designer can help you crystallise your ideas in to something that will not only look good but will work…and they can prove it! An interior designer can provide you with plans showing furniture layouts, 3D drawings of the proposed design and samples of finishes such as wallpaper, tiling and flooring; all meaning you have a brilliant concept of what the finished space will look like before you’ve even started.

So there you have it, a quick round up of some of the ways an interior designer can help you, but if you’re unsure if this is the right solution for you, feel free to get in touch and we can discuss your project. All initial consultations are free and there is no obligation to hire us at all. We also have a handy list of Frequently Asked Questions which may help.

Colour psychology

Choosing colours for our spaces can often seem daunting, what colours should we be choosing and why? Well the answer to the that is there isn’t one – it has to be right for you. As a starting point you can utilise the psychology of colour to help determine a palette for a space depending on what you want it to function as.

So what is colour psychology? In it’s basic interpretation it is the study of colours as a determinant on human behaviour. We also must consider that when people cite colour psychology they also probably mean colour symbolism i.e. the use of colour as a symbol in art or anthropology.

Studies on the subject varies widely but the most widely held emotional responses and associations to colour are:

Red

Often associated with love, passion, and lust. It can also be used to signify anger, danger or a warning.

Red in an interior is a bold choice. It is a great accent colour known to increase energy and appetite, therefore, is a good choice for a kitchen or dining room as it can also stimulate conversation.

Blue

Often symbolising serenity, stability, inspiration, trust, loyalty and wisdom.

Blue has a calming affect and is associated with reducing blood pressure so it is a great choice for an interior space. Various hues can have various outcomes stylistically: light powder blue will create calming and relaxing environments so are great for bedrooms, be aware that it can leave a room feeling cold if it doesn’t get a lot of natural daylight. Dark navy blues associated with knowledge can create sophisticated office spaces

Yellow

Often associated with sunshine, joy, happiness and intellect.

Yellow is great for hallways as it is a welcoming colour. Children often are drawn to yellow, therefore, it is a great choice for a nursery. Just ensure you get the right shade as it can be sickly or overpowering if too strong a hue.

Green

Most obviously used to represent nature, healing, or fertility

Green is the most restful colour on the eye and you can, therefore, use green in every room of the house. As it is a very relaxing colour any room where settling in is the aim of the game i.e. lounge or bedroom, it would be an ideal choice.

Pink

Pink is associated with softness, femininity, compassion, and love.

Using pink in a space can create a playful feminine look and is a good choice for bedrooms. To keep it from becoming saccharine pair with a darker bold colour or simply with white and keep lines clean and fresh. If you want to use a strong pink colour, keep it to a small room such as a WC or ensuite bathroom and pair with any metallic accent to make it feel luxe.   

Orange

Symbolises enthusiasm, creativity, success and encouragement.

As a bold colour orange is a great choice for an accent in most spaces where activity happens such as home office, dining rooms and hallways. Oranges are good for creating drama and warmth so work well in rooms that don’t attract much natural daylight.

Purple

Symbolises authority, sophistication and power.

Dark purples when matched with other bold choices such as gold represent luxury and sophistication so is a good choice for public rooms in your home such as sitting rooms. Lighter pastel versions like lavender have a restful quality so are a good choice particularly for guest bedrooms.

Colour Theory

Colour theory is a wide ranging and much written about subject which you could easily spend months if not years researching (and you should if you are so inclined, it is a fascinating subject!) But if you are just looking for some basics to help you decide on a colour scheme for your home here are a few hints and tips to get you started.

First thing lets deal with the terminology around colours themselves, Primary, Secondary and Tertiary; you probably all learnt about these at some point in school so let’s dig out that knowledge and start putting it to practical use!

Primary Colours: Red, Yellow, Blue

Primary colours are the 3 pigment colours that cannot be mixed or formed by any combination of other colours. All other colours are derived from these 3 hues.

Secondary Colours: Orange, Green, Purple

These are the colours formed by mixing two of the Primary colours together (Red + Yellow = Orange, Yellow + Blue = Green, Blue + Red = Purple)

Tertiary Colours: Everything else!

These colours are formed by mixing a Primary colour with a Secondary colour

The colour wheel

Using the above categories of colours we can start to create some order out of them using a colour wheel or colour circle to help you form colour schemes. Sir Isaac Newton is credited with creating the first circular diagram of colours in 1666 – so it’s been around a while!

Begin a colour wheel by positioning primary hues equidistant from one another, then create a bridge between primaries using secondary and tertiary colours:

Primary Colours                Secondary Colours           Tertiary Colours

Using the colour wheel:

Analogous Colours: These are simply groups of colours that are side by side on a wheel. One colour will usually dominate and the others will sit harmoniously with it.

Complimentary Colours: These are colours that sit directly opposite each other on a colour wheel. These are usually used as accent colours generally in small quantities.

Triads - Triads form a triangle on the wheel, like the starting point of the wheel using the primary colours of yellow, blue and red; or any other combination such as orange, green and violet. These colours can also be used as accent colours, but they must be balanced. If not, they can overwhelm a room.

Monochromatic Colours - Keeping it simple, this is the use of only one colour, but in shades from dark to light, like navy to powder blue.

Cool and Warm Colours - Cool and warm colours can be used to create a mood in a room. Cool colours span the section of the wheel from purples through blues and greens. Warm colours span the section of the wheel from reds through to pinks oranges and yellows.

Non-Colours - Non-colours aren’t found on the colour wheel, however, they still play a very important role in interior design.  Non-colours are black, white and brown and derivatives thereof (greys/beiges etc.) These colours can either be used as background ‘scene setting’ colours for mood or to promote/reduce certain areas or can be used dramatically in monochrome. For example, if you want to disguise a problematic area allow it to fade into the background with a palette of non-colours as the backdrop to accent colours elsewhere.

Don’t forget to use the rules creatively, we don’t need to stick to them rigidly. For example, I have recently created a beautiful space using a combination of the above theories, using pink as the main colour with copper and green as the accents. Pink is a derivative of red which is opposite green on the wheel, therefore, these are complementary colours. As copper is a distant variant of orange it sits alongside pink on the wheel (moving from red through to yellow), therefore, is an analogous colour to the main backdrop of the space.

Now you know the rules you can go ahead and break them as you see fit!

For further reading on the subject of colour I highly recommend reading The Little Book of Colour by Karen Haller (her Insta is also worth a follow)

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