HOME STYLE

January is the perfect time to embrace new opportunities and to rethink, revitalise and recharge your decor.  Follow our fail safe ideas for mini transformations to your home that won't blow the budget.  

Is the current layout working for you? Is it aligned with your personal needs? Maybe you want to create a cosy nook with some squishy cushions and rugs for taking some 'me-time' or some extra storage for decluttering and creating some extra calm. Your home should cater for all of your personal needs and emotions. Moving around your furniture, homeware and art can make the world of difference to a room.

If you've followed Abi for a while or have been to one of her masterclasses, you will know that she is lighting obsessed.  The reason being, it creates such a mood and ambience whether that’s adding extra table lamps or a changing your pendant. Beautiful focal points can also be created through lighting.  They also allow you to play with scale and vary the heights within a room.  Your space shouldn't be flat and easy to read, for guidance you wan't to create a skyline effect to tantalise the eye and add intrigue to your home decor.

Mirrors are one of those decorative components that are game changers. They can transform your space and make rooms appear bigger, more intriguing, way more beautiful, brighter even. Capitalise on the natural light in a room and play with reflection. Hallways are one of the best places in the whole house for a mirror purely because mirrors will expand this narrow area making it feel much bigger than it really is. Consider using your mirrors in different ways for instance propping them instead of hanging or changing them from vertical to horizontal and vice versa. 

Mirrors are one of those decorative components that are game changers.  They can transform your space and make rooms appear bigger, more intriguing, way more beautiful, brighter even.  Capitalise on the natural light in a room and play with reflection.  Hallways are one of the best places in the whole house for a mirror purely because mirrors will expand this narrow area making it feel much bigger than it really is. Consider using your mirrors in different ways for instance propping them instead of hanging or changing them from vertical to horizontal and vice versa. 

Little accessories like tealight holders, pictures, and sculptures can easily be rearranged to give your space one of the easiest face-lifts on the planet.  Move mirrors and artworks, create new vignettes and re-style your coffee table.  Little things that turn rooms from drab to fab in a nano second. Flowers, plants, books, candles, objects, extremely personalised stuff that you’ve picked up on travels or bought because you’ve fallen immediately in love or handed down. Forget functional and practical and turn mantles, tables, and consoles into vignettes that tell a story about you 

Why not move that print in your bedroom to your living room or switch your rugs up? You get the gist - just use what you have in your house and get creative.  Think of them in a different way.  Look at their colour and form and imagine them somewhere else in your house.  Kitchen worktops are hugely neglected in the style stakes.  Could you move a table lamp to your island or add a chair from the bathroom.  It's quite a fun thing to do and will instantly refresh areas in a flash. 

Why not move that print in your bedroom to your living room or switch your rugs up? You get the gist - just use what you have in your house and get creative. Think of them in a different way. Look at their colour and form and imagine them somewhere else in your house. Kitchen worktops are hugely neglected in the style stakes. Could you move a table lamp to your island or add a chair from the bathroom. It's quite a fun thing to do and will instantly refresh areas in a flash. 

Are you living with a piece of furniture or any accessories that you've had for a while just for the sake of it?  Do you need to declutter and take a trip to the charity shop to donate any unwanted or unloved items?   Sometimes it's about removing the old and not adding any new. Analyse each room and think about things you can do to improve your day to day tasks.

If you don't want to necessarily paint your walls why not think about using colour in unexpected places? Behind closed doors, inside kitchen cupboards, bedroom wardrobes, the loo. All those tucked away places that will add an element of surprise as soon as you enter. Or if you do want a complete revamp, don’t be scared of changing the colour on your walls. Take a chance and move away from your safe colours and use a gorgeous inky ‘bottom of the lake’ or earthy shade that will completely reinvent your room. The ability of colour to transform surroundings, to excite, inspire, tantalise and calm, is second to none. Colour can give you a home that you will never want to leave.  

If you don't want to necessarily paint your walls why not think about using colour in unexpected places? Behind closed doors, inside kitchen cupboards, bedroom wardrobes, the loo. All those tucked away places that will add an element of surprise as soon as you enter. Or if you do want a complete revamp, don’t be scared of changing the colour on your walls.  Take a chance and move away from your safe colours and use a gorgeous inky ‘bottom of the lake’ or earthy shade that will completely reinvent your room. The ability of colour to transform surroundings, to excite, inspire, tantalise and calm, is second to none. Colour can give you a home that you will never want to leave.  

Either paint your internal doors the same colour as the walls (makes such a difference) or simply replace the handles. If you fancy being a little more daring consider removing them altogether like Abi (excluding bedrooms and bathrooms). 

An instant facelift, in less than a few seconds you can give any sofa or chair a brand new look. You don’t have to swap cushions out depending on the seasons, you can embrace the more slubby, woollen and extra textural fabrics all year round. They can break up all the big expanses of furniture and cosy up the pad.

An instant facelift, in less than a few seconds you can give any sofa or chair a brand new look. You don’t have to swap cushions out depending on the seasons, you can embrace the more slubby, woollen and extra textural fabrics all year round.  They can break up all the big expanses of furniture and cosy up the pad.

If you've added extra greenery to your home for the festivities, repurpose them into a fresh arrangement rather than lose them altogether. Using botanicals in your home all year round connects us to nature and evokes feelings of calm.