A little manifesto for anyone in a design conundrum
I'm in a conundrum with a particular design its not totally working. Back and forth I go tweaking this that and whatever and still in my head its not right. Part of the problem is being a perfectionist always thinking I can do better, never quiet satisfied, wanting to push it further, onwards, upwards, outwards! Each morning I get to my desk and think today I'm nailing it and yet each evening I haven't. I run through it with everyone else and they think its fab but yet, but yet but yet.
Enough on my problems, today by the way I'm nailing it, not leaving this desk until I do!
My antiques market trawl yesterday was a bit of a disaster the weather was against us so no sooner than we made a quick trawl round the grounds the heavens opened and all the stuff got covered up. I did find however 2 very sweet little 1950 French chairs (made for a hair saloon apparently for £120) which are for perfect for the above project. I secretly want to bag them for myself but I shall be professional for once, so in storage they sit!
If you are in a conundrum like me with your design may I suggest once you've scoured pinterest, blogs, online mags, waded through every reference book you have, including magazines going back to 2000 write a list. Write a list of how you want your space to look it will help refine it. Here is mine:
Decorating requires bold strokes not tentative gestures
Trust your gut, ALWAYS
A little decrepitude goes a long way!
Ditch the budget, style has got nothing to do with money: repaint, repaper and where needed reupholster
Mix, mix and mix styles, eras as many references as possible its only then that magic happens
Don't over think it or over design it, remember the show home look is your enemy!
Lastly but most importantly I'm thinking:
Its OK to not completely finish let the design evolve over time.
So there you go my little design manifesto above, and an inspirational image below of Nikki Tibbles, West London pad. A great reference for bolts of unusual colour, thinking outside the box (covering a super sleek modern sofa in a chintz trad fabric is genius), layering and messing around with scale!
Enough procrastinating my end Iâm getting the hell on with this design, no more backwards and forwards. Today is the day!