Styling Your Home On A Budget With Top Tips From The Experts…

No fail colour scheming: If you’re unsure how to choose a starting point for a decorating scheme, a simple trick is to buy one fabric item that you love for the room, for example a patterned cushion or curtain for the living room or duvet cover for the bedroom then use these as the template for the roomscheme.   Designers do a lot of research making sure colours work perfectly so you know it’s a tried and tested colour combination because the designer has done the matching for you. Pick two or three colours from the design and colour match the tones for the key elements in the room – it’s a simple trick but works every time.

1. Create one of those expensive fluffy stools at a fraction of the price! It seems so simple, but if you get an inexpensive stool (if it has hairpin legs, then even better!) then attach a fluffy cushion to the top of it. You may need to use a circular cushion pad, then attach the excess fabric to the underside with a staple gun. And voila - chic on a shoestring.
2. If you have one central hallway that leads to multiples rooms, try painting it in a dark shade. If the rest of the rooms are light and bright, then this trick of the eye of going from dark into light will make your rooms seem bigger. Clever huh!

Create eclectic tabletop garden displays with plants in galvanised metal pots arranged with brass lanterns and decorative objects, all of which can be sourced inexpensively at Homesense. I love styling the interior of my garden shed, making it a more enjoyable space to work from. A recent purchase has been a small set of wooden drawers which is a great way to store all my seeds packets. Add a pretty but practical label to each drawer to keep organised.

1. When creating a table centre don't be afraid to cut flower stems really short - like a few inches below the flower head. Not only will the flowers look great bunched up in a bowl or individually in a glass or teacup, but guests will be able to talk easily over them across the dinner table.
2. When decorating a room start with a big feature. Choose your sofa or curtains first then plan the colours and patterns around that item. Make sure that item is the main feature of the room - especially if it has a bold colour or pattern.

1. Getting bored with your living or bedroom? Simply change your cushions and rug seasonally. Update your rooms with pretty summery cushions in linens and cottons for your summer look and replace them in the colder months with velvets, weaves and woollen cushions. Don’t stress about where to store the extra set, use the same cushion inners, ideally feather filled pads, for both summer and winter sets, this way you only end up having to store the cushion covers, nicely folded up with the rest of your linen. The same can be done with a floor rug, especially now that flatware rugs are so trendy, they roll or fold up pretty small and can be stored under a bed or in the back of a cupboard and the difference a seasonal rug change make, is priceless.

2. Wall finishing’s: Deciding on a wall finish like wallpaper is quite a commitment. Get samples of your favourites papers, as large as possible. Tape these wallpaper sample contenders up in the room they will be going and let them hang there for at least one week. This way you get to live with them for a bit and see how each one interacts with the light in your room. You might find that after this time there is a few that fall short because you might have already tire of them and one will stand out as the winner. It is also very important to always look at wall finishing’s in a vertical upright way, instead of flat, as the light will play a big role in how the design and colour appear.

Try adding a picture shelf the full length of one wall, using oversized prints to add a sense of height. Group small accessories together in odd numbers which will appear more pleasing to the eye.

If you want to create an arrangement of different picture frames on the wall, cut sheets of paper the size of the picture frames and stick those out on the wall first with blue tack. This will allow you to test and try different heights. It will also allow you to step back and decide if it’s correct before drilling into the wall. Note: Make sure the paper is a different enough colour to the wall, i.e. brown paper on light walls, white paper on dark walls.