This article is brought to you by Edel Flood.
The advent of 2013 offers an excellent opportunity to make over
your home and give it a whole new look. Whether you want to undertake a
full renovation or just give one or two rooms a bit of a lift, it can be useful
to know what is hot in the world of interior design this year.
Retro florals
Floral patterns have never really gone away, especially for
traditionalists, but this year the look takes on a more retro than classic
vibe - think Orla Kiely-style prints in bold colours and with clean, simple
lines. This looks great in small doses throughout the home via patterned
cushions, dinnerware and art prints, but the more daring among us can also opt
for wallpapers and curtains emblazoned with bright flower and leaf designs.
If you are on a budget, try trawling through markets and charity
shops for vintage pieces from the 1950s and 1960s, which is when the look
originated, or have a go at repainting furniture or creating your own canvas
prints with similar patterns.
Emerald hues
Color standards authority Pantone has declared emerald to be
the go-to hue for 2013, making this a fantastic shade to start with if you want
to make over your home, but are pretty open to colour suggestions. Again, it
can work equally well in both accessories and across large surfaces, depending
on the look you want to achieve.
Pantone suggests using emerald to evoke a luxurious feel in
studies, dining rooms and hallways, or in feature walls in lounges.
Alternatively, you could invest in dinnerware and kitchen appliances in this
shade or opt for emerald linen and towels to brighten up bedrooms and
bathrooms.
Mirror mirror on the wall
Mirrors have always been useful for helping enlarge small spaces
and complementing traditional or vintage interiors, but we are being encouraged
to use them in a slightly different way this year. The trend involves grouping
together an odd number of small mirrors on a wall, much as you would with a
series of framed pictures.
The trick is to invest in mirrors with pretty or unusual frames
and place them in a slightly haphazard fashion on the wall, rather than in a
neat circle or square. This works well in most rooms and will especially suit
Victorian-style interiors.
Mix it up in the kitchen
Kitchens utilising a number of styles will be on trend this
year, making this the perfect look for indecisive types. Colors, materials and
textures that you might not think really go together are being used to create
truly unique rooms with lots to capture the attention of visitors.
This does not necessarily mean that the resulting look should be
overwhelmingly clashy; instead, think about combining just two or three
different shades/styles in subtle ways. This could involve different wood
finishes (e.g. light cabinets and darker floors) or mixing up plain, modern
walls with chintzy floral patterns on your accessories.
The natural look
Another key theme of 2013 will be bringing nature into the home,
ideally through the use of lots of wood - and the less polished the finish, the
better. Birch, beech and oak look set to be the most popular wood types for
this style, especially in furniture and flooring.
You can complement your wooden finishes with materials and
accessories featuring woodland patterns/motifs, and this would be a
particularly great look to use from spring through to autumn, changing your
colour palette slightly as the seasons turn.
Disclaimer: I have received compensation in return for publishing this article.
