Colour Combinations That Work and Never Go Out of Style

From Contemporary to Mid-Century Modern to Scandinavian, there are so many different styles of Interior Design out there and identifying which one resonates with your personal taste is important in order to achieve the vision you have for your home. You may need to convey your taste to your Designer, or if you’re working on your own, having a clear understanding of your personal style will help you to narrow down the correct suppliers in order to help you find the most suitable items for your space.

Step 1: Write down a list of colours, textures and patterns you like

This is a great starting point to come back to later, after you’ve done more research on which materials correlate with which styles. For example, if you are leaning towards pastels, light/oak wood and abstract patterns you may be describing Scandinavian without even realising!

Step 2: Use Pinterest to find common themes in your pinned images

Pinterest is one of the best ways to develop a better sense of your style. Often we will see things that we like, but not realise that there is a common theme until we see them all side by side. I would recommend pinning any images you love for whatever reason and seeing if there are any resemblances between the images afterwards.

Step 3: Research different interior styles

Scandinavian

Mid-Century Modern

Style and Interior Decorate Your Rental Apartment

 1. The Rental Agreement

 A lease agreement, is property that is leased for a period of six to twelve months or longer. The lease period and monthly rent documented cannot be changed prior to the end date of the agreement.

 A rental agreement on the other hand is on a month to month basis, with no long term requirements. Any changes can therefore be made after one month.

                                                                                                                                                   (Photo by rawpixel on Unsplash)

3.  Decorate/Style Your Rental Home.

(The possibilities are endless)

Please note:

• Before making any changes ensure that you are within the parameters of the legal signed Terms and Conditions.

Apartment therapy

Scenario – bland, poor light, dull rental beige walls.

The floor – laminated flooring. Some areas were too well worn, and not in a very good condition. The landlord felt they were still good enough. So I was faced with “blah” flooring.

This called for definite non-invasive apartment therapy.

Image Source

Armed with a bucket of warm water, a cloth, with a few drops of dishwashing liquid soap, I proceeded to wash the walls from the top to bottom. With a damp cloth I cleaned the laminated flooring, a few times over. What a complete workout (ha ha) and difference this had made to the visual of the apartment.

Entrance – the Lounge

 Entrance to my one bedroom apartment – the lounge!

After washing the walls and floors, the rental beige walls were more accommodating, and the golden brown hues of the laminated floor really added a richness and natural flair to the space.

Imagine this area without the artificial plants – artificial pants are just such a plus factor to bring balance and nature to a living space.

The vertical blinds were drab, so I replaced them. These are easy to purchase from your hardware store, or on line.

To lend balance to the wall with the window, I placed at one end a large artificial plant and at the other, a floor lamp with a beige lamp shade.

Centred is the claret or maroon rug, graced by rings of grey, black and ivory.

The one sheet glass coffee table presents sophistication, stylishness and renders spaciousness. A good choice for small areas.

The low line and chic entertainment unit in high gloss white, with a glass tabletop and glass middle shelf combines elegance and functionality.

The welcoming comfort and classiness of the two black two seaters sofas, certainly adds splendour to the living space.

The display cushions completed the look of welcoming and home and stylishness.

You have just got to love your bedroom

I started by changing the door knobs of the cupboards. I kept the replaced ones in a safe place to as to screw them back on when I vacated the apartment. I chose quite large round black doorknobs. They immediately added boldness to the room.

I strategically placed my black faux leather double bed over the damaged area of the floor. I suppose I could have made use of a carpet, but the laminated flooring (the good areas) was a beautiful blend of rich golden-browns, I decided against it, and wanted to make use of the natural feel that they exhibited. With the badly worn part successfully hidden under the bed, I was able to do just that.

Because grey is a colour without a colour, it just blends in with the surroundings. Hence the use of matt grey curtains for the patio door. This blended well with the beige wall, and actually made the wall quite unnoticeable, and made the room seem larger than what it really was.

I bought canvases and painted my own circular abstracted wall art, with a few splashes of black. A job well done, even if I do have to say so myself.

The white duvet cover, with varying circles of grey and black simply looked stunning. So we now have large black circular door knobs (I do apologise for them not being in the photo) abstract circular art work and circles reproduced on the duvet cover and pillows. Modern and picture perfect.

Adding modern appeal to my bedroom, I added stylish contemporary black, two drawer bedside tables, featuring bedside table lamps, with bright green rectangular lampshades on chrome stands. This created quite a remarkable stylish look.

The green colour of the lamp shades are replicated in the mono green display cushions.

To finish off my picture perfect bedroom, I added a black and white square patterned display cushion. This defiantly enhances and simultaneously brings distraction from what could have been an overdose on circular patterns.

Rental Space my Home

Though this rental apartment was not exactly pristine, though it ticked all the boxes I required for accommodation close to work, I was able to transform the otherwise drab, lifeless and dull place into a sunny and welcoming home.

Photo by Hutomo Abrianto on Unsplash