January 18, 2017
Smart Tech Ideas For Your Home
Once you've bought all your furniture, coffee tables, chairs and more, it's time to start thinking about how you can make your house both beautiful and practical...
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January 17, 2017
You’ve Heard Of Hygge. But Have You Heard Of Lagom?
If you’ve been embroiled in interior design projects over the last year or so and have bought all sorts of lovely living room furniture, then you’re sure to have come across the term ‘hygge’ before. The concept of hygge, a Scandinavian word, is basically all about being cosy, comfortable and enjoying a simpler more relaxed way of life. Head off to Instagram and search for the hashtag #hygge if you want to see what all the fuss is about and to get a few ideas as to how you could incorporate this trend into your own home. It’s all about calm colour palettes, natural textures and materials, and minimalistic clean lines when it comes to interior design and hygge – and the best thing about Instagram is that it couldn’t be easier to find inspiration for your home décor on the site. However, there’s a new kid on the block when it comes to interior trends and if you’ve somehow missed the hygge furore, you might want to bypass it in favour of the Swedish concept of ‘lagom’. This might actually be a bit easier to translate as an idea into interior design, since it means ‘just the right amount’. Think of...
January 16, 2017
9 Top Tips For Flipping A House
An attractive career these days for many is property development, buying up houses, doing them up and then selling them on for a tidy profit (also known as flipping). There are countless TV programmes out there that showcase just how much money you can make – and fun you can have – doing this for a living, but if you’ve just started thinking about the idea, here are a few top tips to help you make sure you’re backing a winning horse. Firstly, before you even spend any money whatsoever, you need to scout around to find the perfect location. It’s important that you find a house that’s in a desirable neighbourhood, as this will make it easier to sell on and for the right price. Another key point to bear in mind is that while you’re sure to be happy to do a bit of remodelling, renovation and interior design work, you don’t want the project to become a millstone around your neck, one that costs you too much money. Look out for properties that are structurally sound, as the aim of the game is to the flip the house for maximum profit. It’s also essential that you think about the interior...
January 10, 2017
Mixed Materials And Stunning Lighting Top Interior Trends For 2017
January is traditionally a month associated with change, and with the Christmas decorations coming down and the excitement of the festive season over, you may be looking at ways to revamp your home and invigorate the space. As always, there are plenty of predictions of the top interior trends for the coming 12 months, with the latest coming from the Interior Design Show in Canada. While this may be showcasing designers and ideas from the other side of the Atlantic, we believe a fair few are likely to be popular in the UK too. One of the top trends, which took off in 2016, is that of mixed materials – using unusual materials to make pieces of furniture really stand out. This could be coffee tables that feature tiled tops, or vibrant patterns on soft furnishings to pull focus and bring some vibrancy to a room. And this particular trend isn’t just restricted to furniture, with designers looking for ways to make floors, walls and ceilings stand out by using at times unconventional materials. Innovative lighting solutions were also highlighted by the curators of the Canadian design show, with homeowners not only expected to invest in more technologically advanced lighting solutions, such as LED displays, but...
January 9, 2017
6 Upcycling Ideas To Try In 2017
Who doesn’t love a bit of DIY from time to time? Taking on smaller, simpler projects can be a lot of fun and will really help you put your own stamp on your house – although don’t try and do something that you don’t have the necessary skills and experience to complete, as you could find you do more harm than good to your home. If you are interested in doing some upcycling this year, here are six different projects you could try. Which of these is your favourite? Hanging whisk tealight holders This couldn’t be simpler to achieve and they really do look amazing! Simply invest in a few metal kitchen whisks, hang them in your home and then place tealights in them for a really fun and unique candle holder. If you’re worried about fire risks, simply use battery-operated tealights instead. Vintage tennis racket mirrors This would be so easy to do and you can’t deny that they look great when hung on the wall. If you’re looking for an easy DIY to sink your teeth into, why not give this one a try? It would also be an easy one to involve the kids with. Sweater lampshade Reusing old clothes around the house...
January 6, 2017
6 Top Tips To Arrange Your Bedroom Furniture
You might well have bought the perfect set of bedroom furniture but if you don’t know how best to arrange your home furnishings, you can make your living spaces look cramped and overcrowded… which no one wants really, do they? It can be hard to get right but just follow this set of tips from us here at Furniture in Fashion and you really can’t go wrong. Follow the 3ft rule Put all the furniture you intend to have in a space in the room itself and make sure that when you arrange it all you have around three feet of walking space around the entire room. You should be able to make your way around without walking into any tables, chairs or sofas, or bumping into the walls. If your furniture has drawers or doors on it, make sure you can open these fully as well. Position rugs properly A good living room rug can really bring a space together but if you don’t arrange your furniture properly on it, it will look a little strange. Position all your seating so that their legs are either completely on or off the rug, so there are no little wobbles to contend with. Plus make...
January 5, 2017
Tips For Designing A Home Office Space To Suit You
Working from home is becoming ever more popular, and for the majority of us a lot easier to attain. Gone are the days when you needed a large computer, printer, fax machine and landline telephone. Technology has revolutionised our lives in so many ways, and the opportunities for home working are just one example. But while our working style has changed, our homes don’t always reflect that, although one US news provider highlighted a change that’s occurring stateside, and it’s likely a similar trend will follow in the UK. Bloomberg analysed real estate listings on Zillow, and found that the number mentioning home office space fell by 20 per cent in a year. It put this down to a change in preference among those who work from home - namely that they’re after flexibility and like to move around throughout the working day. That makes open-plan properties more appealing, and housebuilders in the US are catching on. But what does this mean for your own home office designs? Of course, it will depend on how much space you have. For someone living in a one-bedroom flat, the option of having a dedicated office is off the cards. And it will also depend on how...
January 3, 2017
Greenery: Pantone’s Colour Of The Year 2017
Everyone wants to create a lovely home environment for their family and a key part of this is keeping an eye on the latest trends to see if there’s anything that can be incorporated into the home easily. Decorating – and redecorating – is all about the quick wins and there’s no easier way of giving your home a new lease of life than by repainting parts of the house. If that’s your plan for 2017, why don’t you consider bringing in splashes of Pantone’s colour of the year for 2017? Greenery, as it has been dubbed, is apparently a fresh yellow-green shade that is intended to make you think about the first days of spring, signalling to you and your family to take a big deep breath and reinvigorate yourselves. Executive director of the Pantone Color Institute Leatrice Eiseman said of the new colour: “Greenery bursts forth in 2017 to provide us with the reassurance we yearn for amid a tumultuous social and political environment. Satisfying our growing desire to rejuvenate and revitalise, Greenery symbolises the reconnection we seek with nature, one another and a larger purpose.” If you’re not sure whether you want to go all out and paint your walls this...
January 3, 2017
How To Make Small Bathrooms Feel Bigger
A sense of space really helps to make your home feel more luxurious but more often than not these days, homeowners have to make do with a slightly smaller bathroom than they might otherwise like to have. However, just because your bathroom is small doesn’t mean it can’t be mighty, so here are a few insider hints and tips from us here at Furniture in Fashion to help you with your bathroom redesign in the new year. Hang your sink Pick a compact sink and instead of having it on a pedestal as you so often see in homes, create a bit of extra space by hanging it on the wall. If you can, inset the wall so you create a niche as this will add a bit of extra room as well – plus you’ll have space for storage to boot. Pick a bold patterned wallpaper People are often afraid of really going for it with the decorating when the space is small but all too often this has the effect of making the room seem even tighter. Be brave with your decorating in 2017 and pick out a bold wallpaper with big heavy patterns and then simply paper the walls and the...
December 31, 2016
6 New Year’s Resolutions For interior Design
With 2017 just two very short days away, homeowners the UK over can start thinking about how they’re going to give their homes a makeover in the new year. If this is your plan, you’re sure to find our little list of interior design New Year’s Resolutions particularly useful. Have a quick read and then let us know what you think. Do you have any of your own you’d like to add to the list? We’d love to hear what you’ve got planned for 2017, whether it’s investing in a new dining table and 6 chairs or something more involved like converting the attic space. Upcycle Not everything you have to buy for your house has to be brand new. There’s an awful lot to be said for upcycling and repurposing objects, whether you’ve got them at home already or want to spend a few hours scouring around charity shops and salvage yards. The best part is that you’re only limited by your imagination! Check out upcycling projects on Pinterest for a bit of inspiration. Don’t strive for perfection Houses are messy. This is a fact. Try and keep it clean and tidy as much as possible but don’t give yourself a hard time...