Make a fresh start (From The Northern Echo)

Make a fresh start

4:12pm Wednesday 11th January 2012 in Lifestyle

The Christmas decorations are down and your decor may look as fresh as last year’s holly. Gabrielle Fagan discovers simple ways to refresh your house.

THE holiday’s over and while it’s common to feel you’re suffering from a little too much partying, there’s another often overlooked symptom – a decor hangover.

Once you’ve disposed of that sparkling tree and taken down the cards, even the best of rooms can look dull and bare. Winter’s harsh light can expose past-their-best colour schemes and furnishings, too.

“Don’t suffer from decor doldrums. Instead, take this as the perfect time to look at rooms afresh and decide whether they really work for you,” says Clare Nolan, stylist and interiors author, whose new book, Making A House Your Home, is packed with inspiration and clever tips to help with a New Year revamp.

“Step away from questions of style and think about what it is you actually do at home. How do you spend your time?

“Making changes to your home so it fits your lifestyle can be just as important as choosing the colour of the walls. So if you love a hobby, you should be trying to make a space where you can enjoy it or, if you entertain a lot, the dining area should be a feature.”

To revamp a home, you may only need to re-arrange furniture, which could also open up a new area. By repositioning artwork, mirrors, rugs and lighting, you can create different focal points and change the atmosphere.

“Avoid the knee-jerk reaction of chucking out and buying new,” says Nolan.

“When relocating things, start with anything that isn’t working hard or earning its keep in its current position, but think outside the box.

“A bed quilt could become a chair cover, a tablecloth or even a wall hanging. A chair could double as a bedside table, and a bench transform into a console table. Get creative.”

RENOVATE AND REVIVE

MAKEOVERS don’t have to be confined to TV programmes and DIY experts. An old piece of furniture can be given a facelift easily. “It’s really quite astonishing just what a difference paint can make,” Nolan says. “An old-fashioned piece of brown furniture that you wouldn’t look twice at, can be elevated to perfectly chic with a couple of coats of solid colour.”

You can paint almost anything you love the shape of – the surface finish and colour won’t matter. Simply apply a specialist primer to suit it, whether plastic, metal or wood.

“Painting and wallpapering a piece can be truly stylish,” Nolan says. “You can wallpaper drawer fronts, add a coat of varnish to protect the finish and paint the frame. Add new handles and you have an individual, distinctive feature for little cost.”

COLOUR ME BEAUTIFUL

“COLOUR has a huge impact on the mood of a home,” says Nolan. “It’s a powerful tool and has the ability to make your heart sing or sink, so repainting a few walls could be just the boost your home and well-being needs for a new year.”

In a small home, she advises using a palette of tonal colours, which are only slightly darker or lighter than each other, to make the space feel bigger.

When you’re choosing the background colour for a room, usually the wall paint, consider the amount of light a room gets.

“If bright light’s the problem, opt for deeper, cooler colours such as blues and greens, and avoid warm colours,” advises Nolan.

“If you lack natural light, either embrace it and create a den-like space using moody colours, or maximise the light by painting with light neutrals and using reflective finishes. By contrast, matt surfaces absorb light and make colour appear denser and more intense.”

KILL THE CLUTTER

DEJUNKING and decluttering can be painful, says Nolan, but as well as giving you space, it will also allow your decorative items to star and earn their place in the home.

“Your mantra should be ‘use it, love it, or lose it’,” she says.

“If you really can’t bear to part with something and you’ve got enough storage space, consider having winter and summer looks.

Just pack things away and bring them back into use when the season changes.”

Sacrificing a whole wall to storage may seem excessive, but once fitted, you’ll wonder how you ever managed without it, says Nolan.

“Don’t overlook the potential of lighting in cupboards. Recessed spotlights in cabinets and strip lights under shelves all shed light just where you need it,” she says.

“Painting the inside of cupboards helps too – a bright, zingy shade can turn it into a real feature.”

CLEVER KITCHEN

KITCHENS are the hub of a home, but they can feel overcrowded and unwelcoming unless there’s careful planning.

“If you’re going to use the kitchen as a snug, or informal playroom and TV room as well, furnish it as you would other rooms,” she advises.

“Bring in decorative elements to soften its functional kitchen aspects. While lighting needs to be practical, there’s no reason why you can’t have a chandelier or a sculptural floor lamp as well.”

A calendar pinned to a wall is fine, but a chalkboard wall for notes, lists and dates is more effective and can make a focal point. “Use blackboard paint to paint the area you want,” says Nolan. “Your chalkboard will look much more impressive when it’s wall-to-wall and floor-to-ceiling.”

In a small kitchen, replace wall-hung units with rows of open shelves, which will look less overpowering than closed cupboards and ensure everything is easily visible.

“Think outside the box when it comes to groceries,” she suggests. “Fruit and vegetables make instantly gorgeous displays when stored in cake stands or piled into clear vases, and even a bunch of herbs can look as pretty as a bunch of flowers.”

COFFEE TABLE CHIC

NEVER overlook the power of the coffee table, advises Nolan, as it’s one of the most important pieces in a living room.

“Everything circulates around it and it’s the equivalent of that other essential – the kitchen