When it comes to interiors, colour tends to come first, before I think about anything else.
In many ways it’s not even a conscious decision: colour just barges its way insistently to the front of the queue but there are other things, too.
Pastels and sun-bleached colours
As you’ll see from these pictures, my favourite palette tends to be pastels and faded, sun-bleached hues.
It comes from spending six months in India when I was 18) but punctuated with colours like maroon, hot pink and bright yellow to stop them being too ‘newborn’.
The contrast makes me feel alive (see third pic). Anyway, enough of colour. Some of my other style pointers (which I talk about in my book, Shelfie, link in biog) include:
Mixing old with new
This way you get to enjoy the thrill of the High Street chase as well as the excitement of going to boot sales, flea markets and charity shops, not knowing what you may find.
I love mixing styles up – as is the case with human beings, too, old and new can invigorate and bring out the best in each other.
Embracing quirky and imperfect objects
Whether they’re cracked vases or faded samplers (like the one, top-centre of picture four, by my great-grandmother), don’t pass by the imperfect.
You can miss things of great beauty if you’re always looking for perfection.
Buying things because they make you grab your heart
It should be love at first sight (‘like’ isn’t enough, my stylish friend Heather once advised me).
In my experience, if you ‘love’ everything you use in your interiors projects (see that as the ‘common denominator’) you’ll find there’ll be a sense of cohesion.
How would you describe YOUR interiors style?
Martha, The Colour File x
