GOLDEN DESIGN RULES

Hi all, today I’m introducing a few of my golden design rules. Also we’re going very zen… let me explain. So after my majorly stressful last few weeks I’m trying to restore something a bit like a work/life balance. To be honest 12 hours at my desk yesterday is not such a good start, but I have signed up for a week of Bikram yoga in the mornings. Haven’t really dabbled much in yoga before but I thought hey why not, it might make me feel calmer. And if nothing else I thought it’s nice to not get up and go straight from my bed to my desk for the day.

Anyway, when I sat down to pen a few of my golden rules for design for this blog post I couldn’t help but notice I was using a lot of yoga-ish terms. Harmony, balance, flow and contrast or yin & yang are all as essential in design as they are on that yoga mat. Weird hey? Maybe it’s rubbing off on me already. Or maybe the key to a gorgeous interior really is just a pinch of zen. Anyway, without further ado, here’s the secrets of life (or at least interiors, which to me is the same thing)…

Kelly Wearstler’s home, Abigail Ahern COLOUR

HARMONY

As I’ve gotten older my style has grown with me and changed. I now hanker after a more restrained palette of three or four hues, and am more likely to go for subtly different shades rather than a full on colour clash. I prefer to aim for this sophisticated vibe rather than a funky vibe. I definitely still like funky, but not as much as I once did. Kelly Wearstler’s Malibu pad (shown above from my book COLOUR) is the perfect example of sticking to a few beautiful hues, and proves that neutral doesn’t have to be boring.

Rule no. 1: Create a harmonious colour palette