BANK HOLIDAY BLITZ

Over the next couple of months there are lots of Bank Holiday weekends
which makes it the perfect time to tackle some DIY & decorating at home.

If you have quite a plain décor in your living room why not blitz the beige blandness over
the Bank Holidays and add some Summer colour into one of the main rooms in your home.

If your living room walls are mostly white, magnolia or a beige shade then they are the perfect place to start adding colour…but not too much!

Simply select one wall to either paint or wallpaper. You can choose the wall your fireplace is on or perhaps the wall your sofa is against. White, creams & beiges are all neutral colours that will work well with any colour you choose for your feature wall so don't be afraid to be daring…but be careful to select a colour that works well with your existing sofa!

Now you have selected your main statement colour for the wall you can begin to add other products in the room in slightly darker or lighter shades of the wall colour as well as one or two other colours that complement the scheme.

Using a limited number of colours in this way will ensure you create a balanced final result. A really simple and effective way to select and introduce more colours into your room is by adding a large rug that has a colour in it that's the same as your feature wall colour. Carpetright have a huge selection of fantastic rugs in a variety of fashionable colours and designs. My favourites include the Harlequin Rose in Pink (based on shades of pinks and greens) and the Harlequin Vine in Duck Egg (based on duck egg blue, creams, beiges & browns).

Harlequin Rose Pink

Harlequin Vine Duckegg

Use your new rug as a colour
guide for the rest of your room.

Select one of the colours in the rug for a new carpet colour. This will help to pull the scheme together. A new carpet that complements your rug and wall colours is one of the simplest and most striking changes you can make to your room.

Now choose another colour from the rug for soft furnishings and accessories. This can include cushions, throws, lampshades, vases, blinds or curtains, tie-backs and pictures.

Remember: When using two or three colours together in a room it's best to use more of one colour than the other colours i.e. one dominant colour and one or two colour accents used in smaller amounts.

You can read more about selecting colours that work well together in my August tip.

If you want to add more patterns into your room then remember to select just one colour to feature in the background of all the patterned products you put in your room. This single background colour will help to create a co-ordinating link between all of the different patterns you choose to sit next to each other in your room.

To learn more about selecting patterns read my tip from January 2010.