Flick through any glossy interiors magazine, and it\u2019s easy to get carried away with what\u2019s trending – especially with a string of decorative ideas to spur your creativity.<\/p>\n
But it can be a bit of a reality check, and you end up asking yourself: How can I express myself so it\u2019s about me\u2026 as much as it is the decor?<\/p>\n
Given all this \u2013 and depending on your design ethos \u2013 Lara Clarke of Lara Clarke Interiors says it\u2019s about taking a personal approach with clients: “It\u2019s a collaborative process \u2013 instead of putting our style on you, we pull your style out.<\/p>\n
“We work with you to try and create something that\u2019s essentially yours and unique, and not a carbon copy of everything else.”<\/p>\n
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From how you live, to a fabric you love, to where you\u2019re going to be sitting with a cup of tea in the morning, the designer says those sorts of things are really important.<\/p>\n
“We get into the nitty gritty detail\u2026 how this home is going to work for you as a family, and how it\u2019s going to work best for you \u2013 and not for anyone else.”<\/p>\n
An advocate of how simple styling tricks make a room feel more expressive, Clarke shares her top tips to inspire creatives and interior enthusiasts\u2026<\/p>\n
1. Layered lighting<\/p>\n
One of the key things is lighting. “A lot of people might just have downlights, but if you layer your lighting, it makes a huge difference.”<\/p>\n
Clarke suggests using a rechargeable wall lighting \u2013 flexible and cordless, simply mount a bracket or use strong adhesive \u2013 think brass sconce and decorative shade.<\/p>\n
“You just put it on your wall, and instantly you\u2019ll have some wall lights\u2026 it\u2019s a great way to layer lighting in your home.”<\/p>\n
“Table lamps are another one,” suggests Clarke. “On a table, go for a different lampshade.”<\/p>\n
So if you buy a table lamp from John Lewis for example, she suggests choosing your own designer lampshade. “It elevates that lamp in a way an ordinary, plain white shade wouldn\u2019t.”<\/p>\n
She also prefers to add colour. If you\u2019re not painting the walls and want to refresh your space by influencing the mood, Clarke says it\u2019s another tool to add colour and pattern.<\/p>\n
“I like using coloured lampshades in my designs, I kind of link with the scheme\u2026 a plain white one can be boring; but a patterned lampshade makes a big difference.”<\/p>\n
2. Shelving & placement<\/p>\n
To style your shelves and place accessories just so, the designer says it\u2019s good to have a mixture of taller things, think photos, books, and suggests including some flowers within the scheme.<\/p>\n
“Sometimes people tend to stuff it full when actually less is more.”<\/p>\n
And if you\u2019re torn between symmetry and scale, it\u2019s an equilibrium. “So if you\u2019re looking at a shelf or bookcase as a hole, there will be some elements of symmetry.<\/p>\n
“But you don\u2019t want everything to be symmetrical, because then it will feel too staged, there needs to be a balance between both.”<\/p>\n
Clarke likes to do a mixture. “I put a lot of books flat, and then it\u2019s nice to have something on top of them.<\/p>\n
“If you have some books you want to balance, and they\u2019re stacked on top of one another, then balance that with an object, vase or candle on top.”<\/p>\n
3. The secret to scatter cushions<\/p>\n
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“I think cushions is one of those massive areas where it can completely change the look of your room,” highlights Clarke.<\/p>\n
“The key is to get a quality cushion with a good plump; you can buy cushions from the high street, but they won\u2019t have a nice feather insert.”<\/p>\n
Therefore, if you\u2019re buying a cushion cover, she says to buy a feather insert one size bigger. “So you stuff it, and then your cushion looks fuller than if you were to buy the corresponding insert which normally looks a bit flat.<\/p>\n
“It makes the cushion look more expensive, I like a very plump cushion, it\u2019s more luxurious rather than something limp on the sofa,” she quips.<\/p>\n
Moreover, Clarke says you can never have too many cushions. “It\u2019s a really good way to add colour and interest to potentially a plain sofa.”<\/p>\n
4. Rug rules<\/p>\n
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When it comes to do\u2019s and don\u2019ts, the designer says a lot of people always buy a rug too small for the space. “And actually, it makes the space look a bit smaller if anything.<\/p>\n
“So you want to oversize your rug\u2026 you don\u2019t want it to look like a doormat under your coffee table.”<\/p>\n
Ideally, she says to have most of the furniture sitting on it. “So that would be your sofa, your side tables, your accent chairs, if possible \u2013 but if in doubt, bigger is better.”<\/p>\n
“You want to zone the space by including the furniture within that,” she says confidently.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Flick through any glossy interiors magazine, and it\u2019s easy to get carried away with what\u2019s trending – especially…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":255694,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[442,498,499,500,501,156,111,139,69],"class_list":{"0":"post-255693","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arts-and-design","8":"tag-arts","9":"tag-arts-and-design","10":"tag-artsanddesign","11":"tag-artsdesign","12":"tag-design","13":"tag-entertainment","14":"tag-new-zealand","15":"tag-newzealand","16":"tag-nz"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/255693","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=255693"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/255693\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/255694"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=255693"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=255693"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=255693"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}