How not to decorate

4.15 am, have exactly 15 mins to write this post and then I am out the door back to the store for another day of install. If anyone is thinking of coming to the store today can I try to put you off, of course we will open the door but it will be utterly chaotic - wallpaper being hung, more painting under way and 3 truck loads of products to unwrap and style. Mon Dieu! Right then as I have to be out of here in a flash lets get to the point pronto. I get asked alot about how to layer or style tables, mantles, walls, shelves the whole shebang and although there is some skill involved (I'm not dumbing it down here) it really is pretty easy once you start. By the way in the Christmas master classes (happening in November and December) we are planning on a mostly practical day where you guys get to see how to style everything I've just mentioned and even have a go of doing it yourself - but I'm digressing I will yabber about that another time. NUMBER ONE RULE - buy stuff that you love do that and you will find the whole process of layering much easier. Number Two restrict the colour palette do that and you find you can almost layer anything. You'll always want to play around with the height - ie paintings on a wall all the same size are a little dull, or objects on a mantle all the same height are a big yawn so variety of scale is pretty key. As the saying goes variety is the spice of life. Now I don't often do this but the image below is for me a good example of how not to decorate - even though I adore the colour palette and even though I adore adore the bedding its too boring. If you have nothing in a space (or very few things) your eye clocks it immediately , there is nothing to draw you in and excite you its like getting a plain dish of pasta at a restaurant -  you bite into it and its a little bland, there are no back flavours coming through to tanatalise (sorry for the cooking analogy watched Gordon last night). Anyways here is the image, I have to fly - have a great Wednesday. It is Wednesday right? I actually have no idea! PS there are spelling mistakes, oodles of them and bad punctuation throughout, haven't got time to check I hate to say