September is the perfect time to give our homes  a new lease of life and prepare for the cooler months ahead.  So what better time to share some inspiration for a brand new look this Autumn…

Opulent Luxury

Rich colour schemes are ideal for the cooler months, with darker shades making rooms feel cosier.  Contrasting curtains in strong colours can give a dramatic backdrop to your room and heavy weight fabrics will help to give your furniture a quality finish, giving the whole room a luxurious feel.

Cosy Retreat

There’s nothing better than curling up with a good book when Autumn and Winter close in, so ensure you choose luxurious soft-to-touch fabrics that you can snuggle into.  Velvets and Chenilles are perfect for providing comfort and style to your home.  I love this down to earth colour scheme of warming yellow and earthy brown to give a country feel!

Cool & Fresh

For a fresh subtle look, keep your palette neutral and accent with a zesty dash of lime green.  This fun pop of colour is great for drawing the eye and picking out focal points in your room.  The great thing about this is that you can swap and change your accent colour for a different look time and time again!

What kind of looks will you be adopting for the new season?

Over the past few weeks we’ve been looking at how to bring ideas together and make a mood board for your desired new look, whether it be re-decorating or planning an event.  There are lots of different and fun ways that you can complete your boards.  These are just a few of my favourite methods, or you could choose one that works for you!

Computer Montage

If you’ve used the internet to find your inspiration, save the paper in printing and collate your findings in a computer montage.  Just copy and paste your findings together in one document.  The beauty of this method is it’s so quick and easy.

Scrapbook

If you prefer to cut and stick, play around with your findings and bring them together on the page.  The great thing about this is that you can include different textures so you can get more of a feel for the end result.

Pinboard or Canvas

Why not make your mood board into a piece of art that can continue to inspire you throughout your project.  A great, easy way to do this would be to pin your findings to a notice board, or canvas which you can hang on the wall.  Have fun playing around with the positioning and colours.  You can be as creative as you like!

The Final Result…

So, does all of the researching, collecting, cutting, glueing and pinning pay off?  Well for me, having a mood board to work from gives me a clear idea of how the end result will look and keeps me focussed on the end result.  Take a look at how Plumbs own stylist Jenny Stirzaker uses mood boards to complete a beautiful new room….

Find out more about how to create a mood board from start to finish:

http://www.plumbs.co.uk/blog/index.php/2012/08/16/mood-board-magic-the-first-in-a-3-part-series/

http://www.plumbs.co.uk/blog/index.php/2012/08/23/mood-board-magic-where-to-get-you-inspiration/

It’s amazing the things that make a huge impact on our homes: the decor, the colour scheme, the layout.  But would you believe that the height of your ceiling is a also major contributing factor to the overall atmosphere of your living space?!  Both low and high ceilings come with their own pros and cons, and each need to be treated accordingly.

High Ceilings

Most commonly found in period homes, a high ceiling with it’s natural air ventilation was essential to ensuring the smooth running and comfot of the home.  But today this can often go against us, with higher ceilings making it more costly to keep the room warm.  On the plus side, a high ceiling allows more opportunity for natural light to filter in, creating an airy and bright living room.

Higher ceilings are also making an appearance in more modern home designs, particularly with the recent popular conversions of old church buildings.  The extravagant ceilings are often maintained giving a grandiose and open feel to these homes.

Similarly, homes and apartments with a mezzanine layer are also making artistic use of high ceilings and creating a more open feel to the space.

Low Ceilings

Not only is it cheaper to heat the room with a low ceiling, it is also cheaper to construct and is commonly found in apartment complexes and more affordable housing estates.  The key to decorating with low ceilings is to choose a neutral, even white palette for the walls and ceiling, making use of lower light levels.

A low ceiling can also add great character to cottage and country style homes with the use of exposed beams.  Although sometimes a little claustrophobic, a lower ceiling can make a room feel warm and cost!

We can but dream that the weather will pick up and the sun will come out.  And when it does, we all want to be ready for it!  Take 5 minutes to be inspired this afternoon with our pick of top Patio designs.  Which is your favourite…?

Inject some fun into your garden with a colourful hideaway!  Combine bright colours with fun fabric designs for an exotic twist to your patio.  We love the vibrant shades of pink and orange here!

Give yourself a place to relax and unwind with this calming bohemian look.  Earthy colours like browns and greens are great here, and for an extra splash of colour try a vibrant shade of turquoise.

If you prefer a less is more approach then this stunning minimalist look is the one for you!  Use neutral, white furniture and simple foliage for this down to earth look.

Want to watch the stars from your patio?  Opt for fun, modern outdoor lighting so you can while away the warm summer evenings in your modern patio setting.  We love the sleek grey and red colour combination!

You shouldn’t have to miss out if your patio is small, so make the best of the space you have!  Use outdoor shelving and walls to add pots and flowers and opt for bistro style furniture for a cosy, al fresco feel!

With the weather forecast looking bleak for most of the UK again this week, it doesn’t look hopeful for a trip to the seaside.  But why should that stop us?!  With the beach hut look overtaking the high street this season, what better time to bring the seaside into your home!  We love the combination of rustic chic with beach hut buys to give a calming, nostalgic feel to your home.  We think these finds would look stunning in a light and airy hallway….what do you think?

1) Distressed Beach Hut Trinket Boxes -bronterose.co.uk

2) Tide & Time Clock -  coastalhome.co.uk

3) Hudson Valley Groton Nautical Light Sconce – uk.sotmau.com

4) Reclaimed Wood Heart Wall Shelf – The Orchard Home & Gifts

5) Pale Blue distressed Wood Beach Sign – Debenhams

6) Co-ordinating fabrics Knole & Fiore Mini Stripe for loose covers, curtains, blinds or re-upholstery – Plumbs

7) Wicker Storage Seat – The Orchard Home & Gifts

We all like to dress up our homes, to find ornamental bits and bobs that will add a touch of personality and character to a room.  You may have a captivating canvas or a pretty flower pot positioned in just the right spot.  But have you ever considered the benefits of a specially chosen, specifically positioned occasional chair?

A chair has so much more to offer than simply a place to sit and relax.  So let’s explore how a chair can add style and functionality to key areas in your home….

Living Room/Bedroom

Chairs are a great place to get away from it all and relax with a good book.  Your ocassional chair doesn’t have to match the rest of your living room furnitue.  In fact, a different style or fabric will even set it out amongst the rest.  Try positioning alone beside a window or beneath an interesting lamp for a cosy, reading nook.  This can work well in bedrooms too.

Hallway

If your hallway is big enough, an ocassional chair is a great piece to have.  It can either act as a feature in itself, provide a handy place to sit and pop on your shoes, or an easy place to drop your shopping when you get home!

Bathroom

A chair in the bathroom is ideal for draping your towel or clothes, or adding a bit of character to an otherwise mundane room.  Choose interesting furniture for a real wow-factor!

Be creative with your occasional chairs!  Remember, you can personlise your chairs with re-upholstery or loose covers so you can get the exact look that you want.  Here’s a few of our favourties…. Which is yours?

Today Guest Blogger Steph from Bathshop321 shows us how we can use fabrics to bring colour and personality into our bathrooms.

The household bathroom is one of those ‘vital’ rooms in our homes . It provides us with a place to relax, unwind and spend a little ‘me time’ washing away the stress of a long day. Whilst the regular bathroom will consist of a toilet, sink and shower/bath you can spruce up your bathroom so much more with a hint of fabric here and there, to not only personalise but soften the appearance of what can often be a rather generically decorated room.

Choosing the Right Colours

As with any decoration, it is always best to consider your colour scheme and theme before committing to buying a new coloured or patterned fabric. No matter where you are looking to apply the material or accessory, be sure to complement the existing bathroom features rather than overpower them.  These duck egg fabrics work beautifuly with the crisp white suite and various blue accessories to create a tranquil, seaside environment.

Bathroom Curtains and Blinds

Bathroom curtains and blinds are the obvious choice, yet so many people opt for the first set of plain white curtains or Venetian blinds they can find. A great way to add a little extra energy to your bathroom is to source a vibrant or sleek colour and design that contrasts nicely with the current style of the room. Tones such as maroon or brown can have a great effect on a bathroom with a warming, cosy tone, whereas a fresh, green works well with lighter, refreshing bathrooms with a neutral palette.

Occassional Bathroom Chairs

Occasional chairs can be a great addition to your bathroom, and if you have the room can add a little luxury. Whether you use them just to make a statement or you actually find them convenient for pampering your feet and putting your makeup on, they’re quite a popular accessory! Go for an overstated, traditional chair with an upholstered seat to match your curtains. Vintage and Victorian bathrooms are in right now, so choose an elaborate piece to create a unique focal point.

Steph at Bathshop321 thinks Plumbs have a fantastic range of fabrics for decorating the bathroom.  Which is your favourtie?

We can never rely on the British weather, especially not through the summer! With the fun-filled season officially here, it can be quite a dampner to look out onto dull and dreary skies, as many of us will be doing today!  So, since we’re forced to stay indoors until the sun decides to pay us a visit, we’ll have to bring the fun of summer to us at home!

Plumbs have a great range of fabrics ideal for adding vibrancy and life into your home this summer.  So, forget about the weather, where would you like to go today?

The beach hut look is very popular this year, and it’s not hard to see why.  Cool greens and blues offset with sandy neutral tones can create a calming, tranquil environment.

Inject some fun into your Great British summer with a vibrant pop of colour!  This bright pink harvests all the fun of the fair.  Contrast with a plain neutral fabric for maximum impact!

Red, yellow and terracotta are the perfect colours for wamring you up during our cooler British summer.  Why travel thousands of miles when you can have a sunny paradise in your living room?!

For a gentler, more traditional English feel, opt for a delicate floral design.  A pink and green colour scheme works well here for a fresh, femenine feel!

I don’t know about you but the sunshine always has me anticipating fresh, washing line dried laundry!  There’s nothing better than climbing into a crisp, freshly made bed after a long summer’s day and taking in the fresh smells of the outside!  For me it’s the one time of year when laundry doesn’t seem so much of a chore, with the end results being worth the ritual of seperating, washing, hanging, ironing and folding.  But maybe there’s a way to enjoy the usually mundane task all year round, by revamping your utility space!

The utility room deserves considerate design and decor like any other room in the house, and today we look at our top 5 favourite looks…

A popular design trend at the moment is reworking the 50’s style with enamel storage and traditionl, retro styled bottles.  The Belfast sink is a key feature for this nostalgic trend, along with a warm yet muted colourscheme of grey and cream.  Pinks and Greens and various shades of red and brown also work well with this look.

Creating a similar feeling of nostalgia, the shabby chic look is also a popular choice of utility rooms.  Steel storage containers and simple decorative flower arrangements are a common feature for this look.  A sage and white colourscheme helps to keep the space looking fresh.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, a more modern feel can be created with wire baskets and industrial style metal shelving.  A femenine feel can still be maintained with carefully chosen wall colours and accessories, like purple and pink.

Adopt a bold and colourful palette for a fun and cheerful utility space.  Ironing could never be dull in a room like this!  Be brave with your colour choices and choose contrasting hues for maximum impact.  Include exciting fabric designs to complement the quirky look.

A simple white colour scheme should not be underestimated however!  Not only will it create an illusion of space in smaller utility rooms, the colour is fresh and clean – just how you want your laundry!  You can make it less clinical with the addition of natural woods, creating a more homely feel.  Adding an accented colour would also work well here if used sparingly.

What’s your utility room style?

We couldn’t agree more with this quote by famous designer Rafael de Cárdenas! We all find unique ways to express ourselves, whether consciously or not. We may buy clothes that reflect our tastes or maybe buy a new car that shares our own personalities. A key area that is most telling about who we are is how we choose to decorate our homes, and the items we surround ourselves with. So have a look around you and ask yourself, what does my home say about me?

Joanne wanted a colour scheme that reflected her bustling family life. She opted for an increasingly popular grey and yellow scheme, something to suit her and the boys! The vibrancy of the yellow really reflects the family’s bubbly, active lifestyle. She chose to co-ordinate her suite fabrics, adding extra texture and style to her home – much like the many personalities that live under her roof!

Barbara loves her garden and wanted to bring elements of it into her home.  She chose a pretty, feminine colour scheme of pink and green and introduced floral design to complement her favourtie past-time.

We’d love to know – what does your home say about you?!