Author: Anastasia Kugaevskaya
At one fine moment of professional activity, it is time to share the knowledge gained from experience. I have matured the theme of "interior life hacks"! I have been doing interior design for over six years in residential and public spaces, and during this time I was able to identify the main differences between a professionally created interior and an amateur one! Therefore, I am ready to share with you "life hacks" that will allow you to create a harmonious, interior without a designer, which will look very worthy, stylish and professional.
I want to draw your attention to the details, which, unfortunately, are given secondary importance, while they combine to create the big picture.
Oddly enough, elimination of common mistakes is almost 80% of success.
So, the first mistake that we will exclude is the wrong approach to the choice of flooring and skirting boards. In most cases, I have observed how people choose rather expensive flooring and cheap plastic skirting boards in the color of laminate or linoleum. While you need to do exactly the opposite.
1. If you do not walk around the house on high heels and your room is not wet, then you practically cannot tell an expensive laminate from a cheap one, at the moment when it lies on your floor. But a cheap plinth with plastic connectors will negate the effect of the most expensive laminate or parquet flooring. Therefore, it is better to choose the cover itself a little cheaper, and the framing is a little more expensive!
2. The fewer connecting elements, the cleaner your interior looks both literally and figuratively, because it also makes it much easier to clean! When cleaning the floor, there is no need to be afraid that the plastic corner piece will simply fall off.
3. Another "baseboard law" that may work for you (but most often does against) is color! by choosing a plinth in the color of the floor, you steal the height of the ceiling in visual perception, to the height of the plinth. That is, if the ceiling height is, for example, 250 cm, but you chose a 4 cm plinth in the color of the floor, then visually your ceiling will seem 246! Believe me, it significantly impairs the perception of an interior with a low ceiling! Please note that in the following illustration, how the interior is perceived if the skirting board has a greater color contrast with the floor than with the wall! Plinth in the color of the wall returns her visual perception of height! Making the room more spacious!
Armed with this knowledge, it remains to use it correctly! A little more about color, height and shape.
If you want to make a contrasting plinth, but your ceiling is not higher than 260 cm, then the plinth should not be high (from 4 to 6 cm), otherwise the ceiling will seem lower again, it is also better not to complicate its shape, if the plinth is close in color to the color of the wall or painted in the color of the wall, then its height can be 6-10 cm or more, also some experiments with the form will be appropriate here. If you choose a classic profile, keep in mind that it will need to be supported in style, it is not necessary to make the entire interior in the classic style, it will be enough, for example, external curtain rods in the Scandinavian style, as the classic profile will suit ethno, boho, etc.
4. It is also very important: not to combine different types of flooring in small rooms, this will divide the space, interfere with the general perception, and force you to use connecting elements that do not add beauty! Even if you have done this, it is better to refrain from arcs and curvatures!
5. Another common mistake, eliminating which, you will be able to create a more interesting space! All you need to do is get rid of related combinations of three colors: brown, brown and brown … In fact, related combinations, to make correctly, is much more difficult than contrasting ones. But people are afraid of color experiments, they are afraid that they will get bored with the color, and, therefore, as one, they buy everything beige and brown. In fact, this fear is not unfounded! The fact is that there is also a secret in tinting and choosing a color! The color should be complex, in other words, its formula should be complex (there should be three or more pigments), black pigment should be present in it, this will make the color calm, natural, even if it is dark and saturated. In any hardware store, you can see a fan of such complex colors, they will look like a shade of gray, but do not be afraid, they will not look "dirty" on the wall, on the contrary, such a color in the interior will look noble.
For many, I am sure this will be a real find and a road to the realization of the dream of an extraordinary and bold interior that will not look pretentious! By the way, the right choice of color will make painted walls more interesting than walls with wallpaper (especially if expensive wallpapers are not chosen correctly), which will also allow you to significantly save money and reduce the risk of falling into a hole, and throw your money down the drain!
6. To brown consciously! If you decide to stick with brown! then it is worth remembering that this color does not like cheap materials, if the tree is wood, and not "under the tree"!
7. And in conclusion, I will share one more little secret, but I will not dwell in detail, the fact is that a similar rule (as for skirting boards) exists for ceiling cornices (which are popularly called ceiling skirting boards). If we paint the cornice in the color of the walls, we visually give the walls additional height. Only the cornice should be painted before installation, and not after it, like the skirting board!
8 … If it is possible to order laminated windows and wooden window sills, it is better to allocate a budget for this than for expensive wallpaper, if possible, you should completely exclude all plastic, all kinds of corner plates and connectors, you should not diversify the decoration too much, it is better to make the "box" laconic, and to introduce contrasts of textures at the expense of curtains and furniture, especially since it will be easier to change it later!
Of course, this is far from all the information, but it will allow eliminating errors at the initial stage (regardless of the chosen style), those that would not be corrected in the future without repair. And also lay the right foundation for your interior! On this I will end for today, I wish inspiration to everyone! As well as simple solutions to complex problems!